The next few days were spent taking in the flavour of the city. The plan to head to Khardung La was executed but enroute we found ourselves being pushed off the roads by the brash cab drivers (a lot of them) and the whole ride was deemed too dangerous and was unanimously called off. Khardung La remains to be ascended but (hopefully) there will be a next time when the record will be set straight!
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| Having a (one of many!) Thukpa at Gesmo's during one of the evenings at Leh |
22nd of July went by lazying and recouping and quickly passed by. The first order of the day for the 23rd of the July was to drop the bikes at the designated shop and rent a scooty to see Leh and around.
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| The bikes being dropped They had been faithful and reliable companion through the 10 days that we they were with us. |
We rented a Suzuki Access 125 and visited Shey Palace, Thiksey Monastery and Hemis Monastery on the same day.
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| They Shey Palace |
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| View from the Monsatery |
It felt oddly good to be resting my rear completely on a soft seat mounted on a machine that propelled itself forward with the flick of the wrist!
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| Incidently, I had carried all the receipts home! |
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| The ever bubbly Leh Market |
24th of July was kicked off by a morning visit to the Shanti Stupa and soaking in the lovely aerial veiw of the Leh city. The Leh airport is partially visible and makes of a nice setting for spotting the approach of the aircrafts if one is into that.
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| Magnificent Leh City |
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| The Shanti Stupa |
Breakfast done at a cafe, it was time to head to the Gurdwara Pathar Saheb; the road to the Gurudwara is (you already know what) is sublime; it passes through a vast dry valley and is a sight to behold. I could spot a Su-30 taking off from the airbase there and was dazzled at the sight of it.
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| Chardi Kalan! Mantra to live by |
We then left to see the Sangam Point (confluence of Indus and Zanskar), the two rivers coming together. The next we headed to the Zorawar Fort and the Hall of Fame at Leh.
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| Sangam of Indus on the left and Zanskar on the right |
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| The Hall of Fame |
The evening was reserved to get the tickets for the bus next morning which was (mostly) an uneventful bumpy drive to Keylong, a bus switch to Manali and then a Volvo to Delhi. Our trip had come to and end.
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| At Bharatpur Tent Colony during lunch halt in the return journey in the HRTC |
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| Enroute Delhi from Manali in a Volvo |
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I thought I'd string some words together for the end but I find myself having completely expressed my feelings in the logs that I have written. More than five months have passed since this trip and I have often found myself thinking about it and finally resolved to make some time to get the travelogue finished. While my fieldnotes helped, I sheepishly admit that some information eludes my memory. I have, needless to say, tried to the best of my ability to recollect and describe the event as they unfolded. This also comes as a lesson in time to be more diligent in noting the key details that could be of much use in times like these.
The whole trip from Delhi to Delhi (via Leh), with all the contingencies (the cab to Manali, oxygen canister, medicines, food in Leh, GoPro, bikes and other sundry expenses) came down to Rs. 25,812 (per head) which was on the conservative side according to the estimates drawn by us during planning of this journey. I thank all the (kind) people we came across in this journey; their warmth will stay with me through out this life. I pray for the safety and well being of all of them.
Ending this literary journey like they do:
Jullay!
Jullay!
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