Journey, In search of a Purpose

Kodai - Munnar Escapade: A Glimpse

2009-05-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

Kodai - Munnar Escapade [Trekking between the 2 most beautiful hill stations of Kodaikanal and Munnar, over the top station, May 1 - 3, 2009]

What's in store:
This trek offered one of the wonderful experiences of passing through the Mathikettan Shola forest to open grasslands, to pine forests, to beautiful large lakes, to Wonderful water falls, and different types of flora. There is so much of freshness with cold climate of high altitudes and so much greenery one would barely want to come back to the hot concrete jungle of Chennai. From time to time I just kept my eyes wide open to let in the freshness cleanse my eyes. We had to trek, walk, run, slide, hurdle jump, long jump, high jump, bend, squat, crawl, stumble (fall) and what not, complete action packed 3 days in the wildness of nature.

Shola Forest:
Sholas are found in sheltered pockets to valleys over 1000 mts. Altitude belonging to 11/Ac southern montane wet temperate forests. The trees are evergreen. The lichens epiphytes and mosses are thriving over the trunks and branches of the trees Heavy leaf litters and moulds are formed to a measure of 6 inches by retaining maximum rain water and thus acting as a “living reservoirs”. The predominant shola species are Rhododendron, Vaccinium, Syzygium and Microtropis. The Eco system provides shelter breeding and feeding ground for varied species of the Mammals birds amphibians and invertebrates. The sholas are called as the “Living Fossil Community” as they are disappearing day by day. (One of the Board said all these)
More info in wiki

A Bit of History:
The Munnar-Kodai road was made motorable during World War II to facilitate the evacuation of the planters from Munnar to Madurai and beyond in the event of a Japanese invasion. It is not at all in usable state today, large sections are broken and overgrown. As a result, denizens of the forests roam wild, making it a much sought after trekking route.

Who are we:
65 young energetic fellas from the 2 most thriving IT destinations Chennai and Bangalooru have conquered the jungles of Kodai - Munnar on those high peaks. To beat the heat of this harsh summer, Kodaikanal (TamilNadu) and Munnar (Kerala) are the most sought out hill stations by Tourist. But we were not tourist and we were not there for that reason. Our mission, to retrace the Old British route between these 2 hills. This is quite a bit of challenge in retracing the roads, which hardly exists in its original shape. It is quite obvious that a least used route for ages from the period of second world war would hardly be motarable and it will surprise you quite a bit.

Kodai - Munnar Escapade: Day 1

2009-05-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Kodaikanal - CapsValley - Berijam - Forest Staff quatersFriday May 1, 2009

People say "Everything that begins well, Ends well". Remixed version for this trek it has to be "Everything that begins late, Ends late". To begin with the Chennai city traffic and then the highway traffic, Dinner at wee hours of the morning (1 Am), and then get up in the morning to know that we are still in Vathalaguntu at 10AM. We had more than 6 hrs of trek planned for
the first day and we are good 1/2 day behind schedule. The uphill journey was a pain (slow drive), that you would not miss out even a single tree or rock that passed by your window seat. The bus was in such a condition that even a snail would have got better maneuvering capabilities to reach its destination quicker.

Reached Kodai at 2 hours post noon. Met the gang from Bangalooru who had reached well ahead of time. Quickly (hmmm not so quick) grabbed lunch and packed ourselves in 3 vans and headed towards caps valley passing through the Forest check post. We had got all the required forest permission and our Guide Mani had good contacts with the Forest guards and the locals. Vans
left us at the "Caps Valley" and we pack our bags and click a few snaps to begin the trek. Picked up the energy bars, glucose and water bottles for next 3 days. Accepted the greetings from the monkey battalion assembled by the van. Assembled at the caps valley near the fence, head count and off we go into the jungle.

It is around 4.15 PM as we begin and evening sun glowing up the hills opposite of us. Surprise, within just 15 mins of the start, we had dead Bison decaying by the woods, with all the flesh eaten up, left with the bones and skin. Crossed it and we went into deep woods. Hours pass by as we cross different logs of wood, small streams, jump over the rocks, bend down to move under the trunks of trees that are grown all over with no order. Reached a beautiful scenic place where there were lots of bushes and tall trees. Ate the food packets that were packed (ROtis and sabji). Hoping that was our dinner and within minutes the sun says bye for the day. Relying on our alternate source of energy and other than the usual Solar power, we dared to cross dense forest in the dark. The trek became a little more demanding with more logs to "cross over and under" and streams with steep rocks.

And suddenly to the surprise of all, there is a beautiful Tar road in the midst of the jungle. Probably better than the city roads. All dropped their backpacks and rested for a while. Head count starts and we are on our foot again. This was peace, no trouble - walk on the road for atleast 5-6 km, talking, singing and enjoying the beauty of nature. Then we reached the forest
guard's staff quarters. The cold was taking its toll as we all wore jackets/ jerkins and mufflers. It would be 8.30 to 9 Pm and we all put down the backpacks and rested on fresh green and wet grass slopes with the wide open sky as the roof.

