I was in Leh, staying in a guest house and met one of the other traveler who was staying in the same guest house. His name was Tomohisa, a Japanese and he was in Ladakh for a short time and wanted to explore as much as he could. Since I was going to visit Nubra Valley, we decided we can go together. So, we boarded a shared taxi and the co passengers were an old lady Karenza from England and Toni from Australia. We all got along during the drive from Leh to Nubra Valley and I also discovered during a chat with Toni that he was on an all paid trip from one of the resorts in Sangla Valley where I had applied to volunteer and he had declined my application. What a small world!!
Anyways, so we reached Diskit and Toni had a place booked already whereas the three of us, went in search of a place to stay. We all decided to stay in one room and it felt like Karenza was our mother. We all went for a lunch and then decided that we go around and explore. So we started walking on a kachha road and crossed a village. We hitchhiked after a few kms and reached Hunder.
Spoke to them and since they mentioned that they shouldn't be clicked in the uniform, I took a shot from the back. They were really helpful and advised us to take shelter in a dhaba for a while as it started raining and we had no ride to reach Turtuk.
Finally we could get a taxi to Turtuk and since Turtuk is not too far from the India- Pakistan border, it is a sensitive area and this check post definitely made me nervous as the officers were talking in a language that I had not heard before - it was Balti I suppose. We go our ids checked and made the entries in the register.
We reached Turtuk and on the way up to find a place to stay, we climbed this tree and filled our pockets with apricots!! Tomo did not know what they were and once we explained it to him, he went crazy and picked as many as he could!!
We planned on leaving Turtuk and heard that the roads are blocked due to landslide. So we waited down hill and as the river had almost destroyed a road, there were workers trying to mend it. This man was making tea for the workers and as I spoke to him, he was kind enough to share how the tea is made and insisted that I had at least 2 cups..
As everyone came to have lunch, we all sat together and ate..It was the most touching part of this trip. We spoke and laughed and almost everyone wanted offered me what they got, the roti, parantha, chutney, yogurt, pickle and tea!!
This rock had landed in the Shyok river during the landslide
As we explored the options to get to Diskit from Turtuk, we got a good news that an old man has got a taxi all to himself and he was kind enough to have us travel with him!! Yippieee......and this above, was the taxi driver!!
We enjoyed this ride - was crazy an full of joy, riding on the back of a jeep and having a view of the picturesque valley.
Tomo and I wanted to stay in the monastery to be able to experience the life with the monks but that didn't happen. Nevertheless, this monk made us tea and treated us with yummy cookies!! Had a chat with him and the fact that a monk made tea for us was overwhelming!
It was a memorable trip and I don't have a few pictures with me but Tomo and I really started to think that Karenza and Guy (who let us drive with him) were our parents. I enjoyed every bit of it; all of us walking not knowing when will we get a ride, hitchhiking especially on an army truck, talking to the locals, plucking apricots, walking barefoot, conversations over tea and food, meeting other travellers apart from Karenza, Toni, Tomo and Guy - it was a happy trip!!
https://www.instagram.com/happynomad77/