Winterland in summer!

Work took me to Leh last week. From a hot and dry Delhi, I found myself in subzero temperatures in Leh, within the space of a couple of hours. Quite the change. The town isn't fully open yet, most of the shops/hotels/restaurants are still shut and expected to start opening from the end of April, with the beginning  of the "season". The first shipment of vegetables had just reached town via the Srinagar - Kargil highway. One of my travelling companions was actually carrying a box of food provisions for friends - things like veggies etc that are worth their weight in gold during the cold weather season, when Leh is cut off from the rest of the world. Locals we knew had to scour the town to come up with a couple of bottles of Coke for an evening get-together.

It was mostly routine work - meeting local partners, carrying out hotel inspections, checking out rooms and facilities etc and sorting them out into "yes we will use", "maybe we could use" and " no way will we use". But I was in one of the most beautiful places on this earth, Ladakh. Every way I looked, I could see magnificent snow peaks. On one particular day in Leh we saw bright sunshine, clouds, snowfall and again sunshine - all within the space of a morning. And the one day that we spent outside Leh more than made up for all the hard work. 

We took a daytrip to Pangong Tso, the lake made so famous by movie 3 Idiots. One of my travel companions had a funny story about how a guest who visited last year insisted his phone HAD to work at the lake, because after all Aamir had taken a call here in the movie....Speaking of the movie, did you know that tourists to Leh often actually ask to visit the "3 idiots school" and pee on the "susu wall"?? I kid you not!

Now I had visited Pangong once before, with family on a trip in the fall of 2011. The lake then was a beautiful blue-green, changing colour every now and then depending on the sunlight. We'd taken a long walk along the shore and I don't think anybody could really get over how pretty it all was. This time, it was a sheet of ice. I was seeing a frozen lake for the first time, and was super excited about it. The ice was almost white, but not quite - there was a beautiful sea-green tinge to it. We walked around on the lake; the ice was slippery and I had to spend a considerable amount of energy keeping myself upright. The temperature was in the -20 to -25 degrees range, but because there was no wind that day it didn't feel as cold. It was definitely a memorable experience, made more unforgettable by the fact that on the way back our car got stuck in snow just short of Changla Pass....

I also managed to find a couple of hours to drive out and visit Gurudwara Patthar Sahib. Had read the legend associated with it and "Nanak Lama" but had never got around to seeing the place for myself. It's a nice, quiet place in the middle of nowhere just next to the highway. Once you have paid your respects, one of the soldiers (it is managed by the army; a different unit each quarter) will smilingly invite you for tea and prasaad. The hot tea and jalebis tasted awesome in the cold weather. There is also a langar on Sundays. What struck me about the place was the silence. It was extremely windy and you could actually hear the sound of all the flags flapping away in the wind. 

It was a good trip on the whole, even though I was sick for the most part of it. We were lucky to get to meet some local Ladakhi families and spend time with them in their homes, having tea and being pressed to eat this, eat that, try this, try that....amazing hospitality. Ladakhis are some of the warmest, friendliest souls one could ever meet. They live mostly in harsh conditions but everybody seems to be happy and smiling always. The children are just too sweet, red cheeks and all.

I know I'll be back again soon! I also know that a longer travelogue, from my two earlier trips, is long overdue and will end up here someday soon!!