India is my country – the last union territory

Do you know which was the last union territory formed in our country and when? Ladakh is the latest to be added to the list of union territories. It was added on October, 31 2019. Yes! That recent. Ladakh is a part of the cold desert stretch we have in the northern part of our country. Ladakh is a difficult, mysterious yet a breathtakingly beautiful landscape. And it was a tough decision to take to visit this place. I had mixed feelings about it, I was curious, yet intimidated and excited about visiting it. Finally, after extensive research about best months, travel agents, essentials, rules etc… we decided to visit this beauty in the end of May 2023.

Ladakh is amongst the challenging landings in our country. This airport is the highest commercial airport in India and one of the highest in the world. Yes, these are amongst the reasons for my mixed feelings. I approached Ladakh [like no other location] with an open and curious mind. Ladakh is like seeing many worlds in one location. It has so much to offer and the terrain changes rapidly.

‘Rustic’ is an understatement that is used for Ladakh. The huge mountains, were ‘in the face’, and felt like I was moving inside of a painting. Yes, these looked like huge 3D painted canvas where we could move around. Many times it seemed like a giant toddler was playing in sand and building hillocks; and little rocks rolled down from this toddler’s palms. And we were tiny beings lost in this world of giants. While these mountains seemed monochromatic, a closer look showed multiple colours – yellow, chrome, pink green and brown etc…. And that’s exactly why they seemed like a painting. An artist would surely use these colours to paint mountains. I was amazed at this.

Calm serene monasteries simply added to the magnificence of this unique landscape. Some mountains suddenly were green and others so filled with snow that it looked like a fur carpet neatly spread over humungous mountains. They looked so white that it seemed like a 3D project done by the gigantic school children [imaginary]. It’s difficult to express what my eyes saw and my soul felt. The white snow seemed like it engulfed so many civilizations and secrets and yet was so quiet and mysterious like death.

And then Hunder, a village in Nubra tehsil was the show stopper of my ladakh trip. Here my eyes saw beautiful streams of water, desert sand dunes with double humped camel and snowcapped mountains all in one frame! What an astonishing, 'never before, never after' kind of sight! I tried taking this on a picture and my camera didn’t do any justice to whatever my eyes saw, sharing a picture below. These double humped camel also called the Mongolian camels, are remnants of the silk route trade in India. Seeing these are like witnessing specs from History. I can only imagine how the ancestors of these camels would ply this silk route from China, Central Asia etc. via Ladakh to Kazakistan. It all seemed so surreal!

Hunder - Streams of water, grass, sand and snow capped mountains all in one frame

One more exciting experience here was visiting the Khardungla pass. It’s amongst the highest motorable roads in the world. This sounds very exciting; and in all practicality was bone biting, brain numbing cold to tread this experience. Walking on this snow filled road, without falling was a huge challenge in itself. Stepping out reaching the photo op post, clicking a quick picture took just a few minute but seemed like a humungous task. Tough, fun and to be done atleast once on the trip. Did I mention the air here is very thin, and the body doesn’t get enough oxygen here. Don’t intend scaring yet it’s the fact. When on the land of Ladakh, its mandatory to carry a can of oxygen for yourself and family. Yes, sounds scary, yet is the way of life on this terrain.

Khardungla - Highest motorable road

One more absorbing experience was visiting the last village of India, eating at the last café of India, viewing the Pakistani villages from India. It also suddenly hit upon me that the two countries know that there’s a border here; yet the stones rolling from one place to another don’t, the air doesn’t care nor do the birds. It also hit me that few decades ago the entire terrain was one entity, one country.

Another gripping experience during long road drives, is seeing clouds of dust. Now this dust is actually dust storm from either the winds or the landslides. It’s both interesting and scary. Nature has the final say in this location. Humans seem so small and powerless in this terrain.

The most fascinating experiences of Ladhak is the Pangong lake. Approaching this lake seems like approaching some out of world experience. The first sight is so breathtaking, just like love at first sight. As one approaches the lake it changes colours as though blushing seeing its visitors. This lake seemed like a gigantic plane of aqua marine crystal!! This lake also changes colours through the day. It fluctuates between, various shades of blues and greens. So mesmerizing!! Interesting facts about this lake are that it is one of the highest altitude lakes in the world, has saline water, doesn’t support aquatic life, freezes in the winter and it retains its water and doesn’t allow its outflow to other river, oceans etc…

Last but not the least the people of Ladhak are so simple, cheerful and remain close to nature, they are very aware of the nature’s wrath and are accepting and respecting of the harsh conditions.

Like I said earlier in this blog….. mixed feelings towards this location and trip. Went back home with a lot of gratitude in my heart that - I got to witness this gorgeous beauty called ladakh, I survived the harsh weather and the difficult terrain.

My heart surely wants to revisit this beauty one more time; yet my head isn’t sure if my body will support this braveheart venture! I write about this visit with mixed feelings and yearning. Like I said seeing many worlds in one place. So tell me, have you been to this Union territory yet? Are you planning to?

  

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