Day 4 of Ladakh: A Dream || 11th July 2023
Leh was just 200 kms. The capital city of Ladakh. A place and its people very unlike what I was habitual to.
Just as we left Kargil, the bare mountains of Ladakh welcomed us in all its glory. The sun was up but it did not feel hot. The roads built by B.R.O (Border Roads Organisation) were next to perfection and riddled with quips aimed at hasty drivers.
We had our breakfast of aloo parantha served with tamatar ki chutney at a roadside Dhaba and we could only wish that our maid at home made such delicious food. We passed Namik La situated at a height of ~12,000 ft and clicked many photos with folds of mountains serving as background. There was no vegetation to be seen on those mountains, however what lacked in the terms of vegetation, was fulfilled by the different hues of colours reflected by the surface of rocky mountains. One-fold of the mountain seemed sandy brown while its brother wore purple coloured armour. Further ahead, clouds above would cast its dark shadow wrapping every peak underneath it.
While it is easy to be lost among the beauty of mountains, one has to be mindful of the fine gravels neatly aligned along the middle of road and rocks at one side and abyss calling to us at the other side.
It was agreed upon between the two of us that we would take as many breaks as our body required and one particular B.R.O comment stuck with me throughout my journey "Mountains are pleasure if you drive with leisure".
We stopped at 'Atitsey Monastery' near Lamayuru(~130 kms from leh). As seen later that like all the monastery, this particular monastery was also perched high among the hills. A quiet, calm Buddhist temple, with only the two of us as it's visitors, served as a place of meditation/temple for its disciples. I realised I knew so little about Buddhist culture, their way of life and their method of living.
On our way down, I saw a column of the most vibrant wild flowers as if in defiance to the harsh climate. I had heard of a famous eatery 'Alchi Kitchen' (~60 kms from Leh) and we took a little detour to reach that place. The owner of the kitchen and all its staff were women and has received commendation from the President of India towards its goal of women empowerment. The setting of the place along with tastiest Apricot Tea made the detour worthwhile.
The homestay by the name of 'Norbooling Homestay' was already booked in Leh and Jayant bhaiya, kind enough that he was, helped us in shifting our luggage. We were tired but rather than eating at the homestay we decided to explore the Leh market albeit for a short time and have our dinner somewhere there.
The shops had done their business for the day and were closing already when we reached the Leh main market. We got into the first good looking open restaurant named 'The Terrace' and ordered a glass of somras for each and ate our noodles with peace. Two rows behind us, a foreigner was joined by two young men from Jharkhand. One thing led to another and there we were 5 men from different lands sharing their 'wisdom'. Apparently, Paul has had too many 'bees' and couldn't find which way he had come. Paul helped me find the name of his friend on his phone, his friend helped Paul by messaging him the name of the hotel they were staying at and I helped Paul by safely dropping him to his hotel on my bike. Later, we would meet Paul at KhardungLa and on our way to Pangong Tso and everytime he would give a big smile and hug us and say 'You guys are the best'.
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