And just before this as we crossed a lake, there was a Board saying the following things about the things around the Berijam lake
1. Swamp Eco-System
2. Fresh water Eco-System
3. Nature Trail
4. Bridge
5. Medicinal Demo-Garden
6. Museum
7. Nature walk
8. Grass Land
9. Shola

As we settle down in the grasslands, the organizers shouted, get out the soup packets that we had distributed. There were people arranged for cooking with big big vessels, and firewood and they had been cooking for a while in that cold, the dinner for us. But starters first, so we wait for the soup to be cooked, and we enjoy hot hot soup in the cold cold weather. Before
the soup distribution is done, the food queue is formed and what good Rice, Sambar, Rasam and Cabbage sidedish were served hot hot. There were hardly any light and the whole scene is happening in pitch dark with the help of torches we had. I took some snaps and got my serving. Figuring where will I get light to eat this!!, there was one very good gentleman holding his
torch high up and 5 other people were around him like a round table and eating. I just sneaked in to get some light and quickly gorged down my food. Dinner is over and we all move into small 1 room buildings adjacent to each other, which were supposed to be Canteen and store room, and lay our sleeping bags. Cuddle inside hiding from the cold. 2 tents were to be laid for the spill over.

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Kodai - Munnar Escapade: Day 2

2009-05-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

Berijam (British Transit camp) - Kavunji - Poondi - NattampattiSaturday May 2, 2009

Still cuddling inside my sleeping bag, denying the fact that some Sun rays have touched this part of the land. Got on the foot, ready to discover tranquility, peaceful location to answer the Nature calls. Came back to the base, had some hot lemon tea. Geared up, packed the bags, then had breakfast. Probably only place we had group snap, in front of the "Britisher's Transit Camp". Getting ready for the day ahead. This day I would call as a peaceful, less adventurous and enjoy nature walk.

70% of the day was through pine forest. You could find nothing but dead pine needles on the forest floor, pine cones and tall pine trees. We have passed through real dense forests that we could even find red colored pine needle leaves. As we moved on we found open grass lands with no trees in the vicinity, and then moved up the hill to find more pine trees, cones and found a small red thing on the ground. Guess what it is a very small mushroom, bright red color with white/yellow dots. Its official name is "Amanita muscaria".
More info on wiki
Clicks and moved on to find a few more of them on the way. Soon within next 10 mins we found another Bison skeleton. All bone parts scattered with bright skull with 2 well shaped horns. Had to run many a times as I stopped to take more photos and let the team walk past me.

Then we reached a very brilliant pit stop. A large lake, with one end of bank we all marched down and on the other 3 ends had tall trees, some dry and some very green. There were a few small streams running on the other side of the bank, and many had a dip and wash in the stream. After a very good break for more than 30 mins, we moved on the terrain up into woods, basically more work for the leg. After a while we stopped at another very beautiful lake, which proved lot better but smaller to the previous one. But smaller means time to take a dip. A gang rushed in with all spraying water on others bringing them back to their childhood days. Spent a real good 1 hr here, combo lunch halt. Found some real good flowers, bushes and lovely trees.

We noticed some local village women cut loads of wood and carry them on their head. Good news after seeing them is that we are near some civilization, and it will not be a steep uphill from here. We moved further and within next few kilometers we started to see large terrace cultivated mountain slopes. The whole of the slope had nothing but cultivation. Most of these were barren or no crops, and I felt how could tea be cultivated like this. Upon a small conversation with the locals learnt that they cultivate Carrot, Beans, garlic and other crops. Now I realize oh carrots are root crops. Few steps a man working on his form plucks out fresh carrot from his garden. And steps down a girl had a sack full of carrots and all the people ahead in my group had picked a couple of carrots each. I too did the same, washed in a near stream and ate them. I just offered some chocolates I had to them. Moved on further, walking by the women who were all the while carrying the logs of wood from jungle, gave them the last bit of energy bars left in my bag and learnt that there is a small village near by with "TEA SHOPS". Wow, time for tea. Rushed into the tea stall next 500 mts. This place is called "Kavunji". Before I could complete my tea, rain starts. Man fresh mountain rain is something not to miss, but no one (except one) was ready to get their dress wet. Waited for patiently for the rain to subside. Then we have to move to the guest house which is good 15 kms away. Hired one van which fitted only 25 people odd. Others walked along the road, crossing small places which the name board said as "Poondi". Then we had covered quite more than half the distance and still no sight of the van for the next shuttle. There was a big gang in front, and we were in the fag end slowly dragging a bit. Van arrives to reach the last person on the trail and picked up us on the way. We all sat on top of the van, which gave us the feeling of a "Fast elephant ride in the hills". Wow... Then reached the guest house in "Nattampatti", welcomed by hot lemon tea.

