Crowning Glory : Leh and Ladakh

You need to be prepared for what you will encounter when you visit this remote region of India. Anything you may have heard about it before (and I am sure you would have heard a lot!!), nothing prepares you for the sight that will actually welcome you when you land there...Natural beauty at its peak: mountains, rivers, valleys and even deserts.. Its got it all and everywhere.. While driving around this region, every turn you take, you would be welcome with a new sight, a picture-perfect moment. And as hard as you may try, its very tough to gather it all in your mind and your memory, the amount of beauty this place embodies. (Its even tougher to choose which photos to post on the blog and which not!!)
Jammu & Kashmir state, where Ladakh is located is divided into three regions, and surprisingly all three are completely different: in the landscape, the religion as well as the way of life. There is the Jammu region, which is a plain region and the prevelant religion is Hinduism. Then Kashmir with the picturesque valleys and mountains is the Muslim dominated region. And the third and often neglected part of the state is Ladakh located in the north eastern part of the state with a dominant Buddhist culture.
Ladakh is the forgotten part of the state where population is scarce and development very low. The landscape there is of mountain deserts, with huge brown mountains and no vegetation at all. Just big expanses of brown land full of natural beauty and breathtaking views.

There are three ways of reaching Ladakh. By road, you can come via either Manali or Srinagar. Both routes are supposed to be very scenic and help to acclimatise better. The roads are closed though for 6 months of the year due to snow. At such times the only way to reach this area is by flying directly to Leh.
Its actually quite a nice flight, flying over the Himalayas and you can get top views of the mountains below. The Leh airport is also a feat by itself, how suddenly you land into the valley and see the town emerge from the gap in the mountains! Though be prepared, more often than not, because of bad weather the Leh flights have to turn back to Delhi and then try to make a try for it again later in the day (maybe that's why they are so expensive).

Leh is the capital and main town of the Ladakh region, the biggest (and maybe only) town too. Its the seat of religious and administrative control over the city. It is also the tourist centre which is used as a base for all travels in this region. The river Indus flows through the town and there are couple of picnic spots where you can spend some time. Also, you will notice that most of the landscape there is bare with no vegetation, except next to the rivers (and Indus in this case) where you will see a lot of trees during the spring months and this would be the only green patch in the whole area!!
Leh is situated at a height of about 11,500 feet. Its a high altitude location, and oxygen levels are lower than what our body is used to on the sea level. So, you need to get your body used to such environmental conditions, and so when you fly to Leh, you need to acclimatize for at least one day in Leh itself. That means one day of no exercise at all, just eat, sleep and eat some more!

Leh does not have that much to do actually, its more like the tourist centre. The markets in Leh are full of Tibetan stuff being sold: stones, jewellery, warm clothes, handicrafts etc. You can visit the Shanti Stupa which is at the top of the mountain. Its a huge white Buddhist stupa, not very old, which has been built to spread peace in the world. Also, given that its at such a height, it gives a good view of the town below (again mostly bare, with some small patches of green somewhere). Then there is the kings palace also within the town which is in ruins, but which is open for visitors. You can visit the monasteries in Leh (as well as the countless ones which spot this whole region).

There are monasteries in Leh which are often visited, Thiksey and Shay. They are similar to any other Buddhist monasteries you may have visited. Though, if you go during the tourist season in the summer, you would see lot of activity happening at the monasteries: local dances, shows, festivities, prayers, processions etc (I din see it though!).

There are many many monasteries in this region, in the towns and away from the towns on the roads to other places as well as in many unreachable areas as on top of a hill etc. The structure of the monasteries is similar mostly, there are lot of small rooms where all the llamas stay, study,work and pray. Then each monastery will have the prayer hall, where all the llamas pray together. The Buddha statue would be in this prayer hall and it would be ornately decorated with handicrafts, paintings and sculptures in bright red and golden colours.
Other than in Leh, the other two places recommended by everyone visiting Leh are the Pangongso lake as well as the Nubra valley.
Pangongso lake is this huge 150 kms long saltwater lake about 4-5 hours drive away from Leh. Apparently, it is sea water that got stuck up in the Himalayas when the Indian subcontinent met the Asian continent and the mountains rose. Its like a blue gem in between brown and yellow mountains all around! It looks like a painting, completely unreal and out of this world. The colours are so vibrant and stunning, its completely unbelievable that such a place can exist in this world!

