When nature strikes

My trip to Leh _Ladakh last year was made memorable, not just because of the landscapes, but due to some wonderful people I met during my stay there. Ive left behind so many friends there and my heart goes out to the many tourists and residents of Leh who have battled nature's fury . I dedicate my entire trip to the people of leh , who are always ever so smiling and courteous

Inside Story - Shey

Standing amidst the countless chortens or stupas that are scattered around Shey, I heard a foreign tourist narrate a story to her reluctant daughter, who was refusing to climb up the steps leading to the ruined palace of the Ladakhi kings.

And that�s where I heard about the Epic of king Gesar or Kesar as Ladakhis refer to the legendary Tibetan hero sent by the Gods to defeat demons. The mythical gLing ruled by Kesar could possibly be Shey, the capital of the ancient Ladakh kingdom. Even today there are a few artistes around Ladakh and Tibet who can sing their own versions of the 1000 year old ballad.

Located about 14 kms from Leh, Shey ,situated at a height of 11000 feet is now a small village on the banks of the Indus. Tourists flock by here to see the ancient fortifications, palace and the monastery that houses an imposing idol of Sakyamuni, the form of Buddha worshipped by the Sakya clan of saints.

Glittering in copper and gilded gold, this is one of the largest statues in Ladakh built by the king Senggee Namgyal. The lama here tells us that four craftsmen were specially brought from Nepal by Gyal Katun,the king�s mother to create this deity here . �As they had married locally, they were not allowed entry into Nepal, and so even today, their descendants live in a small village called Chiling ,� he says.

The sun is merciless and I collect my breath after having climbed the hillock where the monastery is housed. A row of prayer wheels, mani walls and chortens fill the landscape as I look down .Several dynasties have ruled Shey besides the mythical hero Kesar and his descendants. However historically, Ladakh came under Tibetan rule around the 10th century when Nyima Gon , established his empire here and built probably a few chortens in Shey.

It is ironic, said the lama I was chatting with ,that Tibet itself was in a turmoil after Nyima Gon�s grandfather, king Lang Darma was murdered by a seer for apparently persecuting Buddhists .

The flags flutter in the breeze while the shutterbugs are busy taking pictures of the valley below. I am told the monastery here was built much later by the Namgyal rulers. The lama tells me that somewhere in the middle of 16th century, Ladakh was a divided kingdom ruled from both Shey and Basgo. The king from Basgo , Bhagan deposed the Shey ruler and titled himself Namgyal or Victorious. It was during this dynasty�s reign that power slowly shifted from Shey to Leh, with a palace being built in Leh. And like any erstwhile capital, town, Shey slowly lost its strategic significance .

�When the Nangyals finally lost power to the Kashmir kings and to Mughals, Shey was abandoned .� There was a ring of finality in his tone .I see the tourists rotating the prayer wheel as they climb up. Shey is now just another must see in their sightseeing list .

Published in my column, Inside Story in the Metro Plus, The Hindu

Ladakh - Day 2

I do not believe in the concept of must see places, for every place casts its magic on me - be it an unknown or an offbeat location , a known city or a tourist destination. But Ladakh was an exception.

It was a dream destination , something that had always seemed unattainable . It did not matter to me that I had not yet seen the Taj Mahal, but it irked me that I had not visited Ladakh. It was a destination that had given me sleepless nights. But when I woke up on a sunny morning in the capital town of this land of high passes, after spending a dizzy first night , it seemed like a dream still.

It was extremely hot and all the giddiness had vanished. We feasted on some aalu paratha with some garden vegetables freshly plucked from the garden and started our monastery trail.

 

In ladakh as in any where else, the dilemma is always the same. So many places to see and yet so little time. Earlier, I wanted to see almost everything possible and my eyes used to greedily devour every possible sight . But now, I decided to pick and choose. Its not so much about the choice of these sights , but its more to do about how much you want to soak in them.

