Ladakh...the heaven descended... where heaven meets the earth... I won't elaborate much..will write in short about the trip.. On the very first day we flied to Delhi from Kolkata and then Delhi to Leh.. Due to shortage of time we had to fly to Leh from Delhi and couldn't take the Leh-Manali highway.. We were a bit upset as we had to miss the highway..but when we saw the view of the Karakoram from the flight, we were like.. "Whoa.. thats the best decision taken ever!!" After reaching Leh we took rest for 2hrs for acclimatization... then we went to Leh Palace, Shanti Stupa and explored the local market...
We started for Nubra... We had our breakfast at Khardungla Pass, world's highest motorable pass... and had lunch on the way...Nubra valley was a beautiful cold desert full of camels... We didn't have a good feeling after seeing the condition of the camels.. the way they were forced to carry people.. but we all opt for camel ride.. we support it.. hence they suffer..
We started for Turtuk... a beautiful village with beautiful kids.. Leh to Turtuk- the best roadtrip i ever had... among all the other roadtrips in Ladakh.. the roadtrip to Turtuk was the best... the scenic beauty was mesmerizing and breathtaking.. and yes.. its not about the destination.. its about the journey... but the destination was also remarkable due to the wonderful kids who took us to a museum and showed us the way.. The Turtuk village has 2 parts.. each on the either sides of the bridge.. We also went to Turtuk LOC where we went inside an army bunker... We also had apricot sweets in Turtuk.. Then finally we returned to Nubra and saw a clear sky full of stars... We opted for a homestay rather than staying in a hotel which gave us a homely feeling...
We started for Pangong Tso.. the road from Nubra to Pangong opens for few days... Due to lanslides this road generally remains blocked most of the time... We went for the ATV(Dart bike) ride in Nubra which was a whole new experience.. Pangong... the lake of changing colors, changes its colors from different shades of blue to green.. and sometimes also reddish... The magnificent view of the sparkling water between the hills proved the caption "heaven descended"...
We returned to Leh from Pangong via Changla Pass... We visited the beautiful Hemis monastery... Our driver, Urgain Ji was the best driver in town.. he even invited us for lunch.. his wife welcomed us saying "Julley", cooked delicious Ladakhi cuisine and served us the famous Butter Tea...
We went for Rafting... the confluence of Indus and Zanskar rivers, locally known as "Sangam", was astonishing and overwhelming... We also went to the Hall of Fame and Magnetic Hill where the car moves uphill against gravity if the engine is stopped... due to magnetic force of the hill...
We headed towards Kargil... We also went to the Lamayuru monastery on the way... We stayed the night in Kargil...
We headed towards Srinagar... We also went to the most memorable Kargil War Memorial in Dras... The speech of the armies and the light and sound show brought tears in our eyes... We also went through the letters they wrote to their families before giving away their lives for the nation... They gave their today for our better tomorrow... Gradually we moved towards Srinagar... We also went for a Shikara ride in Dal lake and had Kashmiri delicacies like Wazwan, Gustawa, Rista, Kawa...
We took a flight from Srinagar and returned to Kolkata...via delhi..