The drudgeries of life
Friday, January 08, 2010
This is how I got Leh'd!!
With the 5th trimester having ended, and having a bit of free time in hand, I decided to finally put in words the 4-months old and 15 days long Dream Trip spanning Rohtang, Sarchu, Leh, Kargil, Srinagar, Amritsar et al :)
The following is the link (I'm publishing the posts at the back date on which I originally started typing out the drafts):
Starting Jan 5th, 2010, I'll publish one post per day for each of the 15 days of the trip.
Keep reading!
And hey! Feedback, positive and negative (if you hate constructive feedback ;p), is most welcome and sincerely sought!
Happy Reading!
Labels: Amritsar, Archive, Dream Trip, Kargil, Leh, Rohtang, Sarchu, Srinagar
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Dream Trip: Day 8 - Conquering the Mighty Zanskar!
Probably the most adventurous day of the entire dream trip... etched in our memories as Day 8.
Everyone was up and ready to go by 8 AM.
Had omelettes and paranthas at Bon Appetit, our last meal in Leh :'(
Wrapped up the packing bit, thanked our landlady (her husband, Mr. Lobzing was not around) for all her help and hospitality, and checked out of our Guest House.
Last meal at Bon Appetit :'(
As decided, we followed the rafting organizing party's jeep to Chilling, the point by the Zanskar from where the rafting commenced.
While driving along the hilly roads with the Zanskar river flowing in the opposite direction by the roads, the view was spectacular. That said, 3 of us, Randy, Sid, and I, scoffed at the steady flow and lack of rapids in the river... we started comparing it with the sexy rafting experience in the Ganges at Hrishikesh!
What an experience that had been... clean water, strong currents and lots of rapids. The Zanskar in contrast seemed to have muddy water, weak currents and just a couple of rapids!
Zanskar!!
A seemingly innocuous rapid in the Zanskar
We witnessed a raft with lots of occupants navigating a turn in the river so efficiently that we were convinced that this rafting experience was going to merely a formality :(
It'll be child's play, we assured the others! What a let down!
Ahem! Little did we know what awaited us!
We had heard that these little guys would oversee the security issues...
For us, none of them remained :P
Once we reached Chilling, it took the organizers a lot of time to get the rafts ready. There were two rafts: we were supposed to occupy one of them, and the other one was for a group of foreigners.
Now that we were standing on the banks of the Zanskar, the feeling of confidence that arose after seeing not many rapids quickly dissipated on witnessing the river up close! The Zanskar looked menacing, and it's current strength was increasing by the minute (due to the melting snow up in the mountains, one organizer confidently asserted)!
Holy smokes! This is so not going to be easy!!
Six warriors, all set to take the plunge :P
The foreigners pumping air into their raft
While we rested, our guides took care of our raft :P
B1 Bros. :)
Our grey beauty! 
Rafters Ahoy!Turn by turn, we helped pump air into the rafts, got into the rafting gear (life jackets, helmets et al) and had a photography session!
It wasn't until 12:40 PM that we set off on our rafts! Rafters ahoy!!
Let me make it clear at this point that the water was icccy colddd... you can't dip your feet for more than 20-30 seconds, that cold!
The seating arrangement of us rowers in the raft was as follows:
____________
| | __________ | |
Me ----------Chandu
| |___________| |
| | __________ | |
Zulfi ------------ Sid
| | __________ | |
Randy ---------- Rusti
|__________|
Guide
Chandu and I being seated up front, on the right and left sides of the raft respectively, the onus of taking the waves head on (literally!) and matching our rowing rhythms under all circumstances was on us!
After a little trial run in a calm portion of the river, we were ready to go... well, not really but that's what our guide told us :P
For the next 90 minutes, Zanskar punished us like hell for underestimating her prowess! Oh, there were crazy rapids alright... just that you have to be there amidst them to realize that!
Till 2:15 PM, we braved rapids, rowed like madmen (and it would be the understatement of the decade to state that it was tiring!), heard and obeyed the commands from our guide like "all forward", "left back, right front", "right back, left front", "stop", "relax" (our favorite command :P), "row faster" et al!
When I say it was tough, really really tough, you've got to trust me :)
Initially there was no synchronization at all, everyone was irritated, and the our guide kept praising the foreigners in the adjacent raft who actually seemed to be professionals!
