[vsathyap]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Fantastic thread, fantastic pictures, fantastic story telling. And, did I say this? Fantastic pictures

Wonderful wonderful thread and you just took me through your journey. I was imagining the scenes in my mind as you explained them. Really enjoyed the thread

Thank you for your kind words arvind71181.

Originally Posted by Nempuguru

Part two is even more brilliant with stunning pictures. One of the best travelogues I had come across in recent past. Thanks a lot for the wonderful narration and visual treats.

Thanks Nempuguru. Yea - as they say, "keep the the best part for the end" - and somehow, coincidentally, my journey to Ladakh followed a similar trend!

Originally Posted by siddarthab

Take a bow vsathyap !!!

What a story.... I came back again and again to finish it. The pictures are stunning.

Thanks a lot for sharing your story with us and taking us along for the incredible journey that you had.

Warm regards,

Siddhartha

My pleasure Siddhartha - I'm glad you enjoyed the TL! The TL probably does justice to around 1% of the "experience" that I had; the real thing was quite unnerving and exciting at the same time!

Originally Posted by Samba

Awe-struck!!! .....Hats off to Miss Goldie and her courage. .....And lastly Mr.Anwar...

Samba Sir, I'm a big fan of your TLs and your pictures - One look at the signature on your pics and I know I'm in for a superb TL. I'm glad you found my TL enjoyable. I'm taking baby steps compared to the likes of your TLs!

Yes - My experience with Ms. Goldie was like the icing on the cake for my trip to Ladakh, and Anwar of-course was Mr. Cool and Mr. Dependable - amazing personalities!

Originally Posted by rohan.xj

....how did you resize your pics? Am sure they must have been above the permitted limit!

Thank you Rohan! I resize my pics on Lightroom and keep 2 sets - one with the original sized pics and the other set with the same srt of pics - but reduced size, maily for uploading and sharing on the Internet. Lighroom's "Export" options would probably help you. If you do not have access to Lightroom, or Photoshop, you can use free tools like GIMP or to get it to very basic levels, Microsoft have their own picture resizing utility called "Picture Resize powertoy". Although the tool is meant for WinXP, there are other spinoffs that work on all Windows versions after XP. Google for "image resizer powertoy" and you will find what you need.

Originally Posted by VishJ

Hanle is sure a such a beauty and seems like a paradise on earth. Thank you for kindling up the adventure guy in me. Will sure do this trip in near future.

Absolutely - Hanle is heaven on earth! And you need not thank me - You must thank Tanveer for his exhaustive guide on Leh Ladakh (from where I found out about Hanle and the HSO).

Originally Posted by StallionAmit

Wow Man, you really have amazing writing skills and narration style, I was thrilled and hooked to the thread, it was like reading an adventurous novel, amazing travelogue, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep it up.

Haha - thank you StallionAmit! Adventure-novel or not, I probably had one of the most memorable moments of my life in those last few hours near the Pangong! It's scary and exciting at the same time!

Originally Posted by sainyamk95

You have no idea how many new wallpapers I've got for my phone after I've joined T-bhp! :P

Thank you sainyamk95! Yes, very true about the wallpapers bit!

Originally Posted by CountMe91

For once, I did not want this story to end. It is almost like time travel. You have beautifully narrated the entire episode. Your tryst with Ms.Goldie could not have come at a better time.

Amazing Writing mate and brilliant pictures!!

Thanks CountMe91 for your kind words! I am humbled!!

Yeah!! As I said, Ms. Goldie had such an amazing attitude that it was hard to not say no to her crazy ideas! She was willing to take risks and that's one of my biggest take-aways from this trip! I don't know what I would have decided to do if it were just Anwar and me on the return trip - I would have probably stuck to the regular route ( being Mr. No Risk!) and would have missed Pangong entirely!

[dinesh6481]

Take a bow. The narration is beautiful and the photographs are simply amazing. I particularly liked the part of Padma Home stay and your farewell to Anwar. Your photographs are also motivating and i think i have learnt a lot about perspective and composing the shot. For a photographer the biggest challenge is bright afternoon sun. but the same condition plays to a different tune in Ladakh. isn't it?

[vagabond128]

Very well written travelogue. Awesome photographs!

I envy Ms.Goldie. She reminded me of my early days when I used to ‘travel’. Now I have become a tourist.

I have been to a lot of places off late. But they all feel empty. Problem is not with these places but with me. I have to learn ‘traveling’ again.

[champ27]

Originally Posted by vsathyap

CONCLUSION OF THE STORY

Day 9:

My itinerary for the day was to go to the tourist office near Leh Market by 1030am and get hold of my taxi and its driver and head on towards my dream destination of Hanle. As per the plan, I would be travelling to Hanle on this day, spend the evening and night at Hanle, and after a leisurely morning of sight seeing (and photography sessions) around Hanle, I would be returning to Leh late next night. My flight to BLR was still a comfortable 3 days off, so I had all the time in the world to do my sightseeing.

