Leh Ladakh - The Dream Destination

Another successful trip to Leh Ladakh by our group called #TheBenChiyaGaus. This Trip was sponsored by Himalayan Oddessy (Travel Partner) & Himalaya Unique Lifestyle www.myuniquecart.com, A Himachali Handicraft Product Online Store. 

A YouTube link is given below for our upcoming video of Leh trip: - Leh Ladakh - Trailer #2

(PS: I am not very good in English so for any mistake I am very sorry.)

Leh Ladakh road trip is one of the best and daring road trip in the world because this road trip tests your endurance and dedication to travel. Please visit Himalayan Oddessy YouTube Channel for videos of this Journey.

Day 1. From Shimla to Jispa

We started us the journey from Gungun Hotels, Hiranagar, Shimla. Attended a marriage ceremony of a friend and headed to our friend's house (Himanshu Sharma). We loaded our Mahindra Scorpio (HP** 2817) with our baggage, tent and foodstuff. From there we started our overnight journey to Manali. We reached Manali in morning about 9:00 AM. After having breakfast and printing all the necessary documents we headed toward Rohtang La. You have to submit your first set of permission at Gulaba Check Post, Manali. After registering our vehicle at Gulaba, we are good to go too Jispa where we stayed for the first night. If you are planning with all the tent and food equipment, my personal suggestions are that you must stop driving before 6:00 PM. It is because you have to set up the tent and cook your food by yourself and it's good to take the good rest and meal on the first day.

Day 2: Jispa to Sarchu

After taking a good night sleep in Jispa, we are heads towards Sarchu which is the border between Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir region. The condition of the road to Sarchu is good with some patches on road. One must find difficulty crossing the Baralacha La as the few kilometres of the road is difficult to cross. On the first day of our journey, we covered almost 300 Km because the roads are good, but we find some difficulty after crossing Jispa. Road condition is good but we are not able to maintain our speed due to the construction of the road. Thanks to BRO (Border Road Organization] the road is fully operational. After crossing bad turf of the road we reached the Bharatpur. Bharatpur is the place in between Jispa and Sarchu. We had lunch there and FYI the food they cook was delicious.  There we freshen up ourselves and Started our journey. After that, we reached in Sarchu. One must submit their documents and register their vehicle on both sides. On one side there is HP Police Check Post and on the other side, there is J&K Police Check Post. After registering our vehicle there, we started our journey ahead. After passing some KM we ended our journey and planning to stay there. As the sun goes down you can see the stars clearly and if you are a star gazer than this would be the experience of the life there. We had some meal and play cards. This is the second-day journey.

Day 3: Sarchu To Leh

We wake up 5:30 AM in morning and started preparing our breakfast. The weather was awesome and we had fun because the place where we camp was an open ground and it looks awesome. After having breakfast we started our journey by 7:00 AM. Beyond Sarchu the condition of the road was very good as we are able to speed up a little. It was fun to cross the 22 hairpin bends called Gata Loops. On the 21^st turn, there is a statue or may be called as a grave of a person, where you have to leave a water bottle. This is the sign of good luck as a person died there without water and his soul haunts who didn’t give his soul the bottle of water. After that, we reached the Pang’s famous Moore Plain’s. The open wide road where you like to drive like a maniac. But remember, don’t do such stupid things. This road is nearly 46 KM straight with little turns, and most of the tourist thinks that they can drive there at the higher speed. THIS IS A MISTAKE. Don't do THAT. The road is good but due to some reason, it was like the sine wave. The ride is full of bumps and you can’t predict the road until it’s too late. You will find the most of the vehicle with their tyre burst and some sort of mechanical and other problem due to this. We have driven on that road with the average speed of 40 to 50 Km/h and we didn’t find any difficulty crossing that plain. Crossing the Moore Plain’s was the one the best moment of our trip. After crossing these plains there are three passes you have to cover. The Lachung La, Nakee La, and Taglang La. These passes fairly easy to cover and we didn’t find any difficulty crossing these passes. After crossing these passes we are finally in the outskirt of Leh. We reached Upshi, and from Upshi either you can go to Tso Morari – Pangong Tso – Leh or you can directly go to Leh on the left side. We are exhausted by travelling so we decided to stay and heads towards Leh. We stayed there in the hotel and to our surprise, we reached Leh on the Birthday of Dalai Lama Ji (The main in Buddhist). The market is full of people celebrating his birthday. We enjoyed a lot there and bought some of their cultural souvenirs.