It was then that we started counting... and rowing with the count was like singing with a sexy background music! Sure enough we discovered the missing synchronization! We started rowing pretty well, and soon, it was the turn of the guide in the adjacent raft to compliment us B)
My back was paining like hell, as were the shoulders... others surely must've experienced similar pain! But we kept rowing like champs!
After a grueling 1.5 hours, we got a 30 minutes long break! Ahhhh I couldn't feel my feet once I stepped off the raft onto land! Everyone was wet and shivering in the cold breeze! Brrrr
I unabashedly had a few puffs of a cigarette, the only thing available to provide respite from the cold! Took off the wet shirt that had till now been adding to the shivering, and sat in the sun! Also clicked a few pics there...
Ever ready to go... even during a break!
Chandu, Sid, Randy and I with the guides during the mid-break
All set to take off for round 2!!
Thanks to the splashes of salty water on my face, I couldn't pronounce words properly... it was totally funny! LoL! The guys had a ball pulling my leg!
In the second leg of the journey, I initially switched places with Randy so that he managed the right front now, while Chandu handled the left front. Even the back portion, I figured, was tough... the rowing after plunging the oar deep into the river before pushing it back was very tiring.
At a silent stretch on the river, our guide said that we could jump into the water! So Chandu and I took the plunge! Woohoo! For a second, nothing, and then it hits you! Thousands of pointed needles pricking into all parts of the body! Freezing cold water it was! But after a minute or two, it felt awesome!
Soon after we got pulled back up, Chandu and I switched places. Randy and Sid jumped into the water too... should've seen the shock these guys got! Pulling them up in a hurry as a rapid approached was one helluva experience!
We had trusted our guide a lot, but somethings did go wrong despite his guidance! The raft hit a rock full force, and then got caught in a whirlpool! Gasp!!
Soon enough in a slow stretch of the river, our guide made a video of us rowing the raft, and clicked a few pictures of us :)
Our foreigner friends aboard their raft
After 3 long hours, we emerged from the Zanskar, fatigued but victorious! B)
After a few group photos, we threw on our clothes, applied lots of sunscreen (a little too late though! The damage had already been done :'( ). A part of the rafting combo was a complimentary lunch, so we headed for Hotel Wimbledon Continental at Nimoo.
The Zanskar Tamers B)
Given that everyone was dead tired and starving, the rice, dal, cauliflower and tea quickly vanished off the table!
Hunger didn't let us observe the beauty that time... oh well! Better late than never!
By 5:15 PM, we were on our way to Kargil. The road was pretty good for a while, but then it became bad. While the others drowsed and slept, I sat up front with Guru and kept him talking, lest he falls asleep :p
Damn! After a tiring day, this journey was uncalled for.
The road less traveled
Us, riding into the sun :)
Like a nightmare taking over from a bad dream, we were down with a flat trye 15 kms outside Kargil at 10:45 PM. The place was in the middle of a jungle, and that nagging feeling of being watched was terrible!
The place where we got stranded :D
We reached Kargil at 11:15 PM, and the town seemed to be asleep. We had searched on blogs about Hotel Siachen and PC Palace, but they turned out to be very expensive.
We bargained at Hotel Greenland and after lots of hassles (room rent related issues, room shifting) we got 2 good rooms for 900 bucks in all for the night.
Luckily for us, a Sardarji had kept his restaurant open at midnight, so Rajma, Rice and Eggs felt like a sumptuous meal.
Nothing else for the day! Jumped into bed, and blanked out the world :)
Tomorrow, we have to cross through Drass, while being observed by the enemy; witness Tiger Hill and a lot of places actually related to the Kargil War. Wow!!
Next up (Some time, next week):
The Dream Trip: Day 9 - A tryst with History at Kargil!
P.S.: An earnest Request - If you liked this post, please share it on
any of your social media networks using the following button which
appears at the end of the post:
Labels: Dream Trip, Kargil, Leh, Nimoo, Rafting, Whirlpool, Zanskar
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
any of your social media networks using the following button which
appears at the end of the post:
Labels: Amritsar, Dream Trip, Gata Loops, Gulmarg, Itinerary, Jammu, Kargil, Keylong, Leh, Manali, More Plains, Nubra, Pahalgam, Rohtang, Rusti, Sarchu, Sonamarg, Srinagar, Vacation, Zanskar
