Ladakh: Heaven on Earth

chillibreeze writer — Indu Srinivasan

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The plane touched down on; I could see parts of the surrounding mountains out of the aircraft’s tiny window. A feeling of excitement surged through me and I felt the familiar tingling sensation that I always feel when starting a vacation. Here I am, in Leh….

Oh! In case you don’t know Leh is the capital of Ladakh and is situated at an altitude of 11000 ft.

We stepped out of the Aircraft and almost immediately, cold air pierced through my clothing, my face felt pinched and stretched. The air was so fresh; it was like I was eating crushed ice. I liked the sensation and gulped in some fresh air.

The trip from the airport to the hotel was short; all around there was a neat and clean look. The roads looked freshly tarred. I unpacked as fast as I could and stepped into the balcony and the sight that welcomed me was spectacular, all around there were mountains and each mountain was of a different color - some were brown, some pink, some black…no two mountains were of the same color!! The view was simply breathtaking.

After resting for some time, I stepped down to the lobby and was ready to go exploring when I met some hotel staff who advised me to rest for a day or two. “Take it easy, ma’am.” I was told that one must get acclimatized to the height. As we go up the mountains, the level of oxygen thins, the body has to get used to the amount of oxygen. Some people get mild headaches during the first few days, some feel worse than others and experience nausea and bouts of vomiting. For most people, after feeling acclimatized, all symptoms vanish and one is ready to go exploring.

The next day was bright and sunny, so I decided to visit the market .On the way to the market, I noticed all the locals were wearing jackets and sweaters and here I was sweating in a thick shirt. I congratulated myself on being so fit!! The journey to the Tibetan Bazaar was again a short one. As soon as I got off, it became very cloudy, windy and soon it was unbearably cold. I had to buy a sweater from the market in spite of having many in my suitcase! Well, I learnt my first lesson. Always dress up like the locals!

The first thing you will notice while visiting various places in and around Leh is the prayer wheels dotting the roadsides. They added an ethnic beauty to the place and rotating the wheels gives such pleasure. It has to be rotated in the clockwise direction. It gave me a very nice feeling and I didn’t miss any opportunity to do so!!

Leh is the abode of several monasteries. I began with a visit to Shey monastery, 15 km from Leh. It had a 7.5 metre high copper statue of Buddha, plated with gold. It looked awesome. Inside some monks were humming and I found the experience very sacred. The Thiksey monastery, which is 19 kms from Leh, had the most impressive gompas with exquisite wall paintings of Buddha. Hemis, which is 40 kms from Leh, happens to be the wealthiest, best-known and biggest gompa of Ladakh. Shanti Stupa on the northwestern skyline of Leh is spotless. It was built by the Japanese to commemorate 2500 years of Buddhism.

There were other amazing places not emphasized in the tour guides that I would like to dwell upon.

One intriguing place was a monastery near the airport that had fallen into disrepair and a large section of it had collapsed during a landslide. There was a monk there and we started chatting about the monastery. He offered to show me around. It had three shrines, one with very intricate decorations. He asked me to go up the hill beyond the monastery to visit the Kali temple. I went up and was slightly unnerved because not many people were there and it looked deserted. I reached a sort of a room and peered inside. There was another room, within it there was a huge statue of kali and the face was covered with a piece of cloth, the caretaker of the temple suddenly appeared and explained that the face of this Kali is very powerful and enigmatic and It is uncovered only once a year.

Another fun place is the magnetic hill. It is about 25 to 30 km from Leh, where if you stop on an upslope and put your vehicle in neutral mode, it automatically goes up the slope as if it is being attracted by the hill on the opposite side. It was such a thrill. Scientific studies have proved that such natural phenomena are optical illusions. It has nothing to do with magnetic fields, electricity or unknown forces or anything mysterious.

Another spectacular sight that doesn’t get mentioned in the tourist guides is the confluence of river Zanskar and the Indus. There is the brownish water of Indus and pure greenish water of Zanskar mixed together and then flowing together as one.

Pather Sahib is a must visit if you like visiting Gurudwaras. The story behind this gurudwara is unique. The local people here were troubled a lot by a demon. The people approached Guru Nanak, who used to meditate on a hill, to help and save them from this demon. Nanak Lama came down from his meditation site to the area below. The demon rolled down a huge boulder in order to kill him. Nanak Lama was no ordinary person so nothing happened to him. The impression of the Guru Nanak can be seen imbedded on the huge boulder in the Pather Sahib.

After a week of mesmerizing sights, sceneries and stories, it was time to bid goodbye to Leh, with a heavy heart I boarded the flight back. As I looked out of the small window I now saw the familiar snowcapped ranges, they beckoned me and I promised them that I would be back again to explore more.

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Ladakh: Heaven on Earth

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