[deky]

The plan to visit Leh-Ladakh was being hatched since I last visited this area in the year 1990. Yes, 20 years back when my Dad was posted in Kargil, We were lucky enough to spend one full month with him. Read here for more details of that trip. I was so amazed with the beauty that this region has to offer that I made it a point to come back again to Ladhak one day. Finally the dream came true as we returned to Leh-Ladakh in July'10.

Initially it was just my wife, my 2 and a half year old daughter and I who was suppose to do this trip, but later on my mother in law and her sister and her sisters husband also decided to accompany us. So in all our group had 5 adults and a kid.

Driving via Manali or Srinagar was not considered as we did not want to stress our kid too much and that too on high altitudes. Hence train/ flight tickets were booked.

The itinerary was fixed with inputs from HVK, Wanderernomad, Tsk1979 and others. The itinerary was as follows.

Day 1: 23rd July : Fly Jammu - Leh and rest/ acclimatise
Day 2: 24th July : Leh Sight seeing - Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace, Hall of Fame, Spituk Gompa
Day 3: 25th July : Leh - Pangong Tso - Tangtse
Day 4: 26th July : Tangtse - Hemis Gompa - Thikse - Leh
Day 5: 27th July : Leh - KhardungLa - Panamik - Siachin base camp- Partapur
Day 6: 28th July : Partapur- Hunder- Deskit- Leh
Day 7: 29th July : Leh - Magnetic Hill - Lamayuru - Kargil
Day 8: 30th July : Kargil- Sonmarg - Srinagar
Day 9: 31st July : Srinagar- home - Home - Home..thanks to curfew
Day10: 1st Aug : Fly Srinagar- Jammu and evening train to Jaipur

Note:-

• We had to go to Jammu as my MIL is in Jammu. The journey from Jammu to Jaipur was done by train
• Initially we had 2 days in Srinagar but as the situation got bad we kept only one day there and increased one day in Leh
• Taxi's were used for sight seeing in Ladakh and from Leh to Srinagar.

The idea of the holiday was to balance out on sight seeing and spending quality time together as a family. We did not want to rush things hence our day never started before 8.30am. And we made sure we reached our destination before sun down.

I shall not go into a detailed travelogue as I think Ramkya, Tsk and others have already done a great job with detailed information on the whole circuit. I will only post pics and relevant information with the pics. Hope you guys enjoy the journey

Regards

[Lightening-Fast]

Its raining Leh and Ladakh travelogues. Looks like the hot fav among people up North. Bu never has the pics disappointed. So looking forward to the pics. Keep them coming!

[deky]

The hour long flight from Jammu to Leh was pretty comfortable. The best part was the views of the mighty Himalayas we got to see from the flight.


Leh is considered to be one of the most dangerous Airports in the world as the flight has to squeeze through a narrow channel between two mountains before landing.


We were greeted in Leh with bright sunshine and pleasant weather, but today was supposed to be rest day hence we headed straight to our accommodation.


We were staying right opposite the airport and we had great views of the surrounding mountains from there.


Our hut that would be our home for next 6 days.


It was suppose to be a rest day but a few walks around our accommodation and a few pictures guess wont hurt much.


Evenings as usual got windy so my wife and daughter pretended to be birds. Actually it got so windy that we had to carry out kid inside or else she would be literally flying.


An evening shot of the surrounding


I think playing pool really does help in acclimatising.


Before dinner we had to under go a customary medical check up. 3 members out of the 6 were found to have O2 levels below 80%. Not much of a concern as we were all pronounced fit. Thankfully my daughter had the highest O2 in her blood.


After dinner it was time to sleep

[suman]

Ah-hah, I was eagerly awaiting this Travelogue 'cos I knew we'd get something special & not another run of the mill Leh travelogue!

I can sense already that it was worth waiting for. Bring 'em on, lovely pics to start off with

[TaureanBull]

Great pics Deky! So enjoyed the Army hospitality?

The pics are great and looks like you had good time. Its nice that you went through the O2 check up.

[deky]

Post deleted as the attachment did not load Properly.

@ Suman Da: Thanks, but this would be one of the simplest trips to Leh undertaken by anyone on the forum. There aint any thrill in it.

@ TaureanBull: Yup, We did indeed.

[ashthedivx]

Aaah.. finally you are back dhiraj

Waiting anxiously for the whole travelogue. BTW, how did nokia maps performed ?

[MX6]

How old is your daughter? btw you should post that bird photo in the themed thread - for winds.

[deky]

I wanted this to be a completely relaxing holiday. But Hills and relaxing actually do not go hand in hand with me. On a usual day at home I never get up before 0800hrs but here on a holiday I was up by 0600 hrs. I was expecting some headache but to my surprise I was as fresh as a daisy.

Letting the sleeping souls rest I decided to take a walk out. The sun was slowly coming out from behind the clouds and it was getting brighter and brighter. After watching 2 IL 76's and an AN32 land and an IAF Cheetah chopper run a few training sorties it was time for civil aircrafts to land. The runway with Spituk Gompa in the back drop gave magnificent views.


As soon as the sounds of the jet engines died down we could hear Bugles from the Hall Of Fame. The Army men were practising for the Kargil Diwas on the 26th. The bugles and the Tri Colour flying high is enough to give goose bumps to anyone in the vicinity.


After Breakfast we started our day by visiting the Shanti Stupa first.



