The drudgeries of life
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Dream Trip: The Planned Itinerary
My diary entry dated 13th of July, 2009, has the following bullet point:
- Planning starts for Leh-Ladakh trip planned for August 8)
And start it did! We always loved long weekends, but what we were planning entailed not just 2 long weekends, but 2 long weeks! Was it even possible? We're budding managers, we'll manage it... somehow!
On 15th of July, we came up with a rough plan for what the 2 weeks would look like... or so my diary says! Damn, were we excited or what!
From then till the 9th of August (the day before we finally took off), minds vacillated, people backed out; the plan was fine-tuned, it underwent lots of changes but ultimately it survived :)
This is how the final itinerary looked:
Day 1 - Delhi to Manali (500 kms), 16 hrs
10/08
Day 2 - Manali to Sarchu via Rohtang, Keylong, Darcha and Baralacha La (270 kms), 12-13 hrs
Day 3 - Sarchu to Leh via Gata Loops, Pang, More Plains, Rumtse and Upshi (250 kms), 12-13 hrs
Day 4 - Roaming in and around Leh
13/08
Day 5 - Leh to Pangong Tso, and back, via Chang La and Pagal Nala, (Round trip of 350 kms), 14 hrs
Day 6 - Leh to Sumur (Nubra Valley) via Khardung La and Panamic (150 kms), 6-7 hrs
Day 7 - Sumur to Leh via Sand dunes and Deskit (250 kms), 8 hrs
Day 8 - Leh to Chilling (50 kms), Rafting on Zanskar till Nimoo (30 kms), Nimoo to Kargil (160 kms)
15 hours in all
Day 9 - Kargil to Sonamarg via Drass (100 kms), 6 hrs
18/08
Day 10 - Sonamarg to Srinagar via Sonamarg Glacier (120 kms), 5-6 hrs
Day 11 - Srinagar to Pahalgam, and back (Round trip of 200 kms), 8 hrs
Day 12 - Srinagar to Gulmarg, and back (Round trip of 120 kms), 10 hrs
Day 13 - Srinagar to Jammu (300 kms), Jammu to Amritsar (220 kms), 15-16 hrs in all
Day 14 - Amritsar to Ghaziabad via Ambala and Murthal (400 kms), 8 hrs
Well that's how it looked... and happened! Tiring, yes... but worth it, absolutely!
Bing Maps helped me generate a sexy image of the route we took! Here it is:
Before I take you back in time, a few words for the 5 awesome companions (Chandu, Manish, Randy, Sid and Rusti) who made this trip not only possible, but also a superb success:
We had our share of doubts, but we set out to prove them wrong...
We had our share of fears, but we conquered them like warriors B)
We had our share of problems, but we managed them all like true managers ;)
We had our share of risky moments, but we survived and laughed:D
We had our share of bad moments, but it was this Dream Trip that triumphed!
We had our share of critics, but we shut them all up :P
We had our share of fun, but we kept finding scope for more!
We accomplished not just any 14-days long trip, but the Dream Trip of a lifetime :)
Cheers!!!
Story time, folks! Fasten your seat belts :)
I present to you "The Dream Trip"... (next post on Wednesday, Jan 6th)
NOTE: I tend to be garrulous (my apologies for that!), so please feel free to skip the parts where you feel I'm rambling :)
P.S.: An earnest Request - If you liked this post, please share it on
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Labels: Amritsar, Dream Trip, Gata Loops, Gulmarg, Itinerary, Jammu, Kargil, Keylong, Leh, Manali, More Plains, Nubra, Pahalgam, Rohtang, Rusti, Sarchu, Sonamarg, Srinagar, Vacation, Zanskar
5 Comments:
wht a buzz was created in college when every1 of us had the status msg:
College -> Delhi -> Chandigarh -> Kullu -> Manali -> Rohtang pass -> Koksar -> Darcha -> Baralacha -> Sarchu pass -> Tanglang la -> Ladakh -> Leh -> Lemayuru -> Kargil -> Drass -> Sonamarg -> Srinagar -> Gulmarg -> Pehalgam -> Jammu -> Ludhiana -> Delhi -> College!!
Good to have Amritsar included in the end:)
hehe....everything was happening in such a haphazard way....especially booking the car ....all the politics...every party trying to outsmart one another...but good to have a good deal in the end
@amit...yeah that was some evening...The eve before the trip started....Every party thinking the other one is a fool....n Guru ke hote hue koi bhi kaam aasani se kaise ho sakta hai.......he likes to give a twist to eveything.....I remember we spent 2 hours in front of ICICI ATM in RDC...n numerous phone call later......the deal was finalized.......What a relief it was!!!!
and yes you are right about the Buzz...There was definitely some....:)
And amritsar was a perfect ending to a perfect trip......
@Chandu
Seriously man! Whatta buzz... we're true marketing majors (and Manish is a true marketing minor) student! :D
Amritsar, and Golden Temple in particular, were great additions... can't see the trip complete without them :)
@Manish
Hahaha the drama of it all! Log us din soche honge a gang is calling for backup to loot the icici branch... it was such an elaborate discussion, 2 rounds of visit to Sethji
Damn I so wanted to fit it all into the blog... too much hua tha! We should discuss these things in the comments ;)
Btw Sethji shouldnt get to read this blog... till now we had him believe that only 5 people went on this trip (for which he lessened the rate!) :P
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