Changed and all set to stroll around. It was evening 5ish. Suddenly people wanted to play kabadi and we formed 2 teams and all had v.good fun, though I could not personally perform well. Participation was important. Okay, the guide promised us for a falls near by, and all started walking downhill at around 6.15pm, where the sun started to say bye bye. We reached the place to find that the falls is way below and we had to jump from terrace cultivation platform to other, and like that reach the bottom after some 50 such jumps. And there is not much of water down, so a bunch of people returned after first 4 or 5. Then we strolled further down to some village and back to our guest house. Nice place, we setup campfire, and most of us settled around it till late night. Singing basically for most of the time. Picked up the food in between, aaaaaaahhhh what a hot side dish for the semiya upma we got. Man it was nothing but hot chilly. Slowly moved to have more participation from the crowd for the songs, dominated initially by Hindi and then forcibly moved on tamil songs. Adjusted in the limited space to sleep and this night was much better and warmer than the previous night.

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Kodai - Munnar Escapade: Day 3

2009-05-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

Nattampatti - TamilNadu/Kerala border - Kovillur [- Munnar - Theni, on wheels] Sunday May 3, 2009

If I may say, this is the real day of action, adventure, and real experience. Other days were just picnic. Day with regular activities, packing bags, food, water bottles and hit the road. Oh my god what a day of activity. No one will forget the uphill and the downhill of the day, who were part of this trek. we started walking in the jungles, uphill, within hours our water bottles emptied and finding very little streams on the way to refill. Adding to the thirst is the uphill climb with people already taking breaks in the first 2 hours of walk. Still we are very much in TamilNadu and crossing the hill top to reach the other side, to enter Kerala. Keep following track, stopping very little time to click photos. Just keep pushing yourself to keep the pace. Still lots of pine trees, on the open lands, sun shining harsh on us directly, though in the hills we could feel the heat and I was sweating a bit atleast shirt as was carrying a heavy backpack. I truly realized the meaning of "Travel light". You could live without some extra fittings, like a sweater, second pair of clothes etc, but cannot carry it along.

After few hours of walking we hit a much wanted water spot. Yes the falls. It was a good 100ft water fall with sufficient water. Filled in bottles (filtered the water), and all settled at the top of the falls. I wanted photos of the falls from the bottom, so couple of us decided to climb dowm. The route was very dangerous. There is not a single hard rock to step on, it was full of some kind of grass/ red needle leaves and soft bushy slope. We stepped on soft floor which went in, as much as we pressed it. Just moved on top of it like a cat without creating much of pressure. After 15 20 steps down, I found a large trunk of tree, green in color and was almost the root side of the tree grown horizontally. I thought I got some good hard place to move on in this unstable ground. Greater surprise, this was much softer and possibly went in like a sponge or rather a hollow straw. Man thinking twice whether to make it further, we managed to move on, and reach the bottom. Only 5 out of 65 made it down here. Trying to click all the possible shots of the falls with smoky falls, droplets and rainbow and all the fun with camera. Spent quite a bit of time here to find the whole team has left ahead of us and a bunch of 10 are left behind. People from top shouting for us to start up and move.

Came up and rushed to join the gang, running through the grasslands, pine trees, crossing the burnt trees (an effort by the forest department to control forest fire), more pine, red pine needles, green pine needles, marshy landscapes, uphill and soon reached another small water spot to refill. This was the last water spot for the whole trip. So we had to save water.
Now comes the time for hurdle jumping. There are trees fell all over the place. Every 30 mts, you have a big trunk blocking the way. Either jump over it or go under it. With the heavy backpacks, climbing the trunks, which sometimes add to 1,2,3 in a row. Actually climbing is easier than going under them. Most places you had to bend down, squat, on knees, crawl to get to the other side. You are now double your size with your backpack on the back. SOmetime had to remove them to go under these trees, real pain. One place I just came out of such crawl and just getting up, found a big thorn from the other tree in front making a good scratch on my forehead, narrow escape from my eyes. Many a times I got pierced by these thorns on my hands and legs but it is part of the game.

We were able to see some kind of a clear road, but though very native or not so clear path. We could see hairpin bends and roads in the middle of the forest. And people started to climb the hard way instead of traveling through the road near hairpin bends, just to avoid covering additional miles. And further up in the middle of some plants there is a milestone, clearly proving the fact that there was a road. It said 6 and other letters were not so visible. And we happily thought it is 6 miles to destination. Very wrong thought, as the guide refused to give any hint of the distance ahead to cover. He said just keep walking and you will reach there. Sooner we had a stop for lunch. With little water in hand, the price of one water bottle touched 100rs in the bid. All were real tired with all the parts aching and people spraying volini/Iodex spary like body spray. Okay after a good rest, we moved further and quickly spoted a small stream flowing down the road. Many got down to fill bottles for them and others as all the bottles were empty.

