ART PEACE

A trip to Mars & Moon – Part 1(Kashmir)

“Running to the boarding gate is my favorite workout.” – Unknown

A trip to Mars & Moon – that is what I am calling it because that is what it felt like.

After long we packed our bags and went on an impromptu trip to Leh, Ladakh. We decided to go via Kashmir, another beautiful place which also enjoys a very important geo-political situation. I went straight from scorching 40°C (104°F) to freezing 3°C (37°F) and lower subsequently, which felt like a relief in the beginning, however later on I realized how much I missed the 40°C.

Kashmir is our own Switzerland and Venice combined. Such a beautiful place, helpful and smiling locals, rich culture, houseboats and gondola ride and serene nature.

Even though all this has been affected by the on and off terrorism and political instability in the area, however owing to the recent G20 Summit which was conducted recently we landed in a neat and clean and freshly polished Srinagar.

On my way to the hotel from airport, my charming driver pointed out to all the historic and progressive places we were crossing.

It was raining and with mystic/misty mountains in the backdrop we spent some time sipping tea and capturing the rustic charm of the Zero bridge 🙂

Time for a Shikara ride…

The Shikara(gondola) ride was a relaxing way to end the evening, there were shikara’s selling food and beverages and local handicraft items. Bhajans echoing in the valley from the Shankaracharya temple atop the hill added to the tranquility.

There were many houseboats which have now been converted to hotels and some which people still call their homes and some which are just abandoned.

Next day we were all set to leave for Leh. We opted the road transport bus over the overpriced cabs. As the bus moved slower, we would get more time to enjoy the nature around us. Our ever smiling driver was a good company and the bus was almost empty with few adventure tourists like us and a few locals. The bus was allowed to ply today(it is decided on a day to day basis, based on the snow blocked road conditions and the quickly changing weather in the area).

We started our journey to Mars via Moon on a rainy day, on a rugged terrain and a not so comfy bus.

The first view of the snow peaked Himalayas from the banks of the Sind River

I was beyond amazed by the beauty only to get more exhausted eventually. One more thing – as these were high altitudes we were going to – we had to take tablets which would help us acclimatize. I am sure they did a good job – we just pushed harder and made these tablets feel worthless and us breathless 🧐

Entering Sonamargh- “meadow of gold”. The views are nothing less than worth gold here.

A leisurely meander round the twisting river curves was a life time experience for me. This gives me hope that there will be enough water and resources till I die, I just need to be closer to mother nature.

Crossing the Zoji La mountain pass at 11,575 ft which is still the most dangerous pass, with sudden avalanches, landslides, and blizzards. However the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) work tirelessly to clear the snow and provide safe passage to tourists and locals alike.

Crossing the dreaded Zoji La safely we entered Dras which is the second coldest inhabited place and stopped here for a cup of whatever hot drink we could lay our hands on.

Next stop was Kargil where our Indian soldiers had fought hard in such harsh weather and rough terrain to keep the Pakistani infiltrators at bay. There was too much police activity so I refrained from taking pics.

With a tiny stop at Maitreya Buddha at Mulbekh we resumed our journey. Till now it felt like we were traversing through Moon and after a few meter as we entered Ladakh it felt like we are travelling on Mars.

Countries worldwide are launching rockets to reach these places and we just got here by bus 🤗

I made a friend on the bus who is a carpet seller by profession, who talked a lot and became my personal guide during the ride.

From here on we can see a set of three stupas everywhere, these represent the bodhisattvas of wisdom (Manjusri), compassion (Avalokitesvara) and fulfillment (Vajrapani).

Journey on Mars….

The journey here onwards felt like we were on a different planet itself with less vegetation, arid climate, clean atmosphere, mesmerizing views.

Some political drama… now a days there are a lot of cases of religious conversions here in the valley.

Another mountain pass – Namika La at 12,198ft was the easiest pass on this trip. You have to give it to the Border Roads Organization, popularly known as BROs in the area for their relentless efforts of maintaining the road conditions to give a safe passage to the all.

Lamayuru Monastery or the Moonland of Ladakh. It is said that if you watch this valley on a full moon, when moon light falls on the multi shaded mountains the land creates a mirror image of the craters we see on the moon. This quaint little village was bustling with monks, locals and a few tourists trying to capture the beauty of the place as much as they could.

Letters do bring joy – I wish we could go back to being less progressive in terms of technology.

Another beautiful view and monasteries. I slept my way through Magnetic Hill.

Entering Leh – its 7:30PM and still there is broad daylight in the Himalayas. My phone battery died and I was ready to crash too…

Happy Travels ✈️🌍