As I had mentioned earlier, a big troupe from WB had come to the hotel.
Apparently when they got to know we were out for few days, they demanded that they be given our room for that duration.
Since they were leaving tomorrow morning, no issues thought the hotel owner. But we came back one day early.
No issues for us also, one night only, tomorrow morning most of them will leave.
Moreover they seemed to be in an exceptionally grumpy mood.
I asked Sunny, and he told me it had rained 18 hours non stop in leh, and the passes(Chang La and KhardungLa) got snowed out.
So most of the troupe were returning back without seeing Pangong Tso or K-Top. Only 5 retired gentleman had extra time and they had postponed their air tickets.
Thats why so much tension in Air.
Well its understandable, you come so far, and end up seeing just Leh city, which actually has nothing to see!
Anyways we lazed around, and then slept, with intent of not waking up before 11am!
But out of habit, the waking up was early, and we decided that since Leh festival only had stuff like some traditional dances etc., no point braving the crowds.
It had rained in the night, so we thought why not catch snow at K-Top?
So up and ready I first decided to click a few hotel pics.
For 600 a night, this place was actually a steal I will say!
After that it was time for a drive upto Khardungla!
And boy, what a shock we were in for.
Today being the first day of Leh festival, YHAI had flagged off a bike and cycle expedition to K.Top.
Most of the bikes were KA/AP with some MH being thrown in, and from their driving, it seemed it was their first hill driving trip for many of them.
So imagine, a very scared biker, climbing slowly in the middle of the road.
Infact while giving way, few of them went to the right side of the road, since left side was the drop down.
One almost got creamed by an oncoming taxi, as he was driving on the right side of the road around a blind hairpin because he was scared of heights I think?
So the motto was go slow slow.
The cyclists were no better. You see many foreigners who cycle up Khardung La, but they are like professionals, and they know what they are doing.
But these guys, most of them were panting, and stopping in the middle of the road to take rest!
Now when you climb up a steep incline, if you stop, you have to burn clutch to restart.
We were slow, so no issues, but the taxi guys were literally honking them off the road.
Pretty stupid of YHAI, taking people to the narrow road to K.Top without asking the basic question "Have you ever driven in the hills before?".
Some exceptionally intelligent samples thought its some college party and were driving parallel to each other chatting. Imagine if a car or truck is coming down from opposite side!
But thankfully without any incident, we were at K top around quarter to two.
Unfortunately, not much snow up there
The climb had been a big waste of time I guess, we could instead have made a day trip to P.Tso? Well maybe not.
Anyways, a few pics
Far down below, the Leh city
After the same torturous climb down, dodging a million bikers and cyclists, we were in Leh.
First we decided to eat, same Dogra Dhaba! Finally cheap good Rajma Chawal.
Next what?
We decided to check out Hall of Fame on Anups recommendation.
Now no interior pics allowed, so I have just external pics.
But to give you an idea, this is the Army museum.
Various wars in Ladakh, dating from the Dogra Assault by Zorawar singh in late 1800s are showcased here.
There is also historical info about first airfield, the BRO and like.
Most interesting is the Siachin room. If you were grumbling about how expensive your nike sneakers are when they cost only 200rs to make in china, wait till you see how much the army pays for snow boots.
Tell you what, this room is the untimate showcase of how your and my hard earned money is wasted and contractors are given astronomical sums for silly stuff, better quality of which can be bought in Europe at 1/10th the price.
There is a joke prevalent in the west, about how contractors make money of defence contracts. They will sell the hardware for cheap, and then sell things like nails, hammers etc., for 100$-500$ a piece. So if you want to see how defense contractors make money, go visit this room.
If you thought that Toyota Land cruiser at 80 lakhs is expensive, wait till you see how much does our army pay for an ATV which is open from all sides, just has a tubular frame.
Any guesses? 1.25 crores! Yay
anyways, here are the pics.
There is a memorial for the brave soldier
This is the most humbling part. Every battle you read about reminds you again and again, how the state has failed the brave soldier, and all he does is die here. Basic necessities become luxuries, and soldiers have to make do with very basic equipment and clothes. The irony is that the money spent on them if properly spent can given them the best equipment in the world...
Hall of fame done, we decided to go to Polo ground to see polo players, again 30 minutes wasted for nothing
But no issues, we had a whole day to kill.
So what to do for late evening?
Well go to Shanti Stupa!
I wanted some Leh night shots, glad they came out decent
The only problem was clouds, otherwise, a star lit sky would have looked much better!
The stupa
More Leh
A slightly longer exposure, thats why the city has blown highlights
After that it was time to go back to our hotel, get nice sleep.
Tomorrow we go to Kargil, without crossing Fotu La, or loops,
But unknown to us, the trip would be far more adventurous than we bargained for!
TO BE CONT..