Acclimatisation was the buzzword
when we announced our
plans to travel to Leh and the
rest of Ladakh. The oxygen levels at 10000 ft are much lower than in the plains
and we were forewarned of
breathlessness, headaches and in case we over exerted ourselves on the first
day even damage to our very limited
stock of grey cells! So when the Air India flight landed at about 8.30 in the morning we were whisked
away to the excellently located Indus cottage and the first thing was the medical by the good
doctor. Once we were declared fit and fine, given a list of dos and don’ts and medicines to gulp down before breakfast and dinner to avoid HA aka
high altitude sickness and told to beware of any headaches or sleepiness we looked around to the place of mystique , of
Buddhists , of army posts ,of prayers wheels and Gonpas and huge intimidating mountains encircling us.
The first day advisably is to be
taken at a leisurely place to give the body time to adjust to the decreased
oxygen levels. So we set out to sit
beside the gurgling clear waters of the Indus River.The eponymous Officers mess where we stayed was right
on the banks of Indus and we enjoyed the absolutely beautiful view of the
mountains in the distance and the not so very wide river meandering around the
curves and passing us by on its onward journey to Pakistan. We dared to dip our
hands in the water and were punished for our impunity by a chill that almost
froze them. Even in mid May the water is still cold coming as it is from way high
up somewhere in China and fed by glaciers. The pilot had announced a
temperature of 13 deg centigrade but the wind made it colder.
The mountains surrounding Leh are not the green ones that one sees in
the Himalayas. They are barren and rocky and from a distance a very foreboding
brown .But more about them when we see them up close. The valley has few trees
,apricots and apples ,some poplars but not much more .The army is a major
presence here and our first stop was the
Hall of Fame both as a mark of respect to the indomitable spirit of our
soldiers and to be acquainted with Ladakh ,the land ,the people ,the
culture,flora and fauna and also with work and the sacrifices of our armed
forces. A model of the map of Ladakh gives us a fair idea of the geography with
the mountain ranges, the river systems ,
the borders with China and Pakistan and
the passes marked very creatively .
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| Inside The Shanti Stupa |
Equipped with this knowledge , we felt we knew Ladakh …”the land of
passes” a bit better . Our next stop was the Shanti Stupa , a stupa built by
the Japanese. As we stood at the railings of the imposing structure we had a lovely birds’ eye view of the city of Leh below. Photographs done we came down and made our
way back to have some lunch and “to take it easy” on the first day . Evening was spent in the Main market , the “Connaught
place” equivalent of Leh and the Tibetan market down the slope selling mostly
Made in China stuff . Pashmina, Kashmir embroidered jackets and trinkets were
aplenty .
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| Leh from atop the Shanti Stupa |
The next day we woke without a
headache and any visible signs of restlessness or fatigue except for the cold
.So we were all geared for exploring Leh and then some more. Our first stop was
driving along the Indus to the Alchi
monastery , established sometime in 1020 AD by the Rinpoche Zangpo.
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| Prayer wheel at Alchi |
It is part of the
bigger Likir monastery headed by the Dalai Lama’s brother. A fee of 20 Rs per
head and the treasures of the monastery were opened to us.The Sumtsek temple
with imposing statues of the Avalokeetesvara Buddha,the Maitreya Buddha or the
future Buddha and Manjushree , the
Buddha of knowledge is the most important ones . The more than 1000 year old
wooden temple had hand paintings of
Buddha avatars and miniature Buddha on the wall and a quaint
wooden ladder leading to the first floor which is closed now. The structure
looked fragile ,not surprising, considering that Alchi is the oldest monastery
in Ladakh. There were three other smaller temples to each of these Buddhas with
mandalas and Bodhisatvas painted on the walls.The lama in charge of Alchi is
deputed from Likir and in his gentle way took us around this ancient place of
Buddhist learning.
If the monastery took us back centuries , the next stop took us forward
to the wonders of science and engineering. We were
headed towards Alchi dam or the Nimmo Bazgo Hydel Project
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| A view of the dam |
the highest hydro-electric power station in the
world .Highest is a common adjective
here given the place’s elevation. Enroute we had passed the highest filling
station of Indane , not to forget the highest airfield,the highest HP Petrol
pump etc etc . The construction of this hydro station and its operation is a
remarkable engineering feat since the river freezes in winters
,temperatures drop to something like -30deg c ,the landslides and the Indus
water treaty with Pakistan. The Chief Engineer’s tales of how the Zanskaar river was blocked by a part of a
mountain , which toppled in a landslide
and stopped its flow and then as the
summer came and waters melted it caved in to let out a rush of water which
submerged some villages and would certainly have submerged the power station if
not for their engineering foresight not to forget the havoc further downstream
, were riveting. Sadly the full
potential of this generation is not being used fully for lack of
transmission facilities. But the city
of Leh and surrounding villages , the Army and Air Force now have electricity
24×7 . I had never seen a hydro project at such close quarters .
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| The Magnetic Hill |
A destination very famous is the magnetic hill and our driver took the
vehicle to a spot and left the gear in neutral. The car rolled back despite the upslope of the
road. Some say it is an optical illusion and that there is not an upslope
there. Be as it may , the words “MAGNETIC HILL “ is painted on a hill near
the road and there is certainly an
attraction in the place(pun intended) .The magnetic power of the road tested we
move on to the view the confluence of Zanskaar and Indus. The clear waters of
the Indus and the muddy of the Zanskaar form a distinct line at their meeting
point from where the river continues on its downstream journey as Indus. There
is some river rafting here , but the snow had just started to melt so there
wasn’t enough water for a good rafting experience. Of course an operator did try
to tempt us with an offer of Rs 600 per person , but we did not take him
because of the shallow waters and the strong winds. It was two pm by now and
there was a strong wind blowing . A
tourist centre is now being built at the confluence with some facilities.
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| The Sangam of Zanskaar and Indus |
There is a fair amount of greenery along this road and we stop to admire
a lovely view of the Valley . On our way back
we stop 25 kms before Leh at Gurudwara
Patthar Sahib .The Gurudwara is managed by the Army and we were fortunate to
have prasad at the langar there . The Gurudwara has a rock inside said to be
thrown at Guru Nanak by a demon when the Guru was meditating here .The rock
turned to wax .The rock is kept in the Gurudwara . We were advised to visit a
hill across the road from where the demon threw the stone.Its a long climb of
some 300 steps and we gave it a skip for fear of exhaustion.But the view ,they
say, of the Valley and the surroundings from there is incredible.
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| The Indus in the evening |