After this spot a steep uphill into the woods which looked lot like barren trees, without any leaves, and with lot of sticks overgrown pricking us and backpacks like thorns. Avoiding these we reach the top to find that that was just the beginning of the uphill and we find another steep uphill. Then we move into an interesting puzzle of thorny plants, fully dry thorns, with
no greenery. Then we manage to cut break through this and this path created the maximum damage to our dress and backpacks.

Took 10 mins to get out of this 300m stretch. The roads started to visible more clearly. And we reached to border of the 2 states marked by concrete stones like truncated pyramid shape. Gone past that we found clear mud roads with tracks. These were like green grass in the middle and 2 tracks on either side. We traced the path for nearly 2 hours, with steep steep steep uphill climb. Slowly loosing all the energy, crossing one uphill just to find another big one is waiting around the corner. And one more at the other end. It goes on like this for on & on & on. Finally some down hill for a while and then again some uphill. It is very easy to read past this, but to really understand the effort we had to put in is not explainable.

We had to take diversion from the roads into the jungle at one spot. This spot probably no one will forget. Time for long jump. A large swamp / ditch kind of with soft ground on either side. To cross over, you had to run with your backpacks and make a long jump (I felt happy being tall, could do it with ease). 2 of them fell in and had to change their pants and wash the shoes. Took a very long break after the uphills done. A bunch 5 of us stayed back and let all others take a good 45 mins lead ahead of us. Then we started to move, to some extent we had clear visibility of atleast someone in the front. Later started to collect pine cones, enjoy nature and like this increased the gap between the last 5 and the front gang. Then we
would shout and hear back some guidance of the directions, which faded after a while. Then at one final shout we heard that we had to climb down the rough terrain, leaving the path to reach the place quickly. This was already 5.30 pm in the evening, its like getting lost in the jungle if we did not get it right. At the end of the down climb we find no one from the whole
gang of 60. Decided to move on with some intuitions, and found that we landed in the middle of a track and don't know which way to go. Luckily spotted an arrow made in the ground in the mud pointing to a direction, which was the unlikely one I would have taken if I had to go with my instincts. Ok thought that these arrows are made by our gang in front to guide us, moved on
further in the direction to find more arrows in each of the juncture of 2 roads.

Move on the road until you find 2 paths, look down on the ground and surely find an arrow. Move the way of arrow. Then we crossed more than 5 to 6 arrows. On the way we had to climb down completely to move closer to civilization and could see some solo huts in the height of hills and some distant road. But the end seemed a distant dream. The sun almost set and with very little light had to figure out the way and had to be in a group till we reached the end. I took the lead to find directions and path and waited for the team till the spot and moved fast ahead. One place, before I could reach a separation, I found a villager woman carrying logs of wood, felt a sigh of relief and asked her what is the way to bus stand. Couple of steps down she pointed a way that goes on the right. I happily would have followed her and I did not find any arrows made on the ground. I found some sticks on the ground misplaced, actually there were no sticks all the way and suddenly some sticks on the path.

By thinking these in mind, I kick one of them and suddenly realize they meant something and reassembled the way it was and saw an arrow formed. Moved 2 steps to find a bigger arrow. This was exactly opposite to the direction the lady pointed. Oh my god, we tracked the arrow and moved further into the bushes and then to some steep rocks and finally reached the backyard of some houses. Asking help from them reached the "Tar road". Then moved further to reach the gang readily boarded the Jeeps.

This place is called the Kovilur. From here we took the jeep to Munnar a rally to reach there in time. The moment we reached Munnar, there was a bus waiting to take us to Theni, (last bus of the day 9pm). Reached Theni at 12.30pm had dinner at 1 Am and back to Chennai from Theni. OOOOOOOOO what a long day.

"That's all Folks"

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Nagala Trek

2009-03-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Nagalapuram (Nagala 14), a amazing trek organized by CTC (http://www.chennaitrekkers.org)

What a way to begin a month (March 1, 2009) with a trek with 7 obstacles to cross and all the more fun with water pools and falls and added fun by the group. Okay don't underestimate the size of the group. We were close to 100 enthusiast and serious trekkers, geared up and hit the road as early as 4 am to the base camp. This is 90km from Chennai in Andra Pradesh state.

Train

14 cars and a Scorpio to lead the way and escorted by a few bikes was no less than a train on the road. As we hit the highways and through small village side, everyone kept watching this long rally of people, at such an early hour of the day. They were awe struck. Roads were good except a few potholes and useless speed breakers, which breaks everything else than speed. There was no official stop for tea and every gang stopped at their convenience to pick some tea, biscuits and energy bars. Then we hit the mud path, which raised dust that reduced the visibility to only 1 car in front.

