Ladakh : A glimpse of Ice Age

Jaishree Mitra

Byline Bhopal@bhopalbyline

Ladakh every traveller’s dream destination. Being a travel freak and an explorer Ladakh was on the top of my ‘wish list’. Me and my husband travel a lot and make travel plans jointly. But considering ‘Ladakh’ I was more inclined towards it, rather than my husband. Ladakh being on such a high altitude where there are several health risks involved(as we had to travel with our 8 yrs old daughter) put my husband on a back foot.I thought may be I have to eliminate ‘Ladakh’ from my bucket list.

Then on one fine day I received a mail and to my surprise it was an air ticket to ‘Leh’. I jumped out of my happiness. I started having goosebumps as the date mentioned in the ticket was 22nd of december. It was an off-season to visit Ladakh with dipping temperatures and biting cold. Keeping apart this part we went to seek some medical advice. With proper medications and have googled all the do’s and don’ts we were all set to start our tour to the land of cold desert ‘Ladakh’. The flight took-off and soon were above the clouds.On the blink of an eye we were flying above the city of Leh fully covered with snow. Soon we landed with a pilot announcement about the outside temperature to be minus 9°c. We layered ourselves with woolens and were all set to put our feet on the land of Leh.

Oh!!! What an exposure to cold it was. The breeze almost froze us.The major problem with Ladakh is the problem of acclimatisation. The scarcity of oxygen and decreased air pressure had already started affecting us. The temperature at night dipped to minus 21°c. So for another 2 days we stayed at the hotel and got us acclimatised.We started our journey by visiting ‘Shanti Stupa’ a magnificent Tibetian structure built at dizzying height of 11841 feet. Then we moved on to a nearby town of Hemis, land marked by its monasteries.

Talking about the food you mainly have to dwell upon the chinese cuisine. As it was extreme winters majority of the market was closed . As the city was less crowded with tourists we got to experience the real essence of ‘Leh-Ladakh’.It was just the mountains and us.Having said that the mountains were completely breath-taking through their picturesque views. Each mountain was narrating its own story, having its own variety of color and pattern, as if God has created each of them as a masterpiece. The semi frozen rivers and waterfalls were stealing my heart away. Kids could be seen playing ice hockey on the frozen ponds. The cold desert had already started adding beautiful chapters to my life.

• Now comes the most difficult and adventurous chapter of our tour. A drive to the ‘Khardungla pass’ one of the highest motorable passes in the world at an elevation of 18380 ft above sea level. As we started our journey I felt I was in a ice-cream factory with ice all over. The temperature outside was minus 40°c and the oxygen levels were dipping down. Still we came out of the vehicle quickly had a nice photoshoot done to take back the snow covered memories with us.

• Now on the return we were about to experience one of the most endoheric lake - ‘The pangong lake’. That instantly reminds us of the 3 idiots climax scene. Beauty of Pangong lake is something that cannot be described in words it needs to be seen, felt and absorbed within yourself.The other day we went to explore the Indus River, that was semi frozen and completely frozen at some parts. That day we experienced the joy of walking and playing on a frozen river. While coming back we also experienced the magic of the magnetic hill. Nature is full of beauty and surprises that sometimes leaves you spell bound.

• Through the entire journey I came to realise one thing that adventure makes you even more stronger. It also made me understand the greatness of Indian army how they are protecting our borders by giving duty in harsh climatic conditions. “Ladakh” you are going to stay in my heart forever.

•(Jaishree is a Bhopal based traveller & explorer)

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