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 :)
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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