Note: During this journey one of our friend Mr Anil Sharma gotten sick. If someone got sick on this road trip, immediately check yourself in the military hospital. In every check post of Army called TCP (Toll Collection Point), you can find army dispensary. 

Day 4:- Leh and its Surrounding.

After staying in the hotel, we are excited to start our journey further to explore the area of Ladakh and its surrounding. We started our journey to Magnetic Hill and Patthar Sahib Gurudwara where we drove the ATVs and had Langar in Gurudwara. The magnetic hill is famous for defying the phenomena of gravity. FYI it’s an optical illusion which was created by the Nature creating an illusion that you are driving uphill but instead you are driving downward. There are several places in the world like the magnetic hill. After that, we just went to an exotic place called Patthar Sahib Gurudwara. The History of Patthar Sahib Gurudwara is like that in 1517 AD once there was a devil who threatened people living there and kills them with the big rocks and boulders.  Due to this The Guru Nanak Dev Ji arrived there and started meditating on the river bank. Due to this, the devil got angry and upset, and that demon hatched a plan to kill Guru Nanak Dev Ji. On Day Guru Ji was meditation and offering his prayers, the demon rolled down a massive rock on to him. Miraculously that rock turned into a soft like wax and touches Guru Ji from behind. This led to the shape of Guru Ji’s back in rock. Thinking that Guruji may die in this the demon stepped down from the mountain but he was astonished to see that Guru Ji is still offering his prayers. He got angry and kick the rock with his right foot. His right foot got stuck in the rock and then he realized that he made the mistake as he is not able to disturb Guru Ji’s prime devotion. He touched the feet of Guru Ji and ask for forgiveness. Later on, that demon served the people there the whole life.

You can see the rock and the print of devils foot there in the Gurudwara. It was opened to the public and also maintained by the Border Road Organization (BRO). If you are in Leh you must visit this place offering the whole other experience.

After visiting the Gurudwara we headed to Nimmu, where two river the Indus river and Zanskar river meets. This was also an epic point because these two river doesn’t mix up to the certain distance. We met Dave there who is the manager of river rafting there. We had great fun with Dave and share each other’s experience of life in Leh. On the way back to Leh we decided to stay beside the Gurudwara and ask the permission of Gurudwara Prabndhan Committee and BRO. We ended our day and started to prepare for the night. We cooked our food as we are too late for the langar in gurudwara but the military personnel there helps us a lot. It’s been quite a fun on the 4^th day of our journey.

Day 5: The Pangong Tso

The journey to the Pangong Tso begins...

We are especially excited to see the Pangong Lake (Tso) because the location is especially famous in the movie "3 Idiots". We started our journey late in the noon because the distance between Leh and Pangong Tso is nearly 140 KM and it takes roughly 8 hours to drive for a normal driver. As We are the residence of Hills we cover this distance roughly in 5 Hours. But don't try to be over smart in the Hill Region as the slight mistake can be paid by your death. So in between the route to Pangong Tso we face many difficulties as the road to Pangong Tso is in under construction and there are patches all over the road. But this is not a problem for us. In route, one will find many spots that seem astonishing and beautiful scenery. In route, we reached the location called Chang La, official Claims it to be the worlds Highest Motorable Road. Over there, we contacted some Military Personals who explains us all the adventure they do, all the difficulties they face and what happened there when it covered with snow. Meeting the Soldiers over there was one of the greatest moment of my life. It was a superb and unforgettable experience. After saying Heartiest Goodbye to them we continue our journey toward Pangong Tso. After the descent of the Chang La, Its been late in the night while driving and all the Shops and Lights are closed. So we decided to stop and set up our tent in the middle of nowhere. This was a scary but exciting moment too because we are at the unknown location and we are staying in our tent. But after some distance, we just located a village and decided to set up our tent at the border of the village. Its been nearly 9'o Clock and its dark outside at that time. So we divided into 3 groups and start doing things like making food, placing tent and acquiring some information about the surroundings. We just finished the work and suddenly two guys on the motorbike came swirling

around. This was a little tense moment but they were in search of Cigarette, so they just sit down and started the conversation with us. Soon we become friends and we share drinks and knowledge. They ask us to move their tent as their home is not far from here, but we decided to stay as this will cost time and that we don't have. Next day in the morning, the villagers gather around us and started enquiring about us. After showing some identities and purpose of the visit they welcome us with the open heart and they even help us explaining the terrains. We thank them and reached the Dream Destination, The Pangong Tso.