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-   -   Ladakh in an Isuzu MU-X! Heaven & hell, took my breath away (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/204809-ladakh-isuzu-mu-x-heaven-hell-took-my-breath-away.html)

Tethys : Heaven and hell, "Took my breath away"


Its 2006, i don’t remember the exact day and month, i was watching TV, and a song caught my attention, its the video which got me hooked rather than the song. The album name is - 'In search of buddha - Ladakh' by Rahul sharma, next is the movie Kabul express(2006)by kabir khan, and the movie Paap(2003) - these three things ignited a spark of love in me for barren isolated lands. At that time i never knew about Afghanistan, Ladahk or Spiti.

Back then ladakh to me was like - what is that ? I knew nothing.

"Himalayas are now like" - Rediscovering myself, i appreciate small things in my daily life much better, after every journey to the himalayas. i am still confused, and hope, i will always be the same.

When you feel drowsy with a light head while driving, just in a blink of your eye you can go banging and bouncing thousands of feet below over a cliff, every part of your beloved body will be torn into uncountable pieces in minutes or even seconds, even gods can't find your body or its parts. When every cell of your body screams for oxygen - Its Tethys today.

Oxygen cans are the best way to beat that drowsiness. They are available online, and inhaling just 4-5 puffs of oxygen makes a lot of difference, and you can feel it instantly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XwUYg9UVSs

There are countless travelogues on ladahk, and every time i see one, i just skip it. I got so bored of reading or seeing any pics of ladakh. Every time i go to himalayas, i just have one thing in my mind at the end of journey "Enough of himalayas".

Its my 4th visit to the Mighty Himalayas, and it keeps on calling me again and again. May be i can never get enough of the mighty himalayas.


"Only a doctor can understand what this mean"
(For others, its a pulse oximeter. It measures and shows the oxygen level in your blood, normal oxygen concentration in blood should be 99-100%, normal heart rate should be 70-75 per minute.)


This will be a brief travelogue(MUX goes to Ladakh).
This journey to himalayas is during first week of october 2018, this is the time when tourism comes to an end for this season. We are three friends and a MUX 4x4 AT.

Special thanks to HVK for all the support and help.

Jammu to Srinagar

First thing that comes to my mind is - Endless trucks, indefinite traffic jams.


Fantastic Jugadu Tandoors(Compact and friendly, can be kept in a kitchen).


Amazing food. I must confess about my addiction to dabha food on highways, my favorite states for that are - Maharashtra, MP, Rajasthan, UP, Punjab, Haryana and Jammu.


After an exhausting drive, we reached srinagar. HVK booked a beautiful house boat, at first i was skeptical about house boats (like stinking carpets etc.) to my surprise this house boat is superb.




Reached and crashed in to the house boat, its a floating palace.




Its time to satisfy my culinary craving for wazwan cuisine. Ahdoos is my all time favorite.

Srinagar to Kargil

Started early as its the day we need to cross the mighty Zozila, heard a lot about the merciless and unpredictable weather of zozila. Had a stop for breakfast at sonmarg and made a quick move.


Took the blessings of shivji on the way.


The mighty Zozilla at a distance.


Colorful kargil, color which is hiding behind that beauty is the blood of our soldiers.


The most sensible thing written on a vehicle, i had ever seen. I think this is what we need to stick on our vehicles. TEAM BHP we need a sticker of "We want better roads, we pay road tax".


Kids of kargil




"Things that comes to my mind when i see these happy children of himalayas"

Are we meticulously destroying our kids childhood?

Can we do something about this?

Are we completely helpless, due to the way we created our system of life?

"In search of the last Red Aryans"

Plan is to reach Leh before night fall, want to take the Batalik route towards leh. There are 4 villages which are inhabited by the last red aryans. DC office Leh gives ILP for 2 villages (Darchik and Dha). Got the ILP before reaching kargil.



Journey towards Batalik started with a little confusion, but soon we were on the right path. This route is completely isolated, and you don't see a soul for hours. Beauty of this route is difficult to describe in words.




When a sea bed raises skywards to form the world tallest mountain range.




Kargil to Hambutingla is my favorite stretch in this entire drive.


Found these kid after 3hrs of drive, took their help to navigate towards batalik

Kids were always inquisitive.




Behind the mountains is pakistan.


Darchik, the first village of Red Aryans enroute.

A cluster of remote Himalayan villages claim to hold a bastion of purebred Aryans—the last in the world completely un-muddied by the outside gene pool.The Brogpas, or Brokpas, say they are the purest remnants of light-skinned European invaders who, legend has it, traveled through India thousands of years ago.For many years, visitors were barred from the isolated towns. Slowly, two were opened up, and in 2010 the regional government opened all four Brogpa villages in a push for tourism. Indian filmmaker Sanjeev Sivan traveled to the community and made a documentary called The Achtung Baby: In Search of Purity. In it, he investigates stories of German women who come in Ladakh seeking to impregnate themselves with what they consider pure-Aryan sperm.There is a story about the lost Master Race of the great Alexander or the Red Aryans. You can get a lot more information on the web regarding the red aryans.

