Sunday, September 27, 2009

INDIA - Ladak

Ladak, India
Ladak was very special, unexpectedly so. The scenery, the motorbike trip, the company. Just beautiful!
Having spent a month in Mc Loed Ganj in the company of some lovely fellow travelers from the Buddhist course, it was time to move on, but this time not to study but to travel and explore a little hidden gem of India, the province of Jammu & Kashmir and the Himalayas. I took an excruciatingly long bus ride (20hrs) from Mc Loed Ganj to Manali through some of the most amazing mountain landscape I have ever seen. Having two rock slides along our journey, forcing us to sleep in the parked bus until the road was cleared the next morning doesn’t help. Then a second 20hr bus ride (shows how keen I was) from Manali to Leh over the second highest pass in the world (5300m). Leh, the regional capital town of Ladak is a mainly Buddhist part of India and yet in Leh there's a mix of Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. Leh and the region is only open about three months of the year to outsiders due to its high location and snow covered roads and passes, so managing to get there is quite special.

I met a fellow traveler, Laia from Spain, on the way up and I told her of my wish to rent a motorbike for a week or so and explore the Himalayan mountain range. Laia was taken by the idea and in Manali we were already discussing the practicalities of the road trip. How exciting. When I rent a motorbike, I always do so in two's (safety), now I had a partner in crime!


We arrived very late in Leh, slept and over the next few days managed to finally find a decent Royal Enfield bike with at least a KM gauge that works (for petrol & distances) breaks, lights and saddle bags. Perfect. We had a map and by now a rough idea of where we would venture first and then go from there.

Leaving Leh we headed for Lamayuru, apparently a few hours away. The roads started off ok. Ladak as a region has quite a military presence due to it being located so close to the border with Pakistan, and so with the military presence there are some good tarmac roads. However, in the blink of an eye the road suddenly changes to rocks and a complete full on dirt track made for Defender Land Rovers. This change can catch one off guard, certainly at speed!! It caught us of guard a few times. Laia and I braved the very poor roads and continued on following a beautiful green glacial river almost all the way to our destination, finally arriving some 5-6hrs later to what we thought was the end of the world. A small little mountain village, at the end of a terrible dirt track on top of a mountain in the middle of now where. We managed to find the only hostel in the village, arriving at dusk, a lovely little but very expensive hostel. We ate and just slept, feeling a little warn out but happy we made it safely to our first destination. It was cold that night as we found out but the stars were amazing. A vast clear dark sky depicting with ease the Milky Way and other solar systems. I could have stayed out for hours and star gazed but it was just too cold.

The next morning we visited the Lamayuru Gompa, the Tibetan Buddhist temple. A quiet peaceful temple that had been built 100's of years ago, I think I also read the highest built temple in India. The temple had such a calm energy I wanted to stay there for hours but later in the morning we headed off.

We followed the beautiful green river with huge mountains on either side for a few of hours before coming to the mountain village of Dah. I have to say it was one of the most scenic roads I have driven along, certainly in my top 10 (see pics). Well to be honest it took us ages to find the entrance of the hostel in Dah because there was nothing, no road just a couple of hidden steps Someone kindly showed us the way. Once there though it was just idyllic. A small farm located up high on a small flat plateau with a huge river to the right and vast mountains on either side. The farm was filled to the rafters with apricot, apple and pear trees, tomatoes, beans, corn, cabbages, rice, etc, etc. Butterflies, bees and insects flying around everywhere, birds singing, fresh water flowing down from the mountains, oh and a solar panel for light. They were in fact quite self sufficient but you need to be if you choose to live in the middle of now where. It didn't take us long to realize we had stumbled across a gem of a place and decided to stay a couple of days. It was so relaxing, reading & writing in the sun and our hosts were very kind. They cooked the best food Laia and I had had in India to date. Delicious vegetarian dishes with rice. Our host took me on a trip around the local village, where i saw lots of fruit & vegetable gardens and the huge vast mountain range behind. The place felt to me that it continued on just like many generations before not being particularly affected by the outside world. I like finding these kinds of places.Laia and i just chilled out under the big blue skies.

A couple of days later we headed over Khardung La, the highest and probably coldest motor able pass in the world at some 5602m high and onto the Nubra valley and the village of Hunder. It would be a grave understatement if i told you the road was ok, to be honest we were both a little scared at times with the road dropping a km down sometimes. Although we were sometimes tired we managed well and didn't come off the bike once. But if we had we would have needed two people just to pick it, it weighs an absolute ton. (Luckily we never had any bike trouble - i put that down to great driving hahaha).

Nubra valley is quite different from the other scenery we passed, with a vast green expanse of grass at the bottom of the valley with huge sand dunes. Weird. A beautifully clean river ran through the valley with mountains on all sides. When i sat there and just observed, i could here silence. Absolutely nothing. I don't experience that too often, it was great for meditating. We stumbled across this lovely organic retreat that had large tents with beds, well Laia was smitten, having never slept in a tent before, so what the heck, we decided to stay their a couple of nights.

We ventured out one day into the valley, walking and paddling in the water. Honestly, it felt like the end of the world again...i guess it’s just this region of India that feels more like Tibet or Nepal possibly, but certainly not like crazy India. It’s been left behind, to meander at its own pace, void of the madness of the rest of India. We both felt that the region of Ladak was well worth making the grueling 40hr+ journey to. A place in another time.
Unwillingly we headed back through the Nubra valley and over Khardung pass to Leh. This week Laia and I spent together was really special to me. Definitely a highlight of my travels. We were a team, a great team and really enjoyed each others company. We laughed so much and talked about all sorts. We became good friends during those 10 days. Laia was a courageous passenger, not being too scared, i managed the bike well and we got to all our places safely and in one piece. It’s an amazing feeling to be free; being on the bike only accentuates that feeling, which we fortunately all have. Freedom. Often taken for granted. Live in the now and appreciate your freedom friends, and if you like and can, travel. Its great food for the soul.