10 Must Dos for a Leh - Ladhak Trip

Think about the most beautiful thing that you have ever seen, now go beyond it and think about something more beautiful than that, done? Now workout little more on your imagination and try to think something more beautiful , only this time you should go till infinity. Done? You know what,

You haven’t reached Ladakh yet……..
The mesmerizing, astonishing, enthralling, hypnotic and spellbinding beauty which lies beyond infinity is unimaginable to any Human mind and thinking. I have used all the superlatives that I know in a single sentence so that you ppl are not bugged time and again, but I bet that all the superlatives available in any known language of mankind will fall prey to the beauty of Ladakh.If you are an atheist you ought to visit Ladakh, you will start believing in God and if you believe in God you should certainly go to Ladakh, you will meet him.

Its been almost an year and I do not think I am capable enough to describe Ladhak and its journey to you. 

So I thought let me write about few things which you certainly should not miss doing/visiting if you are ever in this paradise.

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1. Take a bike trip from Manali to Leh :

On way to Leh from Manali

This is one of the must dos for all the travel fanatics out there. When you google Manali to Leh road trip you will find hundreds of you tube videos (one of them is fortunately ours) write-ups , articles and blogs. You will get mesmerized and terrified at the same time by what you see and read in there. So I do not want to write anything more about it and load you with additional vocabulary. All that I would like to tell you is that “DO IT TO KNOW IT”. No video, no photograph and no article or blog can ever explain that feeling. Believe me I have tried to explain a million times to friends and family what it felt like but I have always fallen short of words. It is the epitome of beauty that your two peppers will ever observe in your lifetime and it is the ultimate adrenalin rush that you will ever have ( yes no sky diving or bungee jumping can ever give you that). So go ahead and DO IT!!!   

2. Stay at one of the dormitory tents at Pang or Sarchu :

The dormitory tents at Pang- elevation : 15000 ft

On the way from Manali to Leh , people normally take a break on the second day of the travel at Sarchu or Pang. You will find some high end tents to stretch your legs at Sarchu but our recommendation is that you should avoid the luxuries of the high end tents and rather go in for a dormitory tent where you will have other fellow travelers staying with you. Skip your privacy for a day and talk to people about their experience, pain, hardships, learnings etc. Travel is not only about crossing places, it is in fact about meeting people, food and cultures when you cross lands. Is it not this way how the cultures of one land traveled far and wide into another world with the travelers and conquerors? These tents are the best places to experience the joy of making friends while travelling and who knows you might meet some really seasoned traveler who might share his best kept secret with you!!

3. Climb to the top of the Castle Tsemo at Leh :

View from top of Castle Tsemo

There are many local sightseeing to be done in the city of Leh including the Leh palace , Shanti Stup and many monasteries. But one place which probably does not rank very high on the tourist to do list is the fabulous Castle Tsemo. We were also quite apprehensive in going there as we did not see many people opting to do so. But now since we did go there, I can certainly say that it is a must do. Do not just visit it, but climb to the top of it for 2 reasons.

 a. No other place in the whole of Leh can give you such a spectacular sight of the city and the landscape together. What we were able to capture in our cameras is not even half of the beauty and the vastness that your naked eyes will ever lay upon.

b. The top of this place has the serenity of the moon and the depth of an ocean in it. I had a feeling of the birthing of my luminous self. Out of the two moments on the trip when I could feel my tears roll down, this was one. (Read on to find out the second moment)

4. Stay at the homestays or home guest house at Leh :

Ladhaki Kid peeping at us

The belonging of a home away from home, being one with the different people, their culture and traditions. It is like a cradle of joy. This feeling of oneness and bliss can best be experienced by staying in a homestay and home guest house. Moreover, it’s a must do in Leh because you will meet one of the warmest and friendliest people ever. The quintessential forever smile on the faces of these people give you the much needed warmth in those cold terrains. Stay in one of these homestays to enjoy one of the most hospitable and amicable stays ever.