Base camp,

We were distributed food packets and we packed all that we need and backpacked and started the slow walk. We had to cross the dam, which was a couple of kms from where we parked the cars. All climbed up the dam from the easy mud path and had to walk the sloping stoned wall. Some cautious steps to get the feel with all backpacks and camera in hand. Few from behind ran down the wall and reached the bottom which is no less than 2-3 stories. Photo session :) :)

Trek

Trek starts along the river bed path which is partially dried or thin line flowing. As we moved further in, we had to cross serious water pools that added to the excitement. The path is full of rocks and big stones, thorny bushed on the side, big trees. I have been through this in previous treks, where you only see the floor and the beauty of surrounding is missed to be enjoyed. So I make it a point to stop to enjoy the place. Slowly I drag to the trailing set. In such treks you blindly follow the person before you (no less than a goat herd). There were a few people before making a tough climb up a few rocks and there was no trail of the people in front. And I realized that hardly any big gang behind me. Okay. We were 13 of us up this climb and lost track. One went further up to find clue, who vanished for a while. There was another set coming behind us (8 of them). We informed them not to climb up and take a route down to find any traces of the other people. After a while a voice came, asking us to come down.

Finally we reached the other people, that was the first pit stop by the side of a fairly large water pool and all were done with their first round of swim. Quickly I unloaded my backpack, camera and jumped in the pool. Good cold water and loads of fun. There were huge rock on the sides and people were climbing on them to dive in some 20 feet waters, I safely settled around 6-10 feet water. Then quickly we grabbed the breakfast and moved on to the next spot.

Walk for another 30mins and we reach the highlight obstacle of the day. 40 feet water and no other side routes to pass by. Everyone has to swim this and get to the other side. And most important is to transport the bags with camera without dropping them in water. Experienced swimmers dive in with help of sleeping mat (made of foam) they swim back forth transporting bags, shoes, non swimmers and what not. The other end slowly formed a human chain and people keep passing the bags and all things to the next end.

I quickly clicked a few snaps and packed my cam and bag in plastic bags (Who told DON'T USE PLASTIC. I really started respecting plastic.) My stuffs were transported and then me. I reached the other end of the pool which is the deepest I guess (40m), nothing much to hold on to, some rock. Now from water without any support I have to climb the rock which straight as a wall. I had to do at least the first few steps to get support from the people above. Someone in water offered me his leg as the starting point and then I reached to some crack in the rock and pulled myself up. Finally got some helping hand and reached the top. Now its my turn to pull others trailing behind.

After my duty, I went up further to find that all our bags were transported across the next obstacle which is very close to this. Okay geared up for some serious jumps and climb of rocks which are at least twice my height. After a few struggle reached the other end of the series of rocks and got the bags and turned back to look at the spectacular view of this. Two big mountain like, with a small opening in between, which I had just crossed. Time for some more snaps, pose and moved on.

Next obstacle, was just around 15 mins. We had to climb a wall of rocks. I would say this was easy except few unstable rocks shaking, and few smoothies and best is someone triggers one rock from the top.

From here on we hardly had chance to take photographs. Why? The obstacles and the path require full attention and usage of all 4 extensions of your body to be used. Another 10 mins,we reach the next one. 2 ways to cross, either cling on to the rocks which offer very less leg space and hold ons, or plunge into the dirty murky waters and on to the other side. Had to do the later as just saw a person fall from the rocks into the water with his bag. !!! Climbing the steep rocks right from water, with water adding to the slippery effect, is a routine here. Done this, went up the rocks, waited for assisting the next set and moved on.

Narrow passage with small flowing water stream. Keep the footwear dry by stepping on the sides and pulling your self up with your hand!!! Move on like this for 200m. Then up a few rocks and then we rest. Next pitstop for lunch. Quick grabbing of lunch and picking all the garbage fellow trekkers have left, ready geared up for the next.

First time I felt, I am not going to do this. Why, It is just one steep wall of rocks and we have to climb on to it with little support from bushes and plant (that have grown from the cracks of the racks), and the texture is just gravel or sand which reduces any firm footing on the ground. Ok no other way, so had to do that as did others. Climbed up, then moving sideways with care and reached the safer trekking zone. Continued on further.

We were the sweepers, or the last bunch who checked that no one was left behind. Kept walking for a long while, then in one fine cozy place in the shade, put down all the backpacks and rested. Chatted, played with the camera, few got a quick nap and all rested in peace!! I meant it was peaceful to rest there in the midst of mother nature.

Ok sudden rush of voice from Peter, lets move guys and all geared up and moved on. Soon we reached a places, where there was a natural 20m water slide (as in some of the theme parks). Many rushed in and moved the fun to the next level. I settled down to click some pics. Then we moved on completing a cycle to reach the same water spot where we had our breakfast. Again time for a swim and there was a small waterfall which is guarded well with deep waters before it. Prabhu helped me get to the other side to the falls and waited more than 15 mins to take me back. I thanked him for the water auto service.

Fun unlimited, we hit the same trail back to the base camp. Climbed the dam and rushed down on the other end. Settled accounts, and long drive back home...

Eventful day.......
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Ladakh: FAQ

2008-11-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

Finally....
There were lot of people asking me questions on how was the trip and how was the experience and all that. So I decided to pen down my experiences in the blog. FAQ, will always help lot of people planning to take up such an adventure.

