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.
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.