5. Eat at the Gesmo Restaurant in Leh :

Gesmo Restaurant on Fort Road

As the city of Leh is the capital and the most important and largest city of the entire Ladhak and Zanskar region, you will find many good places to eat here. Also with the ever growing popularity of the place among the foreign nationals, you will find many restaurant serving multi cuisine dishes. However, one place to eat which clearly stands out among all of them is the Gesmo Restaurant for an exceptional food, service and friendliness. It is centrally located in Leh on the Fort Road. It is a small road side restaurant with no frills but a lot of character. It has a multicuisine menu and every item is just heavenly. However “The must haves” are the Israeli dishes (Laffa), the local Ladhaki / Tibetian dishes ( Thukpa , Mentuk and Momos) , burgers , coffee and their fresh bottled juice. Even all the Indian dishes on the menu are worth a try. Everything is freshly cooked, delicious and scores very high on the Value for money. Highly recommended place for all the food lovers.

6. Try to grab a picture of the Santi Stup at night :

Shanti Stup at night

Shanti Stup is one of the favorite site for local sightseeing in Leh. But most of us always visit the place during the day. My recommendation is that even if you have already seen it in the day time, give it a second visit after the night has fallen. The sight of the Stup after it is all lit up is just a spectacle to watch. This is one of the most photogenic sights for all those who love to click. So pay a visit to this magnificent piece of architecture at night and grab your stunning click!

7. Read the Maggi Story at the Khardungla Pass:

"Maggi Story" at Khardungla Pass

Who is the savior of all the bachelors in India? Who is our best friend in the college hostels and the dormitories? Who holds the omnipotent place in all the midnight snacks? Who used to satisfy our hunger and craving after that evening play during childhood? Who is the best childhood, teenage and the adulthood friend of essentially all us Indians? Yes it is our ever favorite and our savior forever, the 2 minute noodle “Maggie”. But how many of us really did know the Maggie story? Do not worry. After you discover a new fact that Maggie was not only your savior on all those above occasions but also a big savior on your road trip in these mighty towering Himalayas, the pleasure to read the Maggie story on the World’s Highest Motorable road will be second to none. Yes, the Maggie story is written down on army café in the Khardungla Pass. So, while you sip your cup of hot tea (highly recommended) and gobble your Maggie up there, enjoy reading the story of your favorite and all time savior up there. And yes you can say those words there which you always wanted to say “Oh! Maggie. What would I have ever done without you? I love you forever and ever”

8. Go for a walk in the desert of Hunder on a full moon night:

Desert of Hunder on a full moon night

Yeah, I do understand it is not very easy to plan this. But if you are on a road trip then you will in all probabilities spend around a week in an around Leh. So if carefully planned with the calendar, it’s not very difficult to achieve this. Spend a little more efforts in your tour planning to witness this forbidden beauty. The sight of the full moon rising beyond the hills, the white sand shimmering away to the white light of the moon in this plaintive land, the snowcapped peak far beyond shining even after the night falls and watching the multiple colors in the night sky playing hide and seek is a feast to the eyes of any beholder of beauty and to the lens of any pro photographer. The photograph below was clicked by us (extremely naïve photographer) with a very basic lens. But if you are a pro travel photographer, you will not want to miss being at the right place at the right time to capture a memory which will help you relive that moment a thousand times.

9. Take your bike down to the Pangong Tso Lake and give it a click :

Our machine at Pangong Tso lake

All through your trip you will fall in love with your machine again and again. So much so that you will virtually get married to it during your journey. So why not allow her to pose herself away at one of the most photogenic and postcard perfect location on earth. Yes, your machine will love to be clicked against the emerald blue waters of the ghastly beautiful Pangong Tso Lake. So please make your muscles work a bit and pull her down to the lake to give her that perfect moment.

10. Take the Dha -Hanu route while going from Ladhak to Srinagar or vice Versa instead of the regular NH 1 :

Twilight view  on the way to Srinagar via Dha  - Hanu

While going to Srinagar from Leh or coming to Leh from Srinagar , most of the travelers mostly take the NH1. Basically because the road condition is good to ride and drive and also because it is likely to take less time. But who the hell cares about time when you are on a trip of your life. So chuck the NH1 and take the road less travelled – the Dha – Hanu route and you will not regret. You will pass through a completely different world of tiny villages, mystic green, yellow and orange covers, blue green glacier water running by your side and white, blue and purple mountains. Will it mesmerize you? Will it leave you stunned? Honestly speaking I do not know and I have no words to describe it. May be a poet of far more worth can describe those visuals. I only know that I was frozen, I did not want to speak and yes it was the second moment when tears slowly rolled down my dry, worn and sun tanned cheeks.

