India Travel Blogs - Kettik.

The Tsomoriri Trip.. A troubled trip that couldn't have gone any better..

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:48:05 +0000

It was a trip where Murphy's law was in full force. Everything that could go wrong did, and some. I drove around in circles trying to find fuel for my motorbike, got lost in the dark on the shores of the Tsomoriri lake, camped out in the wild, got bike's tires punctured and was rescued by the unlikeliest folks possible.. the Changpa nomads living high up in the mountains around the Tsomoriri lake. Needless to say, this was one of my best trips in Ladakh and i thoroughly enjoyed every minute of i

Read on to hear the story of my Tsomoriri trip..

Cycling the long high road to Leh..

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 06:46:13 +0000

Ladakh was the reason why i decided to take my bicycle with me to the Himalayas. The lure of cycling in the mountains with its crisp blue skies and snow capped peaks was too enticing to ignore. I had traveled Ladakh by motorcycle back in 2008, but this time i decided that a bicycle would be a better option. Going by cycle meant going slowly.. a 200km trip from, say, Leh to Pangong lake which can be done in a single day on a motor cycle would take 3 to 4 days on a bicycle. Which means stops in the smaller villages, seeing more sunrises & sunsets, more photo opportunities and more interaction with the local people. I had the one thing which i did not have in my other trips, the luxury of time.

Then i thought that if i was going to be cycling in Ladakh then i might as well cycle TO Ladakh. I knew that i was in no shape to tackle the road but i had a get fit plan. It was brilliant. First spend a month in Rishikesh learning yoga, then spend the next month slowly making my way to Manali on my bicycle by which time i hoped to be fit enough to tackle the Manali-Leh road in early september.

Backpacking through Rajasthan..

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:57:42 +0000

This was my first ever backpacking trip in India. I had traveled alone in China and Thailand before this but still i was a little nervous about traveling in my home country. Turns out all that nervousness was unwarranted and i ended up having a wonderful time. Here are some stories from that trip.

My first visit to Ladakh...

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:47:20 +0000

Ever since i was bitten by the travel bug, Ladakh was one place that i always wanted to go. The pictures i've been seeing from friends on Flickr were all stunning and it looked as if it was almost impossible to take a bad picture in Ladakh. So with all these high hopes i finally got a chance to travel to Ladakh for a couple of weeks during October 2008. And it didn't disappoint