The drive to the lake is again studded with magnificent views along the way, the same landscape everywhere. On the way, there are lakes where you can see clearly multiple colours as shown here. This region is so full of beauty at every turn of the road, it just awes you so much. Even the first view of the lake that you get from a gap in between the hills takes your breath away. You actually wonder, how can something like this exist!
The lake is part in India and part in China. There is army presence there which patrol the lake. You can even drive a few kms just next to it. If lucky you can even boat in the lake, though in a limited area only. There is apparently no life in the lake because of the salty water. There is also a mountain next to the lake, which is called the opal mountain. Apparently, you can find opals here and there on the mountain, you can try your luck there if you are feeling lucky:).
The other place to be visited in this regions is the Nubra valley, where you go via the Khardungla pass, "the highest motorable pass in the world":). Its again a 5-6 hours drive from Leh, and the drive being awe-inspiring as usual. You can even spot yaks in this region.

The Khardungla pass is always cold! And snow is present there most of the year round. Its the highest motorable pass in the world and you will see a sign saying the same at the top (Sorry for no photos, all the photos with the board have us posing with the board, typical patel spot it is!!). You definitely should enjoy the hot chai at the top of the pass. You will never ever find a tea so welcome! Also, don't stay too long at the top of the pass, the wind is so strong and chill factor is so high, its not even safe to stay there for so long. The drive till Nubra is again through dangerous roads and pretty sights on the way. We went to Leh in October which is actually the end of the tourist season. Its the time of the year when the snow starts and roads start getting blocked. Even when we were going to Nubra, we got stuck before the Khardungla pass for a couple of hours as it had snowed the previous night and the pass was closed. Also driving through the snow seems so precarious so many times, its fun and enticing!

Just after crossing the pass with the snow, you will enter the Nubra valley and the landscape will again change completely. Nubra valley is famous for the sand dunes, almost resembling an actual desert(complete with camels)! The drive till Nubra is next to the Zanskar river and the sand dunes and you will see patches of green in between and then bare lands and then valleys with the sand dunes and the sandstorms.

Nubra is also famous for the two humped camels which are only found here in India. Apparently these camels wandered here from Central Asia and have since been here. You can take a ride on the camel, it almost feels as if you are in Rajasthan:) ( with sand dunes, sand storms camels and completely dry air!!). From here, you can also go to the Siachen base camp, if you have the guts to:) !

The last place we visited was the Kargil and Batalik region. Its on the way to from Leh to Srinagar. The route is different, as slowly and slowly, you can see the culture changing from Buddhist to a Muslim tinge, plus you also see the vegetation en-route gradually increasing. You will see these small villages on the hillside where the whole hill is bare, but the villages are surrounded by trees. Every time you take a turn and another breathtaking sight greets you!

Somewhere on this route, if you get a chance you should stop at the 'magnetic hill'. Its this location somewhere on the way which is said to have a magnetic field from a hill nearby which pulls metal including cars, bikes etc towards itself. You stop the car of the road where the marking is made and you will see your car being pulled in the direction of the magnetic hill. Is a very weak magnetic field, but still worth seeing. Interesting, isn't it?
We also visited a village in this area which is supposed to be one of the last few pure Aryan villages left in the country. There are a couple of these villages in this region, where the features of the people are different from the rest of the populace around. Their customs are also different and their eyes are blue! According to some, these people are the original Aryans who had come to the Indian subcontinent from Central Asia and settled here rather than moving inward into the mainland. They retained their original customs and features as they never intermingled with the local populations. In fact all these villages only marry within each other and hence are a dwindling population. We saw the traditional dance being performed by the villagers complete with the traditional attire, music and all. We also interacted with them and learned a little bit about their life.
We also saw the locations which were involved in the Kargil war of 1999 (Tiger hill which was conquered back from the militants and some others). The were bare, with no tree cover, and just loose stones on all sides. Taking a look at these mountains, you would wonder how anyone could climb it, leave alone climb it knowing that the enemy on top just has to push the rocks on the top to start a landslide and finish off your whole team, without ever needing weapons! Hats off to those brave souls, takes a lot of courage to try to fight a war in such inhospitable conditions and to win it too!!