If you just need a picture against every Buddha statue that was built in Ladakh, then you could cover as many places as you want. Also there is something called stamina when it comes to Ladakh. Even if you are acclimatised to the heights, most monasteries are atop hills and you need climb several steps to get there . They are breathtaking alright, but chances are with less oxygen, you would feel breathless climbing them.

 

Nevertheless, we started our day rather early. We skipped Leh and decided to do the monastery circuit outside the town.We planned on four monasteries, which in retrospect was quite a bit for a day. However, as they were rather close, we managed to spend quite some time at each place, absorbing the sights and sounds. We went to Stakna, followed by Hemis and then Thiksey and Shey before returning to Leh with a quick trip to Sindhu darshan..more on each of them in a while.

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Ladakh - Day 1

There is always a special moment when you land in a new city . A new wave of excitement seizes me..its something that Ive never been able to explain .

I took a deep breath and felt the pulse of the city inside me the moment I landed in Leh . The mountains crowded me and they formed the entire cityscape of Ladakh. Subconsciously I touched my head to wonder if I felt giddy, but I could only feel the slight shiver of excitement running through my bones. Ladakh was waiting for me .

The journey from airport to the hotel was over within minutes. We passed crowded market of Leh and entered Chubi where my guest house was located. The mountains gave us company and as I climbed the first step, I felt breathless. And then the dizziness hit me. The windows of my large room opened into a beautiful garden of flowers and vegetables and that probably was the only source of oxygen to us out there..and then it hit me as I fell into a deep slumber just before dinner.

The twilight hour had come and gone and we were slowly acclimatising to the heights.The weather had already changed from foggy to sunny to being cold . We walked down the steps to join the other guests in the garden for an early dinner. There was an Italian at the table next to ours and he was waiting for his friends. We politely opened the conversation to realize that he could speak only Italian. Sharath and he hit it off and the conversation was purely through signs and images. The dinner arrived and with it another round of deep slumber and all our headaches and dizziness vanished with the end of day 1.

Ten great Ladakhi moments

 

Jullay !

Im yet to recover from my trip to Leh-Ladakh and the pictures are still stored in the memory card. But a quick post to recollect some of Sharath's and my great Ladakhi moments.

The first thing that stays in my mind are the images of the mountains when the flight lands in Leh. You can see lakes, monasteries and some great landscapes, but as the flight scoops down the mountains take your breath away.

The next thing that I recall is my trip to Panggong. Many swear by Tso Moriri, but I loved Panggong. We even pitched our own tents and stayed in a wonderful place by the lake which kept changing its colours.

 

I liked Hemis and Stakna to Thikshey and Shey. But the view from the Shanti Stupa is one of the best

I loved the apricot fruits that I had in Hundar. The landscape in Nubra valley was one of the best, with its white sands as we went to Sumur and back

 

The sighting of black necked cranes. A beautiful bird and it was quite unusual to see them at Panggong where we did get to see a closer view than in Tso Kar.

The marmots - adorable . The first time I saw them with their back to me, I mistook them to be a rock.

Good food in most of the places, but I really enjoyed the veg momos prepared by Dorjee , our cook at Panggong and the Alu Paratha at a punjabi dhaba at upshi. And my best meal was puris and daal in the mountains after Changla pass enroute to panggong.

The rivers followed us everywhere, but the confluence of the Zanskar and Indus stays in my mind.

The night sky at tsomoriri..even at 2*C, watching the lake bathed in moonlight was a delight.

The Ladakhi festival. The inaugural procession which went past my guest house, the colours, the music(Im sold on ladakhi music) and the people, most importantly, our driver and friend, Dorjee who saved us from getting stuck from the snowstorm past Tanglangla.

 

The Himalayas beckon..

I am off to Leh-Ladakh for about ten days. Its been rather chaotic planning and finalising the itinerary and finally with the help of Satya and Arun, Sharath and I are leaving in a couple of days..I will see you all in some time..do have a great week.