Ladakh : Part 7 (Around Leh)

 “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

In our Ladakh trip, till then everything was happening according to plan..At Srinagar, we had a little bit modified our initial plan, shifting Nubra Valley plan (that was initially to be carried on 18th and 19th June) one day before..But I guess weather didn't want that..It rained very heavily in Leh in the night..Driver called us asking to postpone the plan for Nubra valley for one day as there had been plenty of snowfall at Khardung La (On the way to Nubra valley) and road was blocked..So driver told us to have a peek around Leh, in the radius of 50-60kms..That seemed feasible..One problem was still there..We had issued Inner Line Permits for 3 days only and were going to lose one day of permitted days..So we needed to get permits for one more day that we decided to do on our own since we had 'nuff time that day..We had breakfast and inquired about permits to locals..We came to know that we could easily get ILPs at Leh DC office..Detailed procedure for obtaining ILPs can be found at this website..Then just roaming around, we came to a shop, renting the bikes..Suddenly we all looked  into each other's eyes and without saying a word, we all moved into the shop :p Unanimously and without an appearance of a single word, we decided to rent bikes to roam around Leh..Just we were inquiring  and deciding on the bikes, 3 Sardarji came in the shop..They were leaving to Pangong lake on bikes that day and then next day to the Manali..They asked us whether we wished to go along with them to Pangong lake..All of us were into the mood of adventure, we almost said YES, but somehow Nitish felt it would be very risky to ride bikes 300kms in a day and that too on a very treacherous road and pass..He became sure and reluctant, so we gave a more thought to his opinion and we agreed to him.."It would become risky and unnecessary adventure!"..So we cancelled the plan for Pangong lake and continued with our original plan to move around Leh and see some great and famous monasteries..

There were two good options about the bikes..The first was renting Royal Enfield and another was Pulsor..Nobody of us had enough experience with Enfied, so we decided to get 3 Pulsors..Puslor cost Rs.450/- per day and Enfield cost Rs. 600 per day, both excluding fuel charges..The whole journey for the day was gonna be around 120kms..We filled required fuel and moved to make ILPs..To our great surprise, we got them in 15 minutes and at Rs.15/- per head :) Happily we then began our excursion around Leh..

Itinerary around Leh..Total 110 kms traveling..
A: Leh, B: Stok, C: Shey, D: Thiksey, E: Karu, F: Hemis

Leh has a lot to offer around it..It consists of very well known monasteries..palaces..We made the list..Most of the places lie on Leh-Manali highway..

Place where it is going to begin!

School..Outside of Leh DC office.. 

Archery competition at school..

Way out of Leh..

 Choglamsar came the first at 6 kms from Leh..We had a tea break there..Then took a diversion from the highway and arrived at Stok palace..From the top of the palace, one can see long and long plain deserted plateau and still it has got magnificent elegance..Palace had a very nice cafe, decorated in traditional way..We got more relaxed, came back to the highway and moved to Shey palace..It is aged around 550 years..Shey was beautiful..We took a short-cut from Shey leaving highway..And that short-cut was a gift..We were presented with long green pastures, sweet sounding trickles flowing along with them, chirping birds, deep mooing and rare human existence..Certainly a place worth to stop a bit and enjoy the solitude! 

A view from Stok palace!!

Traditional Cafe at Stok palace  /m\

Another one from Stok palace!!

 After a while rest, we continued and soon arrived at highway again near Thiksey monastery..It is a well placed and the view from it, was just terrific..The scenario you see from the monastery consists of desert, green town completely adjacent to that deserted valley, the Indus river flowing on the other side of the town and around all these varying landscapes, stands mighty snow-capped mountain range..So desert + vegetation + river + snow at a one place!! Thiksey monastery was the first monastery for most of us..We entered and observed it watchfully..It was an exciting introduction to a new culture..Ambiance was great..Though there were many other tourists, ambiance was maintained..Such was the feel! It was around 1 PM and the sun was bright amidst the cool breeze :p 

Nature- All in one :)

One of the ways to mix up and feel the culture..

Can't stop clicking :p

Aha!! Resplendent Shey village!

A perfect village!

Prayer wheel at Thiksey monastery..Pretty exciting!

Thiksey monastery..

Anything interesting??

Way to Hemis Gompa..

Thiksey monastery..

The Biking continues to Hemis..

 Having a little snack over there, we resumed towards Hemis Gompa (monastery)..Hemis is the largest monastery in the Ladakh region..Placed marvelously amidst hills so that one can't spot it until you reach pretty close to it..At Karu, one has to take a diversion from highway..One goes to Manali, second goes to Pangong lake and third one to Hemis..At high altitudes, even Pulsors were unable to get pick up..And at that low speed, Pulsor carrying Irfan and Rahul slipped! Luckily there was no injury..We literally needed to force our Pulsors at 1st/2nd gear..Finally, we reached Hemis..40 kms from Leh..It was 4 PM till then..And the monastery was about to get closed in some time..It was a huge monastery..A lot of monks offering prayers..Monastery has got beautiful museum..We bought tickets and visited it..It was really one of the greatest museum I have seen..It is the collection of over 1000 statues and 2000 paintings dating back to almost 2-3 rd century..Hemis monastery was built in 17th century by Dharma King Sengye Namgyal..It is an awesome place and a must visit..Thanks to our some bad luck, we were going to miss Hemis festival by 2 days..It is a quite famous event which is held in honor of Guru Padma Sambhav's birth anniversary. Splendid mask dances and plays are performed with drums, long horns..And we missed them :( We should have planned our itinerary more carefully! 

Hemis Gompa..

Up way to Hemis..Into the hills!

Who will not love to bike in such amazing nature??

Hemis..

By the time, we roamed in Hemis Gompa, it was evening..Since the day was partially cloudy and  due to the hill, it looked like sun is going to set soon and weather chilled..We were also hungry..We had delicious Maggie and lot of cups of tea :D And quickly started our way back..As we were climbing down, we gained more speed and soon joined highway again back to Leh..And sooner cloud cover vanished and it was a sunny day again everywhere..Weather became pleasant and enthralling..Again with the simultaneous experience of hot and cold weather, we reached Leh..

The Bikers!!

Way back to Leh..

Change in surrounding yet again!

Shanti Stupa at Leh..

Yet another panoramic view of Leh from Shanti Stupa!

The remained was Shanti Stupa..To reach there, one has to cross Leh town to the opposite side..We reached Shanti Stupa at the time when the day was calling off for the day :) We peacefully sat there awing at wonderful panoramic view of Leh again, which had completely captivated our minds since last 2 days, revising the whole day of fun, introduction to completely new culture, people and new experiences that entered our mind and soul forever :) We looked the Leh and its surrounding in our own way..We actually felt it by letting us move as we wanted with no restriction, with no specific intention of sightseeing..We did have no guide..We inquired, we traveled, we experienced and we enjoyed! One day before, we had planned something different, but next day happened something else which brought extreme fun and a great life..Uncertainty proved her role and I admired it..And the best part was, that day on which I was introduced to a new culture because of free roaming, is the motivation behind my self-planning which is never perfect, but brings extremely necessary unpredictability which really helps me to closely understand and feel the real essence of traveling!!