6 ways to do Ladakh

Isn't it amazing how some destinations can be visited over and over again and still manage to offer the most exhilarating, yet an altogether different experience each and every time?!

Ladakh is one of them. It’s the most fascinating and intriguing destination in my view and therefore figures six times on my bucket list.

What can I say about Ladakh that hasn't been said, written, or spoken about before? Not much. So I’ll dispense with the adjectives for now and list down six different ways in which Ladakh can be experienced.

a)      Do a road trip

Seeing Ladakh by road is an experience in itself. There are two ways to do this – from Kashmir Valley via Kargil and from Manali to Leh. The wonder of these two roads is that each one will offer not just a different landscape but also conjure a different emotion within you.     

The route from Kargil remains open for traffic from early June to November. The most fascinating part of this road journey is passing the Zoji-La that stands at 11,500 feet and serves as the gateway to Ladakh.

The Manali-Leh road is open for traffic from around mid-June to early October. A bus journey will take you around 19 hours (or two days) with an overnight halt in camps in between. 

See this National Geographic documentary on crossing the Khardung la to Nubra Valley by road titled ‘Perilous Journey Crossing the Himalayas.’ It does get a bit monotonous at times but the host Marsh Mokhtari will keep you engaged – sometimes with the information and sometimes with his good looks!

b)      Raft down Zanskar

A rafting expedition on the Zanskar river – a tributary of the great river Indus – is one of the most surreal experiences you will ever have. It will take you down an extremely desolate, remote and sheer Zanskar gorge with walls rising a few thousand feet from the river bed.

You can also do a rafting expedition on the Indus.

d)      Walk down Zanskar! (Chadar Trek)

The Chadar trek is taking the same route as rafting but instead of paddling in a raft, you will be walking on crampons. Here, you will experience Ladakh at its harshest. Temperatures plummeting to -25 degree Celcius with no basic amenities and absolutely no connection to the outside world until you reach Leh! Read my (rather incomplete) post on the Chadar trek for more.

c)       Trek

There are so many trekking routes in this region, that you can do 10 trips just trekking all of them. The one that tops my list is the Stok Kangri trek. It will take you to India's highest trekable summit at 20,086 feet!

The terrain and the altitude make it a very difficult trek. The Stok Kangri base camp lies at 16,300 feet and is a collage of colourful tents. Check this site for more details on the trek; it has dedicated itself to it.

e)      See the sights

You can do the usual sightseeing routine and still never get bored in Ladakh. Visit the Thicksey and the Hemis monasteries as well as the Shanti Stupa. Dare to wet your feet in the Pangong lake. Shop at the Leh market (but beware, the summer rates are high). Taste the awesome local dishes of momos and thukpa.

f)      Attend the festivals

Ladakh is extremely popular for its annual festivals. The most famous of them all is the Hemis festival that takes place every June. There is also the Thiksey Gustor (Gustor literally means ‘sacrifice of the 29th date’), which is a two-day festival and marks the victory of good over evil. It takes place at the different monasteries of Spituk, Thiksey and Karsha Zanskar in different months of the year. 

I found this site on Ladakh very informative. You can try it too.

Chitti-chitti Bangkok

I had arranged to meet my local contact on the day I was to land in Bangkok. When he came to pick me up at SuvarnabhumiAirport, I realized that he was of Indian origin. Fifteen minutes into the conversation, I gathered to both our astonishment that we were from the same neighbourhood back in Mumbai!

Bangkok is a city where Mumbaikars will easily feel at home. The vibe (read chaos), its people, its public transport, its roads – everything reflects the life as we know it back home.

It’s also a very easy city to live in. I met (and saw) so many Indians living there and running successful businesses, most of which are into precious and semi precious stones since Bangkok has a huge market for this.

As a tourist, i loved it. Bangkok was recently rated as the number one destination for international visitor arrivals this year according to the MasterCardGlobal Destination Cities Index, managing to surpass even London by a slim margin! This makes Bangkok the first Asian city to figure in the top rank since the Index was launched in 2010.

And why not. I found it to be a pretty safe city (unless of course you are not too smart and venture out alone to places you’re not supposed to after dark). Any doubt I had regarding this was removed by one particular incident that occurred on my second night there.

I stayed at a pretty decent and basic hotel called Princeton Park Suites which is close to the city centre. There’s also a Carrefour close by! And since I was travelling alone, I took advantage of their oh-so-convenient motorcycle taxis instead of taking a tuk-tuk. They’re fast, cheap and absolutely thrilling! There’s no meter of course so fares are to be pre-fixed.  

I was out for dinner with some friends not too far from my hotel at this Indian dhaba-style restaurant that had ghazal nights every Friday. Unfortunately, we were there on a Friday too. Now, I’m not a big fan of Indian food when travelling abroad. But my friends insisted. And come to think of it, there is a certain kind of perverseness to go to an Indian restaurant abroad.

So when at midnight we decided to call it a night, I decided to take one of the bike taxis back to the hotel. I was told that it’d be safe what with the hotel being only 15 minutes away at that time. And so I went.

When I told my ‘biker’ my destination (I even showed him my hotel business card) he nodded aggressively, which if translated would mean ‘I know, I know’. So I hopped on and waved my friends goodbye. Soon I realized that we were on a highway that had a line of brightly lit Go-Go bars.

I gulped and asked the rider again if he knew where he was going, and he nodded again. I had not realized the extent of the language barrier that I was about to face that night. Apparently, English – or more precisely English as is spoken by Indians – is not understood that well in Bangkok.

Twenty minutes later and still on the highway, I began to wonder whether he would need to kill me before taking all my money, my card and my passport that was in my sack. Still praying like the dickens, I forced him to stop whenever we were lucky to spot a smattering of people and ask for directions. Apparently, Princeton Park Suites isn't that well-known among the locals!

After 35 minutes, it looked like we had gotten off the highway and finally nearing the city centre and my hotel. And five minutes later I was getting off the bike outside my hotel.

A motorcycle taxi

To my rider’s credit, he didn’t ask me for more than what was decided even though we had taken a major detour. He sat there smiling an apologetic smile and all I could do was pretend that I hadn’t minded the ride too much. So I paid 20 baht over and above the 50 that we had agreed upon and climbed up the stairs to my hotel. 

Note to self: Don't panic until it's time to panic.