The views of Leh town from the Stupa are breathtaking, specially if its a bright and a sunny day.




I had a tough time pointing out the Leh Palace from the Stupa to my family as the Palace is pretty well camouflaged against the rocks.
Leh Palace and Tsemo Castle from the Shanti Stupa.


Next stop was the Leh Palace.



There is nothing much to see in the Palace as it is under renovation. But again the views of the town from here are pretty nice.


After this the ladies decided to do what they like doing the best and that is go for shopping and I decided what I like doing the most and that is trekking. So I decided to trek up to the Tsemo Castle.


After about 20 minutes of steep climb I finally reached up the Tsemo Castle.


Coming down was an easy affair and within no time I had joined my family for lunch in the town.


After lunch was siesta time for an hour and then we proceeded to the Hall Of Fame.


IMO the HOF should be a must visit for everyone going to Ladhak. Not only does it depicts the heroism of our armed forces it also contains lots of information and history about the region.


Click on the picture and read the letter. Hats off to such bravery.


Facts about Siachin Glacier


Pakistani arms captured in the war.


A funny message. I could'nt help laughing reading this.


Tri-Colour flying high at the memorial.


After HOF it was time to drive down to Spituk Gompa and Kali Mata Mandir.



My daughter was a bundle of energy through out. We were hoping that she would rest for the first few days to acclimatise properly but guess she is too young to understand rest. We kept our fingers crossed hoping that she would be fine.


Inside the Gompa


The Indus Valley looked beautifull from the top and in the setting sun.




By sundown we were back and could catch the last rays of the sun on the mountains.


Soon it was dark and was time to sleep.

[unoczar]

Originally Posted by MX6

How old is your daughter? btw you should post that bird photo in the themed thread - for winds.

2 and a half years old! must pay attention! too busy seeing the himalayas, eh? hehe...

dheeraj, i saw this just now and i did not see the post starter's name first. i rolled down casually till i saw you at the fence, and i said to myself.. "thats deky!", rolled back up, and deky indeed!

the himalaya shot from the plane is awesome! bring it on!

I would also like to know about the expenses part.

[MX6]

@unoczar. Thanks for pointing out. Was so enamoured by the photos that I've not read what deky's typed till now.

Deky. let me see whether my daughter can break the record set by your daughter

p.s. That letter left me teary eyed.

[unoczar]

Originally Posted by MX6

my daughter

how old is she?

sorry for OT deky,

[Joy]

Deky, I have read your previous travelogue "Memoirs of kargil, 1990". Please be careful about AMS, especially about your daughter (she is too young to understand anything). Please don't forget your father's warning back in 1990.

The letter, for me, is the star of the show. It is indeed heart wrenching.

Anyway, nice pics. Keep them up.

[shivmarwaha]

Waiting for more buddy. I really liked the way you have started the travelogue. Waiting for Day3,4,5...

[deky]

Originally Posted by ashthedivx

Aaah.. finally you are back dhiraj

Waiting anxiously for the whole travelogue. BTW, how did nokia maps performed ?

Nokia maps were ok, but the problem was the Bsnl gprs. I have google maps too and they were better than the Nokia ones.

Originally Posted by MX6

How old is your daughter? btw you should post that bird photo in the themed thread - for winds.

As mentioned by uncoczar my daughter is 2 years and 6 months old

Originally Posted by unoczar

2 and a half years old! must pay attention! too busy seeing the himalayas, eh? hehe...

dheeraj, i saw this just now and i did not see the post starter's name first. i rolled down casually till i saw you at the fence, and i said to myself.. "thats deky!", rolled back up, and deky indeed!

the himalaya shot from the plane is awesome! bring it on!

I would also like to know about the expenses part.

I would not be the right person to tell you the expense part as lots of things were complimentary for us. We only had to pay for the following

1. Flight tickets Jammu to Leh- Rs 5000/- per person
2. Flight tickets Srinagar to Jammu - Rs. 1900/- per person
3. Stay in Leh 6 days - Rs 4500/- for 3 rooms including breakfast and Dinners
4. Stay in Tangtsey - Rs. 900/- for 3 rooms including 2 meals
5. Stay in Partapur - Rs. 950/- for 3 rooms including 2 meals
6. Stay in Kargil - Rs 600/- for 2 rooms including 2 meals
7. Stay in Srinagar - Nil as stayed with family
8. tips/ gifts/ lunches & Misc expense - Rs 3000/-

Originally Posted by MX6

@unoczar. Thanks for pointing out. Was so enamoured by the photos that I've not read what deky's typed till now.

Deky. let me see whether my daughter can break the record set by your daughter

p.s. That letter left me teary eyed.

I am sure your daughter would be just fine. Infact my kid turned out to be the healthiest during our trip.

Originally Posted by Joy

Deky, I have read your previous travelogue "Memoirs of kargil, 1990". Please be careful about AMS, especially about your daughter (she is too young to understand anything). Please don't forget your father's warning back in 1990.

The letter, for me, is the star of the show. It is indeed heart wrenching.

Anyway, nice pics. Keep them up.

Thanks Joy, the trip is over now and she did great. And yeah the letter indeed is heart wrenching.

Originally Posted by shivmarwaha

Waiting for more buddy. I really liked the way you have started the travelogue. Waiting for Day3,4,5...

Thanks, will post soon.