There are lot of options for adventure sports in Ladakh, you can do white water rafting or trekking in the high ranges or take part in the Tibetan marathon. Guess if you are interested in this, then Ladakh offers a lot more than to an average tourist. I of course haven't done any of this, so don't know for sure.

Caves of yore : Ajanta & Ellora

Aurangabad is located in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, about an overnight train journey away from Mumbai. Its the central location used for visiting the Ajanta and Ellora caves, as well as there are some places of interest in Aurangabad itself. Ellora is about 30 kms away from Aurangabad, and takes about an hour or so to reach from Aurangabad while Ajanta is 120 kms away, taking about 2-3 hours to reach there.


The three major differences (according to me) between the two sets of caves is that the Ajanta caves are famous for their paintings, while Ellora for their sculptures The second would be that Ajanta was built about 2200 years ago from second century BC till fourth century AD, while Ellora is relatively new and built about 1600 years ago from the fifth to the eighth century AD. Lastly, Ellora caves were never lost to human civilisation, hence they are still relatively in good condition. However Ajanta had been completely lost and forgotten for centuries till in 1819, it was re-discovered by a British officer. Years of neglect and erosion have led to the Ajanta paintings being in a dilapidated condition now.


Our first day in Aurangabad, we did a day trip to the Ellora caves, as well as visited the sights of Aurangabad. Ellora is a set of 34 caves of which the main ones are mostly shown by the guides and the rest you can visit if you want. The first set of 12 caves are Buddhist caves, then 17 Hinduism based caves and then 5 Jain caves. All of them have perfectly crafted sculptures made by sculptors, artists and Buddhist monks who stayed at this site for years to work on them. The cave constructions were sponsored by the kings, and the artists continued to work for as long as the funds came in, and when the funds dried up, the artists left, leaving some of the caves incomplete.

All the caves have been dug out of the stone, and some of the structures are difficult to imagine. One of the main temples is No. 16 which is a Shiv temple, called Kailasa temple. Look here, to the depth upto which the stone was cut to make the temple. This is the photo from a Jain cave. The sculptures in these caves are slightly different based on the religion they portray, in subtle ways but on the whole they are all dug out of stone, and involve various intricate works.


The sculptures are beautiful, intricate and would have taken years to carve. Its just amazing to walk around these man-made caves. Some of the sculptures are geometric designs while a lot are of the gods and goddesses depicting mythological stories. Some of the caves are viharas, where monks could stay, which some are temples or monasteries to pray. All of the caves are so much cooler than the weather outside too! Its quite a relief during summers, you just dont feel like getting out of the caves!! Its just so wonderful to walk through the years of work, is difficult to put it into words actually, its just something to experience, how years ago something of this beauty could have been built. Ellora unlike Ajanta caves have never been "lost", so on the whole they are in a relatively good condition too (thankfully).

The same day, we also visited Aurangzeb's tomb as well as his wife's tomb, which is also called the mini Taj Mahal. It looks like its been built with the Taj Mahal as its inspiration, isn't it?














We also had a stop at the Daulatabad fort, but did not get time to spend time to explore it. Apparently its one of the best forts in India, with multiple levels of security at each level. Take a look there if you can.


The next day, we went to visit Ajanta caves, and it was a completely different and out of this world experience. The first view which greets you when you climb the mountain out of which these caves are carved is breathtaking. 30 caves cut out on one face of the mountain and which were lost on to civilization for ages.. As you walk through these caves, you will see the ornately decorated gates and the interiors painted in resplendent colours. Imagine, this was done like 2000 years ago! and imagine what it was when it was in perfect condition, the walls and ceilings in bright colours!!!! I could spend hours just admiring that work!