Finally, after a journey with its ups and downs, I had made it to Hanle - and by the look of things, I was getting my "paisa vasool"'s worth of all the amazing things I had earlier read about the place! Yes - I had made it to Hanle!

Excellent TL. Fantastic Narration and superb pictures vsatyap!!

I am planning a Leh trip from 7th- 16th sep. Wife and kid will be the co-travellers. We will be flying down to Leh. Planning to do Nubra valley,Pangong, Hanle & Tso Moriri. Will book a taxi after reaching Leh.

Had couple of queries. Appreciate if you could respond to them.

1. What was the taxi fare for your Leh - Pangong - Hanle - Leh trip?
2. What was the accommodation charges at Padma Homestay at Hanle?

Thanks

[vsathyap]

Originally Posted by dinesh6481

For a photographer the biggest challenge is bright afternoon sun. but the same condition plays to a different tune in Ladakh. isn't it?

Well, light can be your best friend or your worst enemy when you are trying to take pictures - it's all about getting the composition right. At Ladakh, more often than not, the landscape is so amazing that the composition more or less "falls into place" automatically for a great shot. But yes - one needs to understand the lighting and how it plays on your photos while taking a pic and the afternoon sun can be cruel. A good ND filter and a CPL filter should help things to some extent.

Originally Posted by vagabond128

I have been to a lot of places off late. But they all feel empty. Problem is not with these places but with me. I have to learn ‘traveling’ again.

Perfectly put - as your handle suggests, one needs to be a "traveler" and not a tourist and only then, one can feel the true spirit of the place.

Originally Posted by champ27

1. What was the taxi fare for your Leh - Pangong - Hanle - Leh trip?
2. What was the accommodation charges at Padma Homestay at Hanle?

Thanks for your kind words! I am humbled

1. As Pangong was not on the initial planned route, I had paid only for the Leh-Hanle-Leh part of the trip and the rates are pretty much governed by the Leh-Ladakh Taxi union price list that is generally publicly available as soon as the season starts. For this stretch, the cost was approx 15K for a private taxi.

2. Padma Homestay charges a very small amount - may be 500-600 Rs per person, or even lesser (or slightly more now) depending on the group size. Please call up the numbers listed for Padma Homestay and confirm accommodation before you travel. BSNL works well at Hanle. For more details check your PM.

[amrisharm]

Vasathyap, what a travelogue. Mind blowing pictures, amazing narration. I just wanted to ask you a dslr related question. I am just getting into photography and currently have the Nikon D5300 with the standard kit lens. I often travel to the hills of Darjeeling and plan to travel to Sikkim and Bhutan and Nepal in the coming years. I feel a little restricted with the 18-55mm kit lens and feel 18mm is not wide enough when I am in the hills. I just wanted your opinion on the Tokina 11-16 dxII. Also how useful was the wide angle during your time in ladakh?

[vsathyap]

Originally Posted by amrisharm

Vasathyap, what a travelogue. Mind blowing pictures, amazing narration. I just wanted to ask you a dslr related question. I am just getting into photography and currently have the Nikon D5300 with the standard kit lens. I often travel to the hills of Darjeeling and plan to travel to Sikkim and Bhutan and Nepal in the coming years. I feel a little restricted with the 18-55mm kit lens and feel 18mm is not wide enough when I am in the hills. I just wanted your opinion on the Tokina 11-16 dxII. Also how useful was the wide angle during your time in ladakh?

Thank you amrisharm! Regarding camera equipment and specifically about your query on a WA Lens, I can confidently say that most of my shots ~ 90% were taken with the wide angle Tokina 11-16DxII. The Lens was virtually glued to the body and I only changed it when I needed a different perspective. To be frank, you would be better off renting a 11-16 (or a Sigma 10-20) for your trip and also a multi purpose 18-140 or 18-200 for the other shots so that you don't keep switching lenses all the time. These are general lenses with decent sharpness and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to rent - so its pocket friendly too. For tack sharp shots, choose an aperture between f/4 to f/11 and keep an eye on the hyper-focal distance.

If you are looking for some serious photography, I'd highly recommend using 2 DSLR bodies. Keep the 11-16 on one body throughout your trip and use the other one to swap lenses as per the requirement. And yes, please get a CPL for those dramatic blues in the sky! PM me if you require more details.

[OldMonk_Thane]

Hello there

This is one of the best travelogues along with stunning photos of the trip. It was as if I travelled with you on your trip. You are a very gifted writer and have an ability to connect with your readers.

Fantastic read... Thanks a billion mate.