After reaching Delhi, we left the luggage behind at airport's cloak room facility. With the Delhi map that I got hold at the airport, we decided to visit Qutb Minar, Lotus temple and Aksharadhama in the order of our plan to visit. It was 10 AM in the morning and the temperature was already high. We walked a little away from the airport thinking we could get a bus; but had to take an auto-rickshaw as the buses were jam packed. The entrance fee for Qutb Minar was Rs. 10 and the place was well maintained as it's one the world's heritage sites with it's Minar standing tall since the 12th century. Bus #534 then took us to Lotus temple from there. No entry fee to this place. After Lotus temple, it was lunch at Domino's. It was freaking hot and we decided to take a quick tour around Cannaught Place. We then took the metro to Indraprastha on our way to Aksharadhama. This temple was built on a huge site and has beautiful carvings. There was a musical fountain show at 8PM with an entry fee of Rs. 20 and this happens every evening. The show was well made and a real good entertainer. We walked out of the temple which was then highlighted with stunning lights. After a small struggle to get back to airport, we finished the dinner at Balaji restaurant and got the luggage back. We settled outside the airport till they allowed us inside the airport.The funny incident on the Airdeccan flight to Leh was that they did not allocate a seat after checking-in but had to run to get a window seat after boarding the flight. The landing at Leh Airport was really cool and I did applaud the pilots for their lovely landing. The only means of transport out of airport were taxis. We decided to go to Shanti guest house which was mentioned in the lonely planet and the taxi charged us Rs. 150. On reaching Shanti guest house, we were informed that a room would be available only at 10 AM. So we settled for breakfast in their dining hall which was furnished in a lovely Ladakhi style. They charged Rs. 350 for a room with attached bathroom and Rs. 200 for a room without one. After getting the room, we slept almost till evening.
Our first visit in Leh was the tough uphill to Shanti Stupa; panting hard for oxygen we did take longer to reach the top. But the views from Shanti Stupa were amazing. Note that it is not advisable to take tough walks on the day of arrival; but we did. Some of the problems that we faced during our first few days in Ladakh, especially at high altitudes were breathless-ness, head aches and skin drying out in cold. Please take precautionery measures to avoid Acute Mountain Sickeness; this could be disastrous sometimes. Drink loads of water. We then took a walk down to Leh Market area. We had our dinner at Norlok Restaraunt; they serve really good momos. Couple of other tasks that we finished the same evening were booking the motorbikes for the next day's road trip to Kargil, buying Ladakh map and ofcourse getting local advice on to-do's.
It was a lovely 2nd July morning when we got hold of our motorbikes; I got myself an Enfield Thunderbird and Nikhil got a Pulsar for Rs. 600 and Rs. 450 per day respectively. We then got our permits from Leh Deputy Commissioner Office. Non-Indians need to get the permits via agents and cannot directly. The office charges the Indians Rs.20 per day per person for visiting Nubra Valley (Kardung La, Panamic), Pangong Lake (Mirsimek La) and Tso Moriri Lake (Hanle). Permits were also required for Dah-Hanu; but not charged. After getting permits, we loaded our luggages at the guest house we were off on our 4 day road trip to Kargil. We got our fuel tanks filled at Leh and also took additional fuel filled cans as the fuel stations were not that easy to find. We stopped at Nimmu for Lunch. We also stopped at lot of places to relish the beauty of nature and took shots at the beautiful views. We took a detour and visited Alchi Gonpa, the only known gonpa in Ladakh on flat ground. Our overnight stay was at Lamayuru, also called the Moonland View. We were not lucky to get a room at the Niranjan guest house which was physically adjacent to the Monestary. We did get a room at Moonlight Hotel who charged us Rs.500. This hotel had clean rooms with hot water facilities and a restaurant.Morning views at Lamayuru were great. We finished our breakfast and then we were at the Monestary. The Monestary was the oldest known gonpa dating back to 10th century. The monesta
