It's the year 2020 and it has already been a year since we visited Ladakh, I still cannot get it out of my head. I don't know but the place had completely different vibes, especially the Pangong lake area. I wish I could stay there a bit longer but maybe, I am not lucky enough. I know staying at such remote places is challenging but the peace and vibes make it really worth.
Let's get back to where we left in the last chapter.
After having a good and sound sleep at spangmik village, we woke up at around 5 am as we planned to leave earlier in order to reach Leh in time. There was no light in the room and we had to use Activa's headlight to see what we were doing. It was pitch black, dark, chilly, and freezing and we could hear the animals howling ( red fox and Tibetan sand fox, and Himalayan wolves are pretty common in the Ladakh region).
It was extremely chilly and we did not have adequate gear to protect ourselves from those chilled winds. After half an hour of discussion on whether we should wait for sunlight or not and a little bit of fear in mind, we finally left the village. It was pitch black and there was no one to an extent our eyes could see. As we had two Activas (the other activa was of other rider whom we met the day before), we were completely dependent on headlights. It was actually scary and Rathore was already shivering as he did not bring any jacket because we were hoping to return to Leh in the evening of the day before. Then came our worst fear, it started raining !!
Though I love rain, at that moment I completely hated it. We all were shivering with cold and rain just acted like a topping. We continued driving as stopping in-between was not preferable because of wild animals. Finally, after some time, rain stopped. The surroundings were perfect for ghostly dreams and having heard so many ghosts stories related to mountains, I was seeing all kinds of images and even Rathore who was my pillion looked like one. I was looking into the side view mirror again and again. I was literally waiting for the sunlight.
While I was driving, I saw a white alto sitting just like that in the middle of nowhere and this just added to my fear. I had just stopped wondering about that car, suddenly something struck me really hard on my back, and man, I was dead scared. I looked in the side-view mirror and got some relief when I realized that it was Rathore's helmet and he was actually sleeping. I woke him up as he might have fallen off the seat due to tight and steep curves.
Finally, after some time I could see the sun rising up in the sky and everything looked beautiful. I was driving at around 75-80 kmph as we were actually descending to Leh. Later, I saw an army camp at some distance and they had placed barricades on the road as I did not want to lose momentum, I started flashing the passing light and sounding the horn and it actually worked the way I wanted it to. The guard saw the passing light and removed the barricades and I crossed the camp at high speed. Everyone was looking like what these guys are doing on a scooty at this time...hahaha. It was actually a good moment of rush. Rathore was still sleeping and I was actually worried for him. A cup of tea would have done wonders but we were so early that everything on the way was closed. We had no other option but to move on.
We drove and drove for hours and finally reached chang la. As we were on time, there was little or no water and we were able to cross it without any issue. The only issue we faced at chang la was the black ice. Our scooty skidded so many times on black ice and it was actually a task to control it.
After chang la, we finally reached another army camp. The best thing about these army camps between Leh and Pangong is that they keep hot water and black tea cans for travelers just outside the main gate of the camp. This was actually a big relief for us as we were dead cold and hot water did wonders.
After this, it was a smooth ride to Leh town. On the way, there was a movement of a big army convoy and we had to wait for some time before the road opened up and we continued the journey. Finally, just before Leh, we had a bowl of maggie and some tea. From there on, it was just a butter-smooth ride on probably the best roads.
We reached Leh in no time and finally said goodbye to other fellow rider and headed towards our homestay - Pearl house.
Sorry for no pictures in this post as we drove in pitch black time and it was too cold for us to stop and pose.
from now on, the return journey will start and I know it was too painful for me to leave Leh town and head for the same monotonous routine.
Comments
Post a Comment