My great India Roadtrip began on August 26, 2008 till September 13, 2008, an adventurous close to 20 days trip. Each and every moment is unforgettable, the people I traveled with and the whole experience.

Itinerary
Day 1: August 26, 2008 "Delhi - Manali"
We got the Raj National express Volvo bus, from Delhi at around 6 pm and went on till Manali the following morning and it reached around 10 am. In the bus we exchanged lot of data points about the trip from articles from all over the net, magazines and what not. Hope someone prints this and uses as a road map.

Day 2: August 27, 2008 "Manali"
Manali was a day break before we hit the road. We stayed in a hotel adjacent to the "National Park". It was "Hotel Holiday Home International", Club house Road, Manali Distt., Kullu, HP.
Strolled the National park, Hot springs in Vashisht, Hadimba Temple and food in Old Manali.

Day 3: August 28, 2008 "Manali - Sarchu"
From now on it is just the roads and mountains. Nothing else. Sarchu is a wide open land with distant mountain peaks, and series of tents laid on for traveler's to spend the night over. There are government and private tents available. We got it booked in one of the private tents, which were basic tents with a bed and attached bathroom. You have to be prepared for extreme cold due to open lands and freezing winds.
Passes crossed: Rothang La and Baralacha La

Day 4: August 29, 2008 "Sarchu - Karzok"
On the way further towards Leh, we took a turn right somewhere in the middle of the Morreh plains (locally called Chooha Maidan), to head towards Karzok. It is a small village on the banks of the lake "TsoMoriri". Awesome place. It snowed the night and had a small mountain peak turn white in the morning.
On the way we passed on another small lake, "TsoKar", where we had lunch.
Passes crossed: Namkeela and Lachungla

Day 5: August 30, 2008 "Karzok"
The day most of us were hit with AMS and unable to get out of the rooms. There was a day planned to halt in Karzok, which was occupied by AMS alone. Rachel and I gathered some strength to hike on the nearby mountains. Later joined by the rest 2 towards the end.

Day 6: August 31, 2008 "Karzok - Leh"
We had to reach Leh this day so that we are there for the Festival that is starting the next day. It was a smooth ride. The road was smooth and very neat unlike the previous route. We crossed the famous Mahe bridge (still don't no why it is famous, may be some military importance). It was guarded well. Reached Leh around evening and spend the rest of the evening in markets and strolling around Leh. Catching up with other people joining directly in Leh (flying from Delhi).
Stay is not a problem in Leh. It is like any other city in India, you get all the facilities that is required.

Day 7: Sep 1, 2008 "Leh"
Ladakh Festival in full colors. The inauguration ceremony, colourful, splendid and flocking tourists all over the city. After the festival inauguration, in the evening we reached Shanthi stupa and spent the evening there. Then we reached Polo Ground to catch some more cultural performances. The festival keeps happening in the neighboring villages from Sep 1 to Sep 15. We catch some events in those villages as we travel.

Leh is our base camp for all the future excursions we make. This is such a strategical point to travel anywhere in Ladakh.

Day 8: Sep 2, 2008 "Leh - Panamic - Diskit"
We all packed only the necessary clothes and things and left the rest in a storage attic in the place where we stayed in Leh. Finally the most awaited day. We were going to the Nubra Valley traveling the world's highest motorable road and crossing the official, highest motorable pass in the world "Kardhungla". We reached the Panamic hot springs in the evening and returned to Diskit for the night halt. Sometimes the journey is much better than the destination.
Passes: Kardhungla

Day 9: Sep 3, 2008 "Diskit - Hunder - Leh"
We then reached Hunder for the Camel safari, the highest sand dunes in the world. Then we came back to Diskit for the local Gompa (Monastry). Getting an insight into the Gompa and the related stuffs from a Monk. Then we headed back to Leh, crossing the "Kardhungla", spending sometime playing cricket with the Jawans(soilders). Back to Leh.

Day 10: Sep 4, 2008 "Leh - TikShey - Pangong Tso"
Morning prayer in Tikshey Monastry pretty close to Leh, about 30 mins drive. Then we drove to world famous "Pangon Tso". Very reason that the Lake is 33% in India and 67% in China and reaching the last village possibly close to China border makes it very special. Other than that the colors and vastness of the place and the drive to it is real treat. More details in Wiki.
We experienced Home stay and home food (special Ladakhi food).

Day 11: Sep 5, 2008 "Pangong Tso - Leh"
Day to return back to the base camp (Leh). On the way back we went to the largest Gompa in Ladakh "Hemis". It is very big and some parts under renovation. It is very nicely hidden from the rest of the world.

Day 12: Sep 6, 2008 "Leh - Chilling - Nemo - Leh"
Time for some action. It was really adventurous to do a 29km mountain river rafting in one of the world's highest rivers Zanskar and then into Indus. We started at Chilling and ended close to Nemo. Then back to Leh and flat on bed. Heavy workout and full rest was warranted.