ry has exactly 100 'mani's (prayer wheels) and 1 huge 'mani' in a chorten. They have prayers every morning at 8AM. There were a couple of 'mandir's with old, partly ruined paintings. Look out for a small cave in one mandir which was used by Monk Norupa for his meditation. It was then time for us to depart from Lamayuru; one of the places I will surely remember for its peaceful nature. Its advisable to get food packed from Lamayuru as there were no places for food for long distance. The route towards Kargil gets rougher with land slides and ruined roads. Fotula top was the highest point on Leh-Srinagar road at 13479ft. The approach to Wakha Valley gets greener. The kids here start spreading out hands on approach; its not for a ride but for a snap. They enjoy it and I did too. Kargil starts with a bridge and the right leads to the main market area. The options for stay were very few and they charge real absurd prices. The best option was to get the J&K Tourist Bunglow; which was quite a struggle but we did. They charge a nominal Rs. 100 per night. The bookings are done at the J&K Tourist Reception Centre for the two bunglows. A good choice for food was Las Vegas Restaurant which was on the way to J&K Tourist Reception Centre.4th of July was a little unlucky as our struggle in the morning to get permission to visit LOC went in vain. I got my bike's front mud gaurd welded as it had broken. We finally started our journey to Dah. We hit the Batalik road which was not in the published maps and realized that this road was least used except for the defence vehicles. The road was real good and it took us through a number of defense bunkers and camps till we finally reached the bridge near Dah. We spent some time talking to the defense guys and nibbled at the apricots offered by them. About 2kms from the bridge, a hoarding of Prasar Bharati was the point to start the walk up to Dah village. This was one of the last 3 Aryan villages; the others were Hanu and Darchik. There were a few guest houses maintained by the locals. We found the first guest house cool and stayed overnight paying Rs. 350. Dorjai, the person who owns the place gave us some history lessons about the village over a nice homley dinner. We also met an old Belgium couple at the guest house and the conversation with them was interesting too.
It was a peaceful morning as we took a walking tour of the village. This small village was home to a vast collection of fruits like apricots, apples, grapes, peaches and a lot more vegetation. Our journey back to Leh from Dah was faster with lesser stops and a stop for lunch at Nimmu. My bike's rear wheel started wobbling which made us to head directly to Shanti Guest House. After checking in and cleaning myself I was on my way to the bike guys for a repair. I then did a quick tour to Phyang Monestary; a visit is advisable as the Monestary is located over looking a beautiful village. On the way back, I did a detour to Spituk Monestary which was closed; but the views were great with the backdrop of Leh city.
5th July was relaxing as we got out of beds by noon for visiting Leh Palace and Tsemo Ngyamba Gonpa. The uphill to Leh Palace starts from a lane behind the masjid in the main market area. The entry fee to the palace was Rs. 5 for Indians and Rs. 100 for Non-Indians. The palace has nothing much of interest except a Kali's temple and lovely views from top. It was then the next uphill to Ngyamba Gonpa and believe me, it was tough to bring Nikhil's spirit up and about for this uphill. Don't forget to carry water. We spent some time relaxing at the gonpa and then a late lunch at Leh View Restaurant. We spent evening around main market, confirmed the need for a Thunderbird for the next day's road trip to Nubra Valley. This time we had decided to cut down expenses by hiring one motorbike and ofcourse me being the rider!
Thunderbird took off to Nubra Valley the next day which was fateful with the rear wheel going flat exactly 20kms from Leh. We Left behind the motorbike and got a ride back to Leh. Thanks to the guys from Dehradun who offered us the ride. The bike lendor got the motorbike fixed as we finished our lunch. It was the day when Indian Stock markets hit 15k mark. We started off really late, after 3PM and had problems crossing South Pullu. We reached Kardung La, the world's highest motorable road in the world and spent time shooting snaps and sipping the black tea offered at the cafeteria. We managed to reach Kardung La and checked in into the only traveller's choice of rest house paying the care taker about Rs. 150. Sewang, a local boy served us food made from his home and his hospitality was great. 