 Ajanta caves are 30 in number and are all Buddhist caves. They again have some caves designed as viharas (as in the photo) and some as monasteries and prayer halls to pray. Also, a lot of the caves are incomplete as when the funds died down, the artisans stopped working on them and moved onto other locations. Also, the caves at Ajanta have both paintings, as well as some sculptures also.
Over the years when these caves were "lost:, the overgrowth from the forests destroyed the caves, plus water came in during rains and destroyed all the paintings. There is restoration work going on massively, however a lot has been already lost. What is left is amazing too though, just amazing. The colours, the paintings, the expressions on the faces, the whole stories told in one canvas, the jatakas tales, there is so much to appreciate and absorb..


Interesting facts which I still remember are that there is one cave with dragon paintings in it. Does this mean we had contact with the Chinese even then? Also, there is this painting in one of the caves, where if you shine the torch, the necklace lights up as if it is sparkling. This is one of the most famous photo from Ajanta.






Here are some more photos from Ajanta. Just put together some good ones...

The guides at both the caves however are not good. They hurry you through, not really giving time to you to enjoy and appreciate the art there. That is one thing which really was not too positive. Flash cameras are not allowed inside the caves so as not to harm the paintings. However given how rule-following we Indians are, people continue to use it all the time!! Otherwise, the caves were just mind-blowing. Hopefully they would be preserved well for the coming generations.


A good place to stay in Aurangabad would be the Lemontree hotel. Its quite a reasonable place, with high standards and is relatively new too. The food is nothing much to write home about though! But the service at the hotel is top-class, highly flexible and helpful. Definitely would recommend it.

Bohemian Goa

Goa is one of "those" places, where you end up so many times in your life (and if you have ever stayed in Mumbai, this number would be much higher!). This place is just so amazing that many times I wonder what it is that is so special about it. But its just so much fun and relaxing, I think can spend a long time there and still not have been able to explore all it has to offer...

Goa is mostly famous for its beaches and the night life at some of the popular beaches. Anyways have been to Goa a couple of times and each trip has been so different than the last one, that I always wonder, "What is the real Goa??"!! Not figured that out yet though but still working on it:).

Goa and its beaches are split between the north and south Goa beaches. The north Goa ones are the more crowded and hippie ones, the popular ones being Baga, Calangute, Arambol and Anjuna. They are famous for their beach parties, the night markets, the clubs and the crowds.

We stayed at Baga once, in the hotel next to the only Subway in Goa:). It was quite a happening and lively place and enough to keep you occupied for a long time! The beaches here are good with clean water. Some of the beaches are sandy while some are stony beaches but everywhere, you have a lot of crowd.You should also definitely buy some of those brightly coloured shirts and skirts available at the beach shops. They are so Goan, you would definitely want to be seen in those when in Goa. There are lot of places on the beaches itself to eat, where the tables and chairs are put on the beach itself during dinner time, while during the day you can eat at the makeshift straw-shacks on the beach itself.

Also nearby on North Goa itself is Fort Aguada, where the movie Dil Chahta Hai was shot. Its a popular place to watch the sunset from too.

South of these beaches comes Panjim, the capital of Goa. Compared to the rest of Goa, the city is very boring. Its like any other city, with offices and some small beaches which are not really impressive. It has two famous beaches, Miramar and Dona Paula. Dona Paula is a stony beach and has some water sports apparently.

From Panjim, you can also visit old Goa, which retains its Portuguese ancestry. People dress differently, the houses and architecture is different, the air is also completely different. There are two famous churches here itself, right opposite each other. They are a must visit for all.

And South of Panjim are what are called the South Goa beaches. They are white sand beaches and much less crowded than the north Goa beaches. In fact, a lot of the famous resorts are located in the south with a lot of them having their own private beaches.

My last trip to Goa, I finally went to South Goa and absolutely loved it. We took a train from Mumbai to Mudgaon and then onwards from there to Palolem Beach. The drive till Palolem is quite pretty, through heavily forested hills and twists and turns in the road. We stayed at Palolem itself and it was indeed my best stay in Goa!

