Our Ladakh trip was getting postponed indefinitely for one reason or the other since a long time .Finally a day dawned when the trip was about to become a reality.
I happened to casually mention to my friend about the trip we had planned and to my surprise she vehemently started opposing my idea saying that going to Ladakh which was a very high altitude area was very risky at our age, I honestly felt 64 years was not too old to be traveling to such areas
Like” Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” my desire to go to Ladakh was further strengthened after this demoralizing talk and I started doing some research into the means of transport, places to see in Ladakh and things we needed to take with us
From what I had heard and seen in snaps and videos, Ladakh is not a barren uninhabitable and harsh land. Nestled amidst the Himalayas and Karakoram ranges, in fact it is a magical place where nature lives in its purest and raw form and has its own rule book to follow
From lush green pastures, high rustic mountains to blue scenic lakes like Pangong Tso, natural treasures adorn Ladakh fittingly making this cold desert an extremely awe-inspiring place
Acclimatization is important while planning a trip to Ladakh as Leh and most of the places in Ladakh are located above the altitude of 10,000 feet in contrast to our hamara Hyderabad which lies at a humble 1780 feet altitude
Visitors may suffer from dizziness, vomiting, headaches or even acute mountain sickness (AMS) which is a serious condition that can happen to anyone at altitudes above 10000 feet. It is pretty common if one flies or drives to such a higher altitude directly due to scarcity of oxygen at a great height
So a full day of complete bed rest is compulsorily advised for acclimatization to the high altitude and low level of oxygen once one reaches Ladakh.
I was not letting the Acute Mountain Sickness which exists in all high altitude places like Ladakh spoil my plans to visit that heavenly place, so we bought the prescribed Diamox tablets but refrained from using them as we wanted to test our endurance
We were also told not to exert ourselves for 2 or 3 days as our bodies have to get used to the high altitude oxygen pressure fall, tourists are also advised to abstain from alcohol
We had chosen August for our trip as we were relatively free with our schedules, though the best time to visit Ladakh is during summer season - April to July when temperatures are tolerable and between 15 to 30 Degree Celsius. As Ladakh is known for its extremely low temperatures almost all through the year, we thought we could rough it out
Apart from our basic travel items, we were instructed to take at least two copies of Photo ID and an extra pair of reading glasses, sunglasses were highly recommended to protect our eyes from the glare of sun rays
Multi-Plug was a must as we would need to charge our cells, Plastic Bags / Plastic Zip Lock Bags to dispose our waste during day trips instead of clustering the pristine surroundings , Small handy water bottle ,Pens, pencils, crayons, chocolates and toffees for distribution among local children, Hand Sanitizers , moisturizing Cream and Lip Guard, Mobile, Basic First-aid, medical kit & our regular medicines formed part of our luggage and Sun screen lotion (SPF 50 or greater) was compulsory
Clothes we packed as per our schedule along with one light jacket each and we didn’t take heavy woollens or thermals except for a sweater and monkey caps
There are 4-5 ATMs available in Leh town but we will not find any ATMs anywhere else in Ladakh. It is better that we carry some cash to use in restaurants and shops
One can reach Leh, Ladakh either by road or by air. Ladakh is connected by Manali Leh Highway and Srinagar Leh Highway. Unfortunately, there is no connectivity to Ladakh by train. Due to constraint of time we chose to take a flight from Delhi to Leh
Ladakh is known as the land of high passes and is India’s union territory, constituting a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been a subject of dispute between India, Pakistan and China since 1947.
Ladakh is bordered by Tibet Autonomous Region to east, Himachal Pradesh to the south, both the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north.
The Siachen Glacier lies in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south.
The largest town in Ladakh is Leh, followed by Kargil, each of which headquarters a district. The Leh district contains the Indus, Shyok and Nubra river valleys. The Kargil district contains the Suru, Dras and Zanskar river valleys
The main populated regions are the river valleys, but the mountain slopes also support the pastoral Changpa nomads.
Religion in Leh City as per 2011 census is Buddhism (43.85%), Hinduism (35.37%) and Islam (15.14%) and rest other religions
Ladakh is one of the most sparsely populated regions in India and its culture and history are closely related to that of Tibet.
The flight from Delhi to Leh would last for 1 hour 20 minutes .As Leh Airport is a small and tricky one, all flights usually operate in the morning and all of them leave Leh by late afternoon.
As suggested by some friends, we blocked the window seats on left side of the plane when going to Leh to get magnificent views of the Ladakh range mountain
As we went in August 2022, we didn’t have to get our RTPCR testing done but had to show our fully vaccinated status at the airport, we also took a BSNL card because we came to know that mobile connectivity was poor in Ladakh and surrounding areas but Airtel connection worked fine whereas my jio net -work was absolutely of no help
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