Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh
We found it hard to sleep on our first night in Leh. We woke up at least twice and both the times our breathing was heavy like Darth Vader’s. When we finally woke up, it was bright outside and we were feeling remarkably fresh for the amount of sleep we had had. The first thing I did; even before we had breakfast, was to go to our guest house’s terrace and take in the view of the Stok range again. It feels wierd to state this, but so overwhelmed was I with emotions at seeing the mountains, that it felt like I was being reunited with a close friend that I hadn’t seen in years.
Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh 1
We spent most of our second day lazing around in Leh or rather we were taking it easy because our guide never failed to remind us of perils of altitude sickness - though he said we were free to roam about in the market a little. We left around 10:30 in the morning and walked up the Fort Road towards the Leh Palace. As soon as we reached an important junction we saw a restive crowd standing in a neat file on either side of a road - as if awaiting the arrival of someone important. And someone important it was - H. H. the Dalai Lama’s visit to Ladakh was coinciding with ours (though I am sure it was the other way round) and a lot of people had devoutly lined up to watch his cavalcade pass by. We too stood there surprised at the timing of our visit to Ladakh and the market this morning, and within seconds the Dalai Lama’s jeep sped past us.
It took us almost 45 minutes to reach a densely populated (by Ladakh standards) settlement of mud-brick and concerete houses at the base of the Leh Palace. It wasn’t noon yet but the sun was already admonishing us for being over-dressed. The adage about it being possible to get frostbitten and sunburnt at the same time was holding true; only that it inclined heavily towards the sunburnt part. Mutts sat half-asleep and camouflaged in the shade. We took a few pictures of the palace but bookmarked the long, up-hill walk to the palace for another day. We wanted to stay on friendly terms with our lungs.
Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh 2
Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh 3
We traced our steps back to the main market and saw a shop selling a collection of intricately embroidered Tintin t-shirts. A lot of shops in Leh sell embroidered t-shirts - a few throw in an occasional Tintin t-shirt - but this place had the most elaborate collection of detailed Tintin designs.
Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh 4
By this time our grumbling tummies had joined the chorus of complaining body parts (led by the lungs of course). We finally settled at the World Garden Café just opposite the Leh Police Station. The place serves fresh, charcoal-oven-baked pizzas, home-made pasta and hummus-falafel-pita bread among other assortment of dishes from all over the world. A visit is highly recommended.
We went back to our guesthouse for a short siesta and this time I noticed a neat cabbage-patch in the midst of all those flower-beds. The garden at the guest house would continue to fascinate me right till the last day of our trip.
Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh 5
The sun had lost its bite when we left in the evening. The lane that led us from the guesthouse to the main road was lined with trees on one side. The sun was now behind them and their shadows cloned their world in silhouettes on the wall opposite.
Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh 6
The palace and a monastery near it were illuminated by the orange light of the setting sun. It all looked very surreal - electricity polls and wires criss-crossing across the street in front and the palace and the hills behind.
Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh 7
On our way back to the guesthouse we saw a bizarre sign at a telephone booth. The door was open inwards making the sign difficult to click. The shopkeeper saw my predicament, went inside and held the door for me to photograph! One hears about how the various cities are becoming photographer unfriendly - no sign of that here!
Ladakh Vacation - Day 2 - Leh 8
Ladakh Vacation - Day 1
We were leaving everything behind - well for 9 days anyway - our work, the media, the Internet, the swine flu and the mosquitoes in the Kingfisher Red bus who were hell-bent on kissing us good-bye.
On the Delhi-Leh flight, the landscape below changes before the cabin crew drags the food trolly to your seat. In the beginning, we saw mountains that lacked my notions of Himalayan grandeur - inferior specimens disowned and banished by the Himalayas. But once you cross Shimla, you start to see what you’d probably consider no-so-distant cousins to Mt. Everest. Most mountains were covered in snow. Wisps of clouds cast sharp shadows on them.
Leh Bound
Leh Bound
Leh Bound
As we got ready for descent, snow-capped peaks went into the background and their place was taken by mountains of varied colors and textures - barren but strikingly beautiful.
Moments before landing in Leh
Just before landing in Leh
The luxury of being able to go from Delhi (239 m / 784 ft. above mean sea level) to Leh (3,500 m / 11, 483 ft. above mean sea level) within 90 minutes, comes at the risk of altitude sickness. You won’t feel a thing immediately - in fact you’ll welcome the crisp mountain air after having inhaled the re-re-circulated airplane air for over 90 minutes. But a few minutes there and you’ll realize that your breathing is suddenly not a sub-concious activity you perform in the background.
Our guest house was a mere 10 minutes drive from the airport and despite being in the main area of the town, was nicely secluded from the hubbub of tourists and traffic. We had our breakfast at the guest house’s roof-top café in stunned silence - it is hard to talk with a view like this:
View from the guest house
View from the guset house
The guest house also had a well-tended garden. Most plants have a 3-4 month window of survival and the flowers and plants here were determined to make the most of it; even more than I was determined to make the most of our first day indoors:
Almost a flower
Buds
And There Was Light
A hasty visit to Chikmaglur during Monsoons yielded a few pictures and a travelogue; which recently got published (text by wife). Here is my favorite from the trip:
And There Was Light
Also, just came back from a 9 day trip to Ladakh - rather dragged my body back - the soul continues to linger somewhere in the Himalayas.
Most people in India are born in August..
…asserted the wife on her birthday. Well I pulled out some data from Cricinfo’s database of Indian players and it seems like most of our cricketers were born in December! (This includes anyone who ever played cricket for India):
MonthDecember October November September January May March July August April June February |
Count867 709 688 679 488 453 449 438 438 422 391 334 |
But then cricketers in India are very special people to start with - aren’t they?
PJ
What is common between an Auto driver in Bangalore and a Nikon D90? One-And-A-Half.
p.s. Don’t worry if you didn’t get it. The audience for this PJ is probably in single digit.
Notes from a Coorg visit in June
The monsoon is supposed to be at its peak in June/July in Coorg. No such thing this year. An occasional drizzle which would threaten to grow into something worthier but would stop just short is all we got. Still, it’s all very beautiful.
We weren’t the only ones eager for rain…
…and we did get a drizzle soon. The dreamy soft-focus here is caused by a few stray droplets on the lens. These are pomegranate buds/flowers.
The paddy fields near our home-stay collected whatever little rain that did fall.
Everything looked fresh and squeaky clean.
The day ended with a glorious sunset.
We stopped by at the monastary at Kushalnagar on our way back.
Realized I had never looked straight up before. Was pleasantly surprised to see the chandelier use fluorescent lamps. The two shades flanking it continue to use the lamp’s original Edison edition.
Chandelier at the Bylakuppe Monastery
p.s. The new camera still hasn’t seen much action. The photos here are from the old EOS 350D.