Palolem beach has shacks running across the beach, but it is still not very crowded. There are not that many tourists visiting here, mostly people who are staying there itself. Its sparkling at night too, when its all lighted up. A good place to have meals is the Draupadi restaurant, it had such tasty food, it was heavenly...yummmm..

The water is very clean here, though very placid. Since the beach is curved inside, its surrounded by land on almost three sides and hence does not have too many waves. Its good for swimming and safe too as its quite shallow, but not good for body surfing.

We stayed at the Palolem Beach Resort which is right at the beach itself. Was a good place to stay, and given how much we paid for it, a steal!! The hotel had a restaurant right on the beach, so you can enjoy the sound of the waves while having your meals. The breakfast spread is amazing, anything you want was available!! The rooms were good too, had everything you need without any pretentions. The hotel also had a tree-house structure, where you can just sit and stare at the sea, especially during the afternoon when its too hot to go out. This was where we sat for hours and played cards and read and slept off too!

You can spend time doing a variety of things here: walk on the beach, run, cross over during low tide to the Sundowner, which is a resort slightly secluded on a hill, and approachable only sometimes during the day when the tide is low etc etc.

One of the days, we drove to Kolva beach which is the beach for watersports. We were just so shocked with the crowds there that decided not to move out of Palolem after that:))). Anyways they had para sailing, water jet scooter as well as the banana boats there. Para sailing was great, with you getting a view of the nearby beaches as well as the Vasco town. Jet scooter was a bit of a let down though, as they dont really let you drive the scooter yourself. But you can see that its got a lot of "fun" potential.

If you walk along the Kolva beach, there are a couple of shack restaurants later on which don't allow Indians at the restaurants, only foreigners are welcome!! Return of the British Raj, it sounds like, but its true!!! They allow you to eat there and use the sunbeds only if you have white skin and otherwise not. Quite a shocker it was. Anyways, otherwise Kolva was just a fine beach. Water was good, waves were good but the crowd wasn't. So not as much fun.

At Palolem itself, there are lot of things to do. Get a tattoo at one of the shops or from the traveling artists who approach you when you are sleeping on the sunbeds. Shop. You will notice foreigners being given preference here too, when shop keepers shoo you off on seeing a foreigner approach, asking you to give way to the new guests:))). You will also see service being given to them while the Indians being asked to "self-serve". Its very sad to see this happening, what should we do about it? Can we or can't we?





From Palolem, you can also take a boat ride to butterfly island, which you can see from the island. The boatsman takes you to 2-3 small beaches on the island and leaves you there to play in the water for sometime, and then comes and takes you to somewhere in the middle of the sea where you can get the see the sunset. Its a good couple of hours of fun. There are also lot of boatsmen offering to show you dolphins in the sea, but when I had tried it years ago, all you could ever see was the tail of some black fish while it was going down into the water. Definitely not worth it!!

Otherwise most of the things about Goa would be well known. You can hire bikes or cars and drive around from beach to beach yourself. Food especially sea food is great there. Feni is the popular locally brewed alcohol, apparently quite strong and tasty.

The menu at most of the shacks offers everything, from Indian to South Indian to Thai to Italian to Mexican to Middle Eastern! Though what they finally get for you would be very different from what you expected!! Banofie Pie is a popular dessert and not to be missed.

Service is very lax, everyone is as chilled out as you should be when near a beach:). Weather is hot most of the year round, winter of course being the best weather to visit. During monsoons, Goa is still pretty though the water is not as safe to go into. Goan music is very lively if you get a chance to hear it somewhere. Karaoke's are popular and fun too. Magnificent white churches are strewn everywhere you drive. The towns are small and old worldly type and the people completely relaxed and chilled out. There are some casinos also organised on ferries which go into international waters for you to play legally.There are also apparently some good wildlife parks there, which somehow no one seems to care about:) as well as some famous temples also.

All in all, a great place to relax and forget everything else.