Ladakh #1 - Bro's and Plains

For our Himalayan vacation, we went to Ladakh. The view from the plane was great – on most flights, you see nothing below when there is a gap in the clouds. Here, the Himalayas were visible in almost every gap.

 

We landed in the afternoon at Leh, which is at a height of 11,500 feet (For comparison, both Srinagar and Vaishno Devi are at 5,200 feet, half the height). Our itinerary for that day? Do nothing, just rest and acclimatize to the lesser air and oxygen, our travel agency had told us (Here, you need permits for everything, so it’s best to go through a local agent).

(In case you wondered, it’s the same concentration of oxygen – 21% - just that there’s less air at that altitude, and 21% of “lesser” translates to less oxygen)

 

The hotel we stayed in was very luxurious (the Zen Ladakh) – it was one of the venues for the G20 summit. It was centrally heated, and to my 11 yo daughter’s immense relief, had free Wi-fi. That evening, we walked to and from the nearby market, nervous if we were over-exerting ourselves. We were very proud it didn’t feel any different – it shows how fit we are, we prided ourselves. Later, a guy from the travel agency dropped by and we asked him how long it takes for the altitude to hit you. He pricked our bubble when he said that it doesn’t affect most people, but it’s a precaution worth taking. Ouch!

 

The next day, our driver-cum-guide informed us that Ladakh was an independent kingdom that had fallen to Kashmir ages back. Now the government had made Ladakh separate again. The religion here is Buddhism, and the people look like North-Eastern folks. During our stay, we’d gradually realize Ladakh is huge, sparsely populated, everything is a long drive away, and the Army is critical to the place. Not just for security, but also they are the ones who build the roads. We saw amusing all-caps signs posted everywhere with the word “Bro” – that’s like yaar in Hindi. Slogans like “SLOW DOWN BRO”, “IF YOU LOVE HER, DIVORCE SPEED BRO” and “BE MR LATE THAN LATE MR, BRO”. Much later, we realized this wasn’t “bro” as in yaar. Rather, it stood for BRO – Border Roads Organization. That’s the army unit that builds and maintains roads on the border! The army has a good sense of humour.

 

We went to a couple of local monasteries, a gurudwara that was maintained by the Army, and the very beautiful Shanti Stupa.

This is not very old, funded by Japan post-Hiroshima, a message of peace.

 

Next, we went to an Army museum where I realized that almost all the known flash points in the Himalayas are in Ladakh! From Kargil to Siachen to Galwan. A tourist point on the way is called Magnetic Hill. In true tourist style, the signboard says “The Phenomenon That Defies Gravity”. It’s an optical illusion:

“The layout of the area and surrounding slopes create the optical illusion of a hill. The hill road is actually a downhill road. Objects and cars on the hill road may appear to roll uphill in defiance of gravity when they are, in fact, rolling downhill.”

Still, it’s fun when the car rolls “up” the slope when the engine is turned off.

 

After that, we went to a scenic place called Sangam Point. As the name suggests, it is the meeting point for two rivers – the Indus and Zanskar. The two rivers have very different colors, making it obvious they are not the same (the blue-green one is the Indus, the muddy brown one on the right is the Zanskar).

I was very surprised that the Indus had, er, so little water. Our guide explained that this was summer. We’d notice this pattern throughout the trip – the river beds barely had any water, but the path carved by a huge river was evident everywhere. One could see the effect of two massively powerful forces side by side – the tectonic plates that had created the massive Himalayas, and the erosive power of water.