Lohgad Monsoon Trekk

Ladakh Diary 2012

After viewing these photos do I say more ??? Its Heaven on Earth. Even Better than Kashmir. A Pristine Unexplored Destination for the adventure seeker. A place where you get to enjoy all the seasons and all the climates from Desert Sand Dunes, to Icy Mountains, from Sun Strokes to Snow Falls. Visit www.beautifulladakh.blogspot.in for more details.

Leh Ladakh Trip - Travel Report

You go to Leh (Ladakh) almost only once in life. Afterall you go to heaven only once,  is’nt it ??

After hectic rounds of planning, and after many last minutes hiccups we went for a 15 days sojourn, the trip was broken into three legs. The short route & trip details are as under :

1) 08-07-2012  : Reached New Delhi by Rajdhani, rested till night

2) Caught Jammu Tawi Rajdhani and reached Rajdhani on 09-07-2012

3) 09-07-2012 Went to Katra, Visited Ma Vaishnodevi  (I was third time lucky in four years)

4) 10-07-2012  Set for Srinagar, Reached Pehelgam, rested for the night at Pehelgam, visited Patnitop.

5) 11-07-2012, local sight seeing at Pehelgam (beautiful place indeed) and reached Srinagar

6) 12-07-2012, set off for Leh (Reached Kargil in the evening, visited Vijay Smarak) and halted at Kargil

7) 13-07-2012, reached Leh in the evening, rested to acclimatize

8) 14-07-2012, did local sight seeing, Leh City, Monastries, Palaces etc

9) 15-07-2012, visited Pangong Lake

10) 16-07-2012, visited Nubra Valley (Phew Khardungla Pass is awesome)

11) 17-07-2012, Returned  to Kargil

12) 18-07-2012 Reached Srinagar

13) 19-07-2012 : Srinagar Local Sight Seeing (Visited Gulmarg, Sonmarg etc)

14) 20-07-2012 : Local Sight Seeing (Shankaracharya Temple, Dal Lake, Shopping etc)

15) 21-07-2012 Flew back to Mumbai

One must visit Leh atleast once, the route from Srinagar to Kargil and from Kargil to Leh is enthralling to say the least. One witnesses literally all the climates during the journey, from hot barren deserts, icy mountains, rain just everything. The route to Leh is accessible from Srinagar via Zozilla Pass, while one can also visit Leh from Manali, the road condition is not so good and one has to pass through Rohtang Pass. One has to acclamatize to be fully fit as the Oxyegen level due to higher altitude is only 75%  and one feels dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, vomiting etc. This is called as Altitude related sickness. If you feel symptoms, do get your dose of fresh oxygen at military camps where they have put up oxygen cylinders. Many Bikers & Cyclists traverse through these routes for sheer adventure.

The best season to visit Leh is June to September. For more detailed information do read websites like www.indiamike.com

Photos of the Trip Here 

Ratnagiri… a place to visit atleast once…

Many a times, some events, some places, some memories are so embedded in our lives that you are unable to relate their importance in your being. A peculiar scent, a song, a chirp of a bird, anything i may be, but it somehow related to those occasions in the past which we have lived before, those occasions were very often good moments of your life. My recent visit to Ratnagiri is tantalizingly close to be described to such an event… It so happened that in my childhood days when i used to visit my native place (read my older blog entries), there used to be an old man who was a , who was a sea man by profession hailed from Ratnagiri, in the evening this old man used to tell us stories from this place. Somehow, an affinity grew for Ratnagiri and i, ever since, longed to visit this place. Only stupidness would have prevented me from not grabbing the offer my friend Abhi made to visit Ratnagiri. Despite various nondescript pulls & pressures we went to Ratnagiri.

And what a trip it turned out to be… I’m a vagabond by nature, and love to travel a lot (obviously not by local trains). Our journey began by 09.45 pm, and till 09.15 pm i was out of my home attending an urgent work. Somehow scrambled up things and reached by 09.45 pm. My kid Nishant was with me for the trip, and boy…. didnt he enjoy it everybit..

We reached Ratnagiri at 06.30 am, whatta house Abhi has, a kind of house every person dreams in native place, a secluded house atop a plateau with Alphanso trees all over. We rested for around 3 hours and here we were, ready for journey. In Ratnagiri, one never misses out to visit Ganpatipule, we too were no exception. Absolutely beauty that place was and the beach too was equally beautiful. White sand, clear water, unlike the polluted muddy beaches we find in mumbai.

From there we went to Malgund, the birth place of renowned Marathi poet Keshavsut, nicely conserved monument, a piece of history, the great poet unfortunately got his due only after his death, only after he died was this rare jewel unearthed from this wonderful land. The beauty of the place in & around Ratnagiri was the buffering factor, perhaps, for the rise of great poets & literati  here.

From there we went to witness, one of the historical monuments, Thiba Palace, that palace reminded me how fate takes you away from your birthplace and how even a King can die in anonymity. Kind Thiba as we read the history inscripted there was the ruling King of Burma in early 19th Century, the British annexed his Kingdom and sent the King for Solitary confinement first to Chennai & then to Ratnagiri. The palace, Thiba, named after him still stands tall, but gives a weary and sadistic look, very few tourist turn up over there. The entire thing inside looked very slow as if time stood still in the warps of history there.

From there, we had to quench our thirst & hunger. There was no other better way than what Abhi did. He threw a party for us, he celebrated his Birthday with us, although belatedly. Veg & Non Veg delicacies streamed in to conclude with ice cream. Nice hotel, good ambiance & good food we ate that afternoon.

From there in the evening, we witnessed another grandeur of history, Fort Ratnadurg it was.. It was a land fort ending up in sea.  Very strong fort facing seas. There’s a temple inside the fort after Goddess Devi Bhagwati, a statue of Sarkhel Kanhoji Angre and a secret getaway in case stronger enemy attacks you.

From Fort we went to an aquarium built by Fisheries Department. A small but beautiful one, by government standards we saw one big whale was displayed over there, it was easily 50 feet long.

The last destination for the day was Thiba Point, the sunset point atop a small manmade hillock, which gives you vivid picture of almost entire Ratnagiri city.

Tired but contended, we reached our place back in the evening at around 8 pm, We all had our stomach full and hence decided to have eat something light, i suggested Maggie and everyone liked the idea. Abhi prepared maggie for all of us and we retired for the day at 09.00 pm, never ever in my life did i sleep so early.

Next morning we went to Bhatye Beach, a natural wonder, pristine untouched virgin beauty it was… Intrusions of human being in worst form is however visible now, with sights of upcoming cottages, and what a plight it is, the cottages are built at the cost of existing tress, they are being ruthlessly hacked…

We spent around 2-3 hours at that beach, apart from sand, sea water, rocks & heavens above, not a single soul was there around. We played light kids, we became even smaller than our kid nishant. We reached back at around 2 pm and packed our bags to return back to the hustle & bustle of city life. For records, We reached back at 11.30 pm.

Such trips expose many unhidden traits in you, this was first trip sans any untoward incident like fights within group, clashes of egos, misunderstandings of stupid kind, delayed & almost broken schedule… We were there with nature in almost natural form… The childish tantrums of Nishant was easily overtaken by Abhi & Sameer. What a chap he was, sameer.. Luckily the Driver in form of Santosh Kadam was also a gentlemen a perfectionist and a person who soothed my tastes, he loved the unexplained….