Ladakh is an experience that can never be described to anyone.It's really like being in love;noone can explain it for you,you just have to experience it yourself.But that kind of sublime logic really doesn't go down well with people who are giving you the expectant glare and the respectful silence for you to launch off into a long embellished narrative.That is why I decided that I would take the midpoint.For those of you interested,I am putting up some photos and describing only those bits.
Before I start off I wish to make this clear to all aspiring vacationers to Ladakh.Never ever fly to Leh.Those Chinese chappies who came up with some proverb that a travel was about the journey and not the destination were very right.Leh is like a hill station amidst a desert at around 12000ft.It has steep roads,lots of winding,confusing lanes filled with tourists from all over the world,framed by a panoramic veiw of snow capped mountains.But it's that road trip of 500kms from Manali to Leh that really changes a person forever.It's those 20 odd hours of journey through monstrous mountains,through the ever changing landscapes,through endless,meandering,purple roads that really alters one's outlook on life.
Manali started off with luscious mountains covered with pine trees at the foot of which rivers,streams and brooks gushed over pebbles and under bridges.Manali would always remind me of lazy streets lined with Chinese and Indian restaurants,Kashmiri shops bursting with shawls and precious gems,100's of honey-mooners (some of whom had to prove that point to themselves and others by wearing same colored clothes and walking so close to each other that they could easily have been accomodated in just one set of clothes).The mountains there were hidden by thick fog and burly branches of all those trees.
As we drove higher and higher past Rathong pass,Keylong and Darcha the greenery kept getting scarce until it just wrapped the mountains like a thin veil.As the temperatures dipped slowly,this feeble attempt of nature to keep the mountains green was dying out.The pebbles and boulders emerged between the blades of grass,almost in protest.
14 of us set off on 2 Qualis on a long and wonderful journey.Somewhere along the way we realised we had left the whole of civilisation behind.For miles and miles ours were the only 2 cars inching slowly into the heart of those barren mountains, raising a cloud of dust in it's wake.For long stretches there were no clear roads.The rubble from the landslides were roughly thrown to a side,leaving a thin strip for vehicles to pass through.We jolted,lurched and were shaken to our bones.But I would say,the only thing noisier than the drive were our laughter and shrieks everytime we were thrown off our seats in the car.
The winds were blowing strong and uncontrolled.The chill in the air was a complete novelty to us.Cold winters are one thing, but this raw,biting climate of the desert was ruthless and unbidden.Halfway to Leh,we stopped for the night at a transit camp called Sarchu.We reached there around 9, half frozen and starving.Sarchu defines middle of nowhere.It's simply another planet.On a vast stretch of barren land between imposing, dark mountains people have pitched tents and they run hotels.There are rows of small white tents to sleep in,one large tent for the dining hall,and one tent for the staff to snuggle in.That night's dinner was unforgettable.In the freezing cold,the food was brought hot and appetizing.We had countless glasses of hot lemon tea to keep us warm.We huddled in a group to trap all that body heat.We had one chant going repeatdly...."Mind over matter".
I was awake till 2 in the night.The temperatures were hovering around 2 and 3.I watched the moon rise through those mountains, the looming shadows recede as the moon beamed on.The skies were a white sheet, studded with a zillion stars. I felt for a moment that the entire universe was looking down at me and twinkling.Shooting stars whizzed by in a frenzy.The winds squalled noisily threatening to blow away all the tents.Everything looked bigger and stronger in that silvery hue.It was so overwhelming and powerful.We slept on beds that were blocks of ice.The blankets were no better.The heat from our bodies would dissipate in seconds and so the body would go into spasms to produce more heat.We all shivered through the night,our bones and teeth rattling.
Sarchu was what really changed us all.There are people who live in this harsh climate throughout the year.The Indian army camps here even in winters when the temperature touches -20.They live on rationed food,for it has to be brought on trucks from far cities. The depleted levels of oxygen or heat means nothing to them.They live normal lives like we do in the city. What were we thinking?There was so much more to life than we could ever imagine. There is always so much more to us than we think we are capable of.In that silence,under naked skies we discovered volumes about ourselves.
....Contd....
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