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I hope that this write up will make your journey more memorable like it did to us. However it was not an education tour but I learned. It was not a spiritual tour but I became more God loving.I learned to care.

I learned to care about people, time, resources. I started loving everything that that I have. I started respecting the air that I breathe and the water I drink. I started trusting people not only the other people but the person inside me. I started believing myself. My abilities. I had a good meeting with my shortcomings my fears and the methods to overcome them. I developed a sense of being passionate about something, it is weird that I don't know what that something is. But it is somewhere deep down, of doing things and not sitting idle. I became more human.

The Sedation of the Carefree Road

"For my part , I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel
for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." - Robert Louis Stevenson

When I read these words of Robert Stevenson, it seemed to echo and resonate all around in my mind and ears. It was as if I have been listening to this all my life. As a child and through the years of my teen and adulthood, I read the 'Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening' (by Robert Frost), 'Daffodils' and 'Solitary Reaper' (by William Wordsworth) countless number of times. I used to wonder if ever I would be that traveler who saw the solitary reaper reaping and singing by herself that melancholy strain. I wanted to get lost in those dark woods of Robert Frost which makes a traveler forget his other worldly promises. Yes travel is what I had always wanted to do and will always want to do. Ever since I was a child I was amazed by travel shows. Deep inside my heart I had always thought, “This is all I want to do”. Yes I want to see the world, meet people, meet cultures, meet religions and meet food. The journey has always been more thrilling to me than the destination. Reaching the destination is just half the fun. It is said “Change is the only constant". So when I travel, I see my world changing constantly. I grow up cuddling in the lap of my mother nature.

I think I am among one of those few fortunate people in this world who has a soul mate who shares the same passion with the same vigor. It is this vigor and enthusiasm for travel which makes us hit the road again and again. Yes we try to travel by road where ever possible. Road. What is it which excites us so much about it? Why do we do it again and again even after realizing how tiring it always is? I wonder and I realize that it is the road which actually gives you a feeling that you are moving. You cross states, you meet people, and you try food at so many different places. You are a witness to the changing topographies, to the mountains turning into rivers and then into deserts. When you feel the chilling wind blowing from snow covered mountains and the scorching heat of the barren dry land pierce your skin, when the gushing clear sound of glacier water quenches your thirsty soul and when you wait for miles and miles to spot a green, that’s when you know you are moving, that’s when you know you are one with the nature and you realize the vastness of life and dead around you. That’s when you become modest because you realize how tiny you are.

The other reason of choosing to travel by road is our madness for food. We never carry food with us when we travel by road. (Might come as surprise to many). Yes I know as an Indian it is almost prerogative to carry food with you whenever you travel, sometimes making your food luggage heavier than your travel essentials. Many of us are also driven and hallucinated by our mother's words engraved in our brains saying “Beta bahar khana mat khana" (child do not have food outside).But none of these could ever suppress our huge lust for food by the road side Dhabas.  We do not know nor do we care on how hygienic it is because the food is always finger licking good. Yes the masalas in most of the cases are not cooked properly and many a times you can probably taste them all separately but that is how it is meant to be and that is what we yearn for after hours of riding or driving!!! That scrumptious feeling of sitting on a cot by the road and eating the heavenly Tandoori Roti , Dal Tadka and Chicken Curry with different states pouring in their local flavors in them is just second to none. This is something we really miss after we moved to States.

This feeling is an addiction. An addiction which no other drug can ever lead you into. We are addicted to the road.  It makes you high and so we hit the road again and again. Yes we do it to be high. So be it the 15 days back breaking bike trip to Ladhak or innumerable road trips to Goa and all around Maharashtra. Be it the 15 hours’ drive to Texas or Utah or the recent 11 hours drive to Las Vegas, we do it again and again just to be high.