There were some visitors for the commanding officer there, and hence a traditional program was organized. I requested if we can join them, CO saab is kind enough to oblige, and we had the luck to experience the hospitality of the Mighty Indian Army.




One has to experience the hospitality of indian army to know about it, and we are very lucky that day.



After enjoying the warm hospitality, its time for us to move on with our journey. Our next stop is Dah village.


My first encounter is with red aryan kids. They were care free and happy.


Had a chance to interact with an elderly red aryan and his grand son. Here these people have minimal needs, and completely depend on their nature and their surroundings for their daily needs. Their need for money is very minimal.


Here kids play 80% of their day, and learn things in the lap of nature. This is the way childhood is designed by nature, and we urban dwellers go against it and call ourselves civilized, modern and developed. After seeing these people i understood who are civilized and who are not.
"I understood that the right meaning of development is destruction"


"Here one can understand the true meaning of these words"


"Travelling to far lands can teach you the most valuable lessons in your life"


Finally reached leh. Had our dinner and crashed in our comfy room, unaware that we are not going to have lunch for the next 5 days after leaving Leh.

Today is a free day, and to get the much needed car wash and last minute shopping etc.

Top priority for the day is a good car wash, everything else is secondary. I love to get my car cleaned in front of my eyes.


These guys did a fantastic job.


Next is to get a pair of gum boots, which can prove to be very valuable while spotting for a water crossing.






Most important part of the shopping when driving in himalayas is to stock your car with food supplies for at least 4-5 days, and extra fuel for your car. Weather in himalayas is highly unpredictable.

Leh - Diskit - Turtuk
Today is a long day of driving, after a comfortable stay at leh, its time to get out of our comfort zone.

"Clean and tidy, before getting dusty and dirty"




The sign board at Khardung La has changed, it now says worlds highest all weather road. Now Umling La is the worlds highest motorable road at 19300 feet above mean sea level. Unfortunately one cannot get ILP for Umling la.






Can someone kindly give a caption for this photo, can't stop laughing.


How can one miss this maggie at Khardung La.






Having lunch enroute, it can be a cake, bread, biscut or anything available for the next 5 days.


Green tea with honey on the road.


Thanks to Jai paaji aka Jaysmokesleaves for gifting me the car kettle, which was very helpful on long drives.


Jai visited me on his drive from mumbai to bhuvaneshwar. Got an opportunity to check and drive his expedition fortuner, its an amazing beast.






Diskit monastry


106 feet tall Maitreya buddha is majestic.






Shyok river


One of the countless iron bridges.


Finally reached turtuk(Northern most village of india)


Turtuk holiday village - its the only decent place available to stay in turtuk.


Hot water bag is the best way to keep you comfortable for the night. Its the modern alternative to avoid Kangri ulcer( Type of cancer found in kashmiris, they put hot coal in clay pots and keep it on their belly to keep themselves warm during winter. This cause Kangri ulcer. But with hot water bags replacing the clay pots, must have saved many lives from cancer.)

Turtuk - Tangtse

Turtuk is a village not to be missed.

K2 peak - Pakistan. Most brutal mountain with the second highest peak in the world, Clicked from Turtuk monastery. K2 has highest mortality rate( one fatality per ever 4 summits).


Disaster strikes at the right time is what they say

My favourite photos of turtuk village and its people are clicked on my 7plus, next day when clicking pics on the bank of panagong tso, disaster stuck. Slipped my phone in to panagong lake, IP67 ratings are all rubbish when it comes to himalayan salt water lake, My phone is out of warranty. 7 plus just froze as soon as it fell in the water, and i learned the lesson hardest way possible.

Tangtse - spangmik - Hanle

Started after a good and heavy breakfast, as we knew the fate of our lunch.

Place where my 7plus is killed.


Memorial for my 7plus on the banks of panagong tso:Frustrati


Most scenic drive






Todays drive consists of 30Kms on the bank of panagong lake.










Major part of todays drive will be through Changthang wild life sanctuary, its better not to try offloading, but its always safe to have a 4x4 when traveling through such isolated land.


Group of Kiangs






https://youtu.be/RoKBW-xIhLY

Kiang is the largest of wild ass, its extremely shy and avoids any human presence.


Rezang la war memorial is a must visit place.


This story of Major Shaitan singh and 114 of his men who preferred last man, last round against chinese army. With out them Ladakh would have been a part of china.




Battle of rezang la needs to be made in to a movie, JP dutta saab koi batao. These soldiers deserve and command that respect.








https://youtu.be/MU68--95juw





Very expensive pashmina shawls are made from the wool of this Changra or Pashmina goat.