The next day turned out to be the coldest day of our days in Ladakh, mostly raining. The rain held us back at Kardong for nearly 5 hours and we reached Hunder by evening. Looking for stay options we found Jamshed guest house to be a good choice for Rs. 350. After checking in, we were at the Sand dunes (the desert among snow caped mountains). The place was really cool and amazing. We spent a lot of time shooting snaps. The disappointment was that we could not find camels as it was late in the evening and also as it had rained. Back at the guest house we spent time speaking to some travellers at the dining table and finished our dinner.On 9th of July, we started off to Penamic by 7.30 AM from Hunder and reached the place before 10 AM. Penamic can be skipped from the itenery as it was not of great beauty and the only reason for visit were the Hot Springs. Finishing our breakfast at a local restaurant, we were riding back to Leh with good pace. After reaching Kardung La, we met a lovely couple from Bangalore and accompanied the ride back and also a late lunch at Tibetian Kitchen. The restaurant serves good food, the best were the momos. After getting back to Shanti Guest House, Nikhil was off to sleep and I was off for another visit to Shanti Stupa; this time on the bike. As Nikhil wanted to relax the next day, I decided go rafting. I got the rafting booked at Maitreyi Adventurers. The man in charge there has spent a lot of time in Bangalore and spoke good Kannada to our surprise.
10th of July was the rafting day. I was up from bed early and while I waited for the taxi to arrive, finished my breakfast. Over the breakfast I met 3 girls from France who had plans of trekking for 20 days from Hemis to Manali. The taxi picked four others on the way and it took us about 2 hours to reach Chilling. The rafting started at Chilling and conculded at Nimmu which was a ride of about 25kms. It was a great adventure as there were good rapids and one rapid rated about 4. The low oxygen levels add to the difficulty levels. It took us about 3 hours to conclude the rafting. After finishing the lunch at their camp, we were back at Leh.
As we could not get our taxi arrangements to visit Pangong Lake on 11th of July, we decided to make arrangements for the next day. The way it works at Leh, is that the taxi is shared by a maximum of 5 people. So if more people are needed for sharing, an advertisement is published at the tour operator's notice boards. I did the same and it worked. We then decided to visit Shey Palace and took a mini bus from Leh bus station at 4 PM. The journey takes about 30mins and getting a bus back was not difficult. Shey palace supposedly has the largest statue of Buddha in Ladakh. Back at Leh, I took a non-stop uphill to Shanti Stupa. I wanted to do this before I left Leh and I succeeded that evening.
12th of July was the drive to Pangong Lake. We had an Isreali couple and a lady from Germany to accomapany us on the drive. We had some interesting cross cultural conversations and the journey took us about 5 hours to reach Pangong Lake. Remember to carry about 5 copies of the permit for Pangong Lake. The place was just mind blowing. Some interesting facts about the lake is that it is the largest at that height, one third of it is in India and rest in China. The driver allowed us only about one and a half hour at the Lake. This duration was really short for us to enjoy the amazing beauty of Pangong Lake.13th of July was the last day; we had one final place for visit and it was Hemis Monestary. The mini bus starts at Leh bus station at 9.45AM and the journey takes about 90mins. The return bus from Hemis was at 12.30PM and this gave us less than 1 hour at Hemis. Hemis Monestary was the biggest known monestary in Ladakh and was worth visiting as it has very well maintained temples. After returning back it was some shopping at Leh.
Our flight out of Leh was early on 14th July. This time the seats were allocated at check-in and the flight landed at Delhi which had slight showers. We both left the luggage at the airport. I had about 3 hours before I could check-in for the next flight; so I decided to watch a movie at PVR Priya, the closest to airport. Nikhil had couple of more days before he could return and he was off to meet a friend in Delhi. At PVR Priya, it was only Harry Potter and I had no other choice but to watch the movie.
So my journey to the beautiful valleys of Ladakh ends here and it was an amazing experience. With the number of places it offers for visiting, the difference in each place and the lovely people, I did have a blast. With a lot more places left for visiting, I will surely be there again. It was also a great experience meeting people from every corner of the world and it was very interesting to know their views about India; and also about their place and culture. Thanks to LADAKH which catered a lot more than what I expected.
