Day 3/Day 4: Expedition to Silk Route in Nubra Valley via Khardungla-Top

We started our day early from Leh for NubraValley The road which connects Nubra Valley to Leh goes through the highest motorable pass in the world named Khardungla.We were all ready with permits which are required while visiting Nubra Valley.People say road to Siachen glacier goes through Nubra Valley and also it is the only part of India which touches ancient Silk Route.The road which took us from Leh to Khardungla pass was very steep and it is certainly not for faint hearted. The highest point in Khardungla called K-Top is at an altitude of 18382 feet from sea level. The distance from Leh to K-top is around 40KMs, which normally takes around 2-3 hours via vehicle because of very bad roads in some stretch. We saw a lot of diligent firangs in the road who try to cover the whole distance in Cycle.I could only imagine the feeling they would have had after reaching K-top via highest motorable road in the world in a cycle. We spent some time on K-top taking snaps valiantly in and memorabilia . We trekked some 400 meters to Kardungla gompa at the top of a hill at K-top.At every steps we made conscious of dropping oxygen level and sudden dizziness and headache seems quite normal. We left Khardungla in quite a high for for next destination Panamik.

(Route which we took for Khardungla-Certainly not for faint hearted)

(Bikers as seen from Distance at Khardungla).

(Amazing arid mountain range while enroute to Khardungla)

(Oracle'ites at Khardungla-Top).

(Posing at Kardungla-Top).

(Near a Gompa at Khardungla-Top.Literally gasping for breath.Rest seems only option)

The Road that takes us from Kardungla to Nubra Valley was perhaps the best I had ever seen in my lifetime. The scenic beauty along the road was something that seriously can’t be described in words and I am sure whatever I write about the experience I had while being on this road will demean the conundrum of emotions I felt there. The only thing that I felt missing was perhaps an Enfield below my arse. Travelling across the montains on dusty trecherous roads with a deep Grand Canyon type gorge on the right side with snow clad mountain at far distance with river flowing in between in shades of greenary with clear blue sky on top still gives me goosebumps when I thought about it. We reached Panamik in the evening. There is a small hot water spring but the water here was very hot for bathing. Still we managed to bath at one corner where water was somewhat cooler. We left for Deskit/Hunder after leaving panamik early. In between we spend some serene time in a lake after a brief trekking up the mountain. We reached Hunder quite late in the evening and immediately booked a tent for the night at a resort.

(Army Convoy as seen from Distance)

(Trekked to this beautiful lake in the middle of mountain)

(Wandering while coming back from Lake).

After waking up next day we went to Deskit that is the place where camel ride is done on top of two-hooded camel. They say these camels are normally used in ancient days for traveling across the silk route and these two-hooded camels have been bought here from Ancient Turkey.We rided camel for around 15 minutes across the sand dunes there in Deskit.Perhaps there were the highest desert sand dunes in the world. After riding an uncomfortable ride for around 15 minutes it started paining in my groin and I wondered how people travelled such a long distance in these camels over such a long period. We took bath in flowing fresh water (u can call it nala) while returning from the Sand dunes in Deskit. Then we made our move towards Leh by daybreak via Khardungla pass again. When we reached Khardungla pass we saw a group of cycle enthusiasts who were riding down the hill from Khardungla towards Leh.Straightaway my mind started planning for cycle ride down the hill from Khardungla Top next day. I know riding up the hill was next to impossible from Leh (considering 5 years in IT)but riding down from K-top was certainly attainable and it would have be an amazing experience and adventure. After reaching Leh I told the same to Suresh.In that case we would have to drop our complete plan to Pangyong Lake next day. Suresh told instead of Cycle ride we could do river rafting in Indus River early morning as an adventure. We decided and booked for River rafting next day morning that was about to become our best part of the whole trip.

(On top of two-hooded Camel in Deskit)

(Posing Jacketless in extreme cold while returning back from Nubra at Khardungla.Smile lasted only till shutter closed).

I will post about our great Indus rafting adventure in next my next post.Till that time….me signing off for time being!!

Julley!!