Every time i hear the word Pashmina, i remember this beautiful song
https://youtu.be/uxTXp0-iZrY

Hanle - Leh

Hanle has got the clearest sky, with minimal water vapor and particulate dust, hence an ideal place for astronomical observatory. Hanle is a paradise for people interested in astronomy and observing the night sky. I was stunned when i went to my car to collect something, and to my surprise i was able to see the the milky way with my naked eye, clear and bright. Bad luck, my canon malfunctioned at that low temperature(-20)

Tata institute of fundamental research has 7 small observatories here.


Worlds second largest glass observatory is under construction, it is being built by BARC(Bhabha atomic research center) and Tata institute of fundamental research research. It may be ready and operational in another couple of years.


Indian astronomical observatory. Its operated from bangalore, it does not have an eyepiece here in hanle. Observation can only be from bangalore.


Himalayan chandra telescope.





Mars land. Can you see hanle monastery? One thing i understood during this drive is, how minimal the needs of people here might be in this barren land, to survive thousands of years.





Himalayan fox, I was lucky to get a click of this elusive animal
.



Having a hot cup of tea on a freezing morning of hanle.


Mandatory morning check of tyre pressure.


Those small little eyes looking at me.


This lady politely asked me if i can give her that water can, as i had two in my car, and i was very happy to give it.


By evening we reached Leh. One of my friend has an early flight back to delhi, Hence we are two, left to face Leh - Manali highway. This highway is completely shattered and closed 11 days back. We were the first ones to drive this way after it reopened.

Leh - Manali

MUX ignition is cranked at 4am sharp at Leh, as we had an unrealistic plan to cross 5 high altitude himalayan passes and reach manali before night fall.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAo8PRtJAvg



Here comes the best part of this sector, its the Morey planes at an elevation of 15400 feet AMSL.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRuM2M9GRi4

















Family of Himalayan Ibex.




I think this must be Baralachala, sign boards are covered in thick snow.


Crossing Rothang pass was a nightmare, horrible roads(can't call them roads). Till rotting pass(spell check on my mac gave a perfect name to rothang pass) there is no traffic, may be we encountered less than 15 vehicles before rothang. Traffic started before rothang, and its was less, but due to the very bad condition of roads it took 1hr to cross rotting. We were very lucky not to encounter any landslides or any other road blocks. Reached manali by 8pm. Its 16hrs of non stop Isuzu MUX, vehicle never missed a beat during the whole drive.


Crossing Rothang pass was hell, MUX was in 4H for 1hr till we crossed Rothang, i even engaged 4L in some places. You can imagine the condition of roads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbdlGhyyZxk

After all the beating our body and souls have gone through from past 16hrs, its hard to describe our physical and psychological condition. Checked in to this beautiful little hotel at outskirts of manali.


This hotel is empty, we were the only guests that night. Due to flash floods in manali, tourism completely came to a halt.


They were kind enough to open their kitchen, and prepare a simple and delicious meal of chicken,dal, roti and rice. It was heaven.


I fell in love with the interiors of this place.












Finally My dream "The Himalayan drive" comes to an end. Only to travel another 2500kms to reach home. Total 7760kms of drive concluded with out any problem, not even a puncture. Reached home safe and sound, both drivers and vehicle, with one thing in mind "No more drives, enough of himalayas". This is what i have in my mind after every drive, only to start planning something after a couple of months.

Thanks for patiently reading my travelogue

We must thank you sir, for such a wonderful travelogue, great pictures and an astounding detailed description of your complete travel.

Every time I read or hear the letters MuX, I go crazy and this car has grown completely over me. Such a travelogue is just a testimony to it's reliability. I wish to buy one but none of my cars are in a position to be traded in and I cannot accommodate another vehicle without giving up one. Only this is in between me and a MuX!

clap: That's a fantastic trip you had Dr in a wonderful car!
Thank you for sharing the interesting things from your trip!

Where did you apply the ILP for the Batalik route to Leh?Is it at Srinagar? Could you please share the info.

What was the route from Vizag to Srinagar?

Your MUX Rocks! Happy Motoring!:thumbs up

For me, it was Dil Se Movie back in 1998.

Some Extract from my Lahaul and Spiti Travelogue.

All the Ladakh travelogues ( or based on the Himalayas) are always special for me. It was amazing to see that you covered Arayan villages, Turtuk and Hanle in a single trip. Your MUX looks amazing on this terrain. Thanks for this detailed travelogue with amazing photographs.

As they say "You must see it to believe it". Thank you for taking us along with you through your wonderful narration and mesmerizing pictures. Nothing short of heaven on Earth!

Did the Everest Basecamp Trek earlier this year and that image of K2 brought back some memories ... maybe one day sometime, if God permits :D