Traveller's Suitcase: Experiences that calmed our souls...Ladakh

Some experiences calmed our souls and some refreshingly shook us to the extent we didn’t know that our hearts could beat so fast!

We were a group of 6 college friends on a trip to Ladakh. It started with a pleasant surprise, dates coincided with the  Ladakh Festival which is held from 1^st to the 15^th of September. Of course we jumped at the opportunity!

Ladhak comes to life with music, dance and sport events. The atmosphere is like a “Mela” with various stall of  art and craft, food  and traditional  barley beer known as chang.

·         It was most fascinating  to see the parade of men, women and children singing and dancing to the beats of the local music, dressed in colourful traditional Ladakhi costumes. It felt like charaters were stepping out of the screen and walking pass by us!

·         We enjoyed the “Lion” and Yak dance in which the beautifully hand painted masks and embroidered costumes made the performances fairy tail like. The dances looked very graceful but we could tell that it must have required immense amount of practice in order to get the coordination in place.

Till the next day we were dancing to the beats of the local music!

After experiencing Cultural Ladakh we were in a mood to have some fun and expose ourselves to Adventurous Ladakh! Coming to the Natural beauty and mind blowing adventurous activities, we opted for  white-water rafting expeditions and treks in this desert of snow! We went crazy and pushed ourselves to the height of excitement. We didn’t just ‘SEE’ Ladkh but we actually ‘FELT it’!

For me the whole idea of  moving/Travelling without an engine at such a speed was most fascinating! Being  pushed by the  forces of water, wind and our manual power and off course the splashes of water  made for a “one of a kind” experience I’ll never forget!

We were instructed by our tour guide to have the  appropriate gear for the sport which is very important and we were asked to dress in layers. From July to September rivers such as the Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Indus, Zanskar and Teesta  are the ones for rafting.

·         Blended thermals, a light sweater windproof jacket, water proof jacket, shorts/pants  to keep the water away. We were also told to carry accessories as skull caps, waterproof gloves, and socks for the trip as a whole.

Trekking  to the lakes

Since we were there during the summer we had to visit atleast one of the lakes which were now no more frozen. We trekked our way to Tsomoriri which is 4,500 m  wide  and salty Tso Kar or the ‘White Lake’.

It was the most beautiful experience and we’ll never forget. The moment we reached the place all of us  dispersed  like mercury particles! It was as if  our souls had experienced freedom for the first time! We sat there admiring in awe the wide water body under the clear blue sky, surrounded by white snow caped peeks.   

We Experienced  true peace, serenity and spirituality.

We spent almost 2 hours there and when it was time to go back to the hotel I felt the beauty was pulling me back. This was the first time I didn’t want to take a picture because I had already captured it in my heart and in my diary later that day!

While trekking I remember that it was quite chilly and I was glad that we were carrying warm cloths like, Sweater, Fleece jacket, gloves and a cap. Hiking shoes, sunglasses and sun block were very useful. I noticed that some people also carried Waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers as they were entering the chilled water.

Check out the site www.trekkininladakh.com  which will guide you through the various ways and routes.

I now wish to go back to Ladakh in the winter and  experience the Chadder Walk on the Frozen Zanskar. I’m already packing in my head!!

(Text courtesy Niloufer Fazalbhoy)