Amngst all the places we visited, Fotu La was probably the only point where the GPS altitude came closest to what was stated in the milestones!
A "local" from around those parts
A few kilometers down the road from Fotu La, we encountered the Hangroo Loops. Fresh
BLACK tarmac & we were excited no end. We could see Lamayuru Monastery in the distance as well
We took the short detour from the highway to reach the Monastery at 1.50 pm - the views from the Monastery were awesome. There was even a Hotel next door that had a restaurant with a decent Menu. And a washroom! We decided to have lunch there (even though Mr Iqbal had suggested that we stop at Khalse which was a further 20 kms from here).
The Beast in the shadow of Lamayuru
Lunch over, we resumed our journey, expecting the Black tarmac top to accompany us.
No such luck!!!! A few kms down the road, we were greeted by the now-familiar site of loose stones etc & we suddenly saw a Sumo stopped just ahead. We could see a Bulldozer up on the mountain side as well. We realized that our man (in the name of road repair) had created a mini-landslide of sorts & had dropped quite a few boulders on to the dusty road. As a result of this, we were held up - a few trucks on the other side and a few vehicles on our end.
It was not a good spot to be held up in - just dust & a lot of loose stones etc on the mountain side. Every few minutes or so, there would be a huge gust of wind leading to a dust storm that reduced visibility to zero. We had no option but to keep the engine & AC running while the Bulldozer took an agonizingly long time to straighten out the mess that had been created
Finally it was cleaned up & we waited for the three trucks on the other side to come through so that we could thereafter proceed.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!!! What we hadn't seen was an Army Convoy that had gathered on the other side. No guesses about who got priority!!! For the next umpteen minutes we sat & counted umpteen army trucks trundling by. Punctuated by bouts of severe duststorms. Every time that happened, the army trucks ground to a halt. At the end of this, we were a bundle of nerves
We finally escaped from this spot at a little after 4 pm,
45 minutes since we arrived there. In hindsight, having lunch at Lamayuru was the smartest thing we'd done since we finally crossed Khaltse only at 4.38 pm!! After Khaltse, we found black top again
Loved these displays of light & shade!
The regrettable bit about this delay was that we had no option but to skip halting at Nimmu - everyone was tired and on a short fuse; we did see the confluence of Indus & Zanskar from way up, it was beautiful but somehow I wasn't in the mood to stop & click. Sorry about that.
A couple of kms up the highway was the sign proclaiming Magnetic Hill but guess what?
There was no box marked with white paint & we really weren't in a mood to search high & low. So we kept going down that wonderful tarmac top, arrow straight road.
We were getting closer & closer to our destination
A gorgeous view from Indus Point (IIRC)
and then we were finally close to the Leh Airport & then into the City. Called up the Hotel Omasila and got directions from Mr Nawang. Turned out the Hotel was in Changspa (a nice neighbourhood) and we found our way & parked there at a little after 7 pm. It had been a long & tiring day & it eventually took its toll on all of us.
Total Distance Travelled - 231 kms; Total Driving Time - 7hrs 30 mins. As you may have noticed, the frustration was more on account of the unproductive "waiting" time, particularly the "unforeseen" one after Lamayuru.
Omasila is a lovely Hotel & he'd given us a Family Suite which had great views on two sides - the snow clad mountains in front & the Shanti Stupa on one side. Decided to have a really early dinner & grab some sleep. Next day was complete rest, something that all of us were looking forward to!