After the independence day celebration, we jeeped it to the house of the young contractor who was supplying us our vehicles/drivers. He lives in a rustic ground + 1 house, in a village near Leh
Namki Chai. That's salty tea, a speciality of the region. It's heaty for the body and you use that apparatus to make it. Unfortunately, i forget the recipe <damn it>
The view from Padma's living room. Yup, i'd like to wake up to that every morning too
On our way to Khardung La, above the 'cloud line' (which i personally find fascinating). I'm guessing this was at around 18,000 feet
And finally, at Khardung La, the world's highest motorable pass! I was hoping that the first time i visit this place, it would be astride an enfield, but i'm not complaining
Some phirangi dudes, on their enfields. They where quietly happy at having conquered this Pass
The descent from Khardung La. Note the curvying roads, and the white sand, against blue mountains
S, V and me stopped to visit a monastery; and were mobbed by these group of kids who where playing near by. They loved posing for the camera
Announced that i only wanted a pic of the lil girl in the blue/brown sweater. That didn't work too well. And Mr. Red T was fully armed, so i didn't insist
The kids then took us down the mountain side, into their village, where they showed us around. And we were sepearated from our group, who waited for us back up by the road. Sorry guys
The deserts of Ladakh, where we were offered rides on 'double humped camels'. No comments to this please...
Disket Monastery
The keys to Disket Monastery! Yes, the locks are old on these wooden doors, and those are the keys. The keys to heaven
I had to struggle a bit to get an exposure to match what i was seeing. But this is close to the ambience the monks meditate in
On our last night at Leh, S and me decided we were sick of the chappati/subzi/chicken/chawal routine. So we ditched the hotel and ate at one of the pretty restaurants at Leh's market area. Tandoori chicken, sheek kababs, apple pie & hot chocolate...yum!
On my last night at Leh, I got out the tripod (remember?), set up my camera and shutter release cable & got this prayer wheel, with the moon in the background
While heading towards Tanglang La (hee hee, yes, nice name), our jeep had a puncture. It took 30 minutes to repair, and we were lucky it happened by this beautiful meadow
En route to Tanglang La, during a P break
This was a Himachal Tourism promoted hotel at Keylong, which we stayed at. The service we received (considering it was a government initiative) was exceptional...highly recommended if you do a stopover at Keylong
If memory serves me correct, this is Rohtang Pass. Quite peaceful minus the snow, i'd say
S & V (very excitedly) stopped to go on Yak rides. This is the first time i realised that you can use an over-blown background to frame your picture!
We met an old man when we stopped for the Yak rides, who was selling a Kasturi, which, he claimed, would take care of high BP, cholesterol, weight issues, kidney problems, etc. WHAT is Kasturi, you ask?
This is Kasturi. It's part of the navel of the musk deer, which secretes the famous musk scent. The Kasturi is supposed to retain it's scent even after a decade. Thanks to this little bit, musk deer are now an endangered species
When we reached Manali, there was a loud scream...I jumped into a bathroom filled with barely clothed women to see a terrifying sight: A seven foot long snake. I dragged it outdoors, where it became subdued enough to get this shot
The rather commercial Manali bazaar
Yo
S got a non-permanent tatoo (which i'm sure her dad must have enjoyed :)
I gave the local garb a spin. What?
Manu temple, at Manali
A macro after ages! This helicopter was exercising on our luggage
Calvin asks for adventure, calvin gets it. Manali to delhi was a cliffhanger. Our bus broke down at 3am, and we spilled over to the footpath (pictured above). About 2 hours later, 4 hastily arranged jeeps came to our aid and we resumed the journey. But that delay got us into trouble: we were all late in reaching Delhi station to catch our train to Bombay! Those who were flying missed their flights. We had a 6:30pm train to catch, & at 6:20, we were outside the station with a line of traffic blocking our entry. Atmaram literally stood in front of the cars to let us pass thru. Before the jeep came to a halt, we were throwing luggage off the vehicle and raced into the station, carrying random luggage. Four minutes after reaching the platform the train started. For the next hour or two, the youngsters were carrying luggage to their owners accross the train. The Rajdhani is a brilliant train: we reached Bombay 10 minutes ahead of schedule to end a great trip <(Click on my name at the top left for more)>