Day 13: Sep 7, 2008 "Leh - Lamayuru - Kargil"
Lamayuru has one of the oldest Gompas in Ladakh. We had to cross over the Magnetic hill and Moonland before Lamayuru. After lunch we started from Lamayuru and reached Kargil just after dusk.
Passes: Fotola, Namikla

Day 14: Sep 8, 2008 "Kargil - Alchi"
After spending the morning in Kargil, experiencing the place we headed to Alchi. Alchi is another place where archery happens part of the festival. So we planned our way to be there for that.
Passes: Namikla, Fotola

Day 15: Sep 9, 2008 "Alchi - Leh"
We spend the day in Alchi Gompa and some shopping. The archery started around 12 pm and it was due to go over till late night. So the main event was at the evening. We did not so much time, so we tried a few shots in the archery and started back to Leh. We had planned dinner at Thinles (Our all in all) place. Another dose of Ladakhi hospitality.

Day 16: Sep 10, 2008 "Leh - Keylong"
Usual halt is in Sarchu, where we stayed on the onward journey. But we were not ready to spend the night at the tent again after the initial experience. So we had a mad dash to Keylong. Keylong we find proper hotels rather than tents.
Passes: Tanglalngla, Lachungla, Namkeela

Day 17: Sep 11, 2008 "Keylong - Manali"
We drove back to Manali crossing "RothangLa". Manali was like back home. Ladakh was a different world altogether.
Out of all winter clothes. In shorts and tees, enjoying hot climate (if Manali feels hot, then understand what we had been through). Enjoying the sun and strolling the markets and watching the honeymoon couples draped in sweaters and cuddling each other.
Passes: Rothangla

Day 18: Sep 12, 2008 "Manali - Nagar - Manali"
We went to Nagar like a 1 hr drive from Manali. This has old museum, Castle. This is the castle where one of the famous bollywood movie "Jab we met" shot a song. Back to Manali for lunch time. We had authentic Himachaly luncheon in one of the homes for which we walked like 1 hr into the woods and houses and unmanned path. Awesome food, we stuffed to burst our stomach. Then were treated like one of the localities by presenting a cap which the Himachaly people wear.
Time to go back. Bus to Delhi.

Day 19: Sep 13, 2008 "Delhi"
The whole group checked into a hotel near New Delhi Railway station, otherwise I would have been in Karol Bhag. Then we went to the Delhi museum. Later in the evening we departed to our destinations in train.

You can always read more about each day in the upcoming posts.

Expense
Trip like this costs definitely a lot. If you are in the right group and able to share stuffs, could bring down the expenses. I would definitely say traveling by SUV after Manali is the best choice which is the expensive option too. Travel in buses lose the purpose of traveling in these roads. It would cost you anywhere between 25,000 to 45,000 INR for a trip like this. We spend quite a bit on food too. If you can budget these, could save up to 3,000 more. But what is the purpose of traveling without gorging the local cuisine.

Ladakh: A Glimpse

2008-11-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Julley
‘Welcome in Ladakhi’. Well actually it is one word you have to learn to travel the length and breadth of Ladakh. It means hi, good morning, welcome and bye - literally a greeting. And another phrase to express your gratitude is ‘Oh Julley’ means thank you.

Ladakh (‘La-dakh’ – Land of passes),
encompasses several high altitude mountain ranges and passes including the world’s highest motor-able pass Khardung La (18,380ft). The treacherous mountain roads are cut off nine months a year by snow and the only way in is to fly — preserving the old traditions of Tibetan culture and hence the region is dubbed "Little Tibet”.

Travel to Leh enroute Manali one can find spectacular landscapes with rough terrain and varying textures and colors of mountain ranges. Most of the landscapes are barren due to the high altitude and snow-clad even in summer.

Leh is the largest city in the whole district of Leh, which now has the entire needed infrastructure from cozy hotels, amazing bakeries (which have the best cakes and pies than anywhere in India), market busts with sovereign shops, internet centers, restaurants serving everything under the sun and fresh apricot juices.

Leh has the world’s highest commercial airport and 2 of our team members touch basing there and the rest 4 took the tough road to Leh. Leh is a big relief after the long road trip. Rough terrains and long SUV journey would have torn you apart; AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) would have taken its toll on the way, you have to compromise your comforts of living in tents, limited choice of food -“Maggie” and “Aloo parota” is what’s on menu all the time.

Ladakh Festival
We were here for the Ladakh festival which happens every year from September 1 to 15 in Leh and villages. The inauguration ceremony takes place in Leh on a large scale with the procession of various cultural troupes from different part of Ladakh. It passes through Leh Market dancing, singing with traditional music, in colorful traditional Ladakhi dresses, and finishes at Polo ground after performing their best dances and songs.

The festival lasts for 15 Days with regular program in different villages. The program includes Archery, Polo, and Mask Dances from the monasteries, traditional dances by cultural troupes from Villages. There are a series of musical concerts and dance programs in Leh town.

As part of traditional attire, the men roll their goatee and moustache to tapering pencil-point ends, the women weave woolen strings into their hair and don their best jewelry, an array of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and bangles. And they dress their best: many cover their purple robes with colorful vests, elaborate fringes-upturned brocade hats, shoes with front upturned, and some women flaunt their special attire, a rough-cut shawl of sheep’s skin draped over their shoulders. Tourists flock from all over the world for the festive season.

Leh as our base, we made 1 or 2 day excursions to cover the entire Ladakh.

Travel China-wards to the glorious Pangong Tso (or Pangong lake; Tso: Ladakhi for lake) and you'll see the largest salt-water lake in Asia, large enough to produce waves. The water is unbelievably clear and appears in bands of color: blue-green, mauve, deep blue. It is 134 km (83.3 mi) long and extends from India to Tibet. Two thirds of the length of this lake falls in the People's Republic of China. It is 5 km (3 mi) wide at its broadest point. In winter, the lake’s surface freezes completely despite the salt water.

Travel north, crossing the Khardung La, into the famous Nubra Valley. Further drive takes us to Panamic glaciers and to Siachen glaciers, but we returned after the sulfur springs of Panamic as roads to Siachen were blocked. We had to stay overnight in Diskit and moved on to Hunder for the sand dunes and Camel safari.

We had a chill out day in Chilling; the upstream side of river Zanskar. From here we did a 2.5 hrs 29 km mountain river rafting. We rafted past the confluence of Zanskar and Indus with the rapids of level 3.5 at the time. Took the last bit of energy left out of every one, the added adventure of the boat toppling over and 2 of the teams most experienced rafters in the icy cold waters added with worsening effect of cold wind.

Travel North-West to Kargil the second district of Ladakh. Most part of Leh is barren and Kargil offers a complete contrast of lush greenery. Buddhism and Moslem beliefs add to the culture contrasts of Leh and Kargil. Overnight halt in Kargil, and woke up to the thump of Bofors. Walking in the streets of Kargil would give a feeling of being in Lahore or Karachi Pakistan.

Travel from Manali (South) we had covered a beautiful lake TsoMoriri, Morreh plains (Chooha Maidan) and the famous Mahe bridge. The travel takes you through a number of passes starting with the most frequented Rothang La and then through Baralacha La, Lachung La, Namkeela etc. The count goes on, as you are in the "Land of Passes". The travel is nothing but moving from one mountain range to the other, by crossing over the passes. Constantly there is a change in texture and color of mountains, altitude and the climate.

Some of the events / facts that we encountered on the road trip:

Thikshey Gompa:

On the roof I watched two young monks call in the faithful on conch shell horns as the sun chased the shadow across the valley: a perfect dawn seen from one of the highest rooftops in the rooftop of the world. Morning prayers usually is presided by the head monk and a big group of boys under 10 obediently following the religious chanting powered by wind and percussion instruments in an enclosed cold room giving a celestial experience.

Floods: The floods here are a slush of mud, small and large stones which move very slowly and covering large areas of land showing clearly the devastating effects of nature. We traveled through a road which was hit by floods a month ago.

Land Slides: Multiple times we had to wait for 15 to 30 minutes, for the BRO (Border Road Organization) to clear the roads using earth movers. Worst case is we had to travel back 42kms to take alternative road ahead.

Moonland and Magnetic Hill: Travel to Lamayuru, will take you through the landscapes that resemble the moon.
Magnetic hill is more of a myth, where the vehicles travel upwards when put on Neutral. Our vehicle did not move an inch!

AMS: Acute Mountain Sickness occurs due to the high altitude, low air pressure, depleted oxygen levels and added worsening effects of low temperature. Slow ascent will provide body the needed time to acclimatize. In that iciness you have to forcibly drink fluids, like lots of plain H2O, saline water or electrolytes, glucose and high carbohydrate foods which will help fight AMS.

Home stay: We had a home stay in Pangong Tso, with the hosts being very kind enough to sleep in tents offering the outnumbered guests the home. Our group had to spend the night in the Kitchen. Hospitality of Ladakhi people is unparalleled.

Cuisine:
Tea in Ladakh is traditionally brewed with strong green tea, butter, and salt; it is mixed in a large churn and known as gurgur cha, after the sound it makes when mixed. Sweet tea (cha ngarmo) is common now, made in the Indian style with milk and sugar.

Ladakhi food has much in common with Tibetan food, the most prominent foods being thukpa, noodle soup; and tsampa, known in Ladakhi as ngampe, roasted barley flour.

Sign Boards:
There were many interesting sign boards warning you to drive safely and carefully. Some of the interesting ones are
1) This is highway, not a runway
2) Be gentle on my Curves
3) Darling I like you but not so fast
4) Don’t be a Gama, in the land of Lama
5) God made Ladakh, we connect it to the rest of the world

“Ladakh” - a land of many passes, many surprises- and the ability to keep you hooked for life after just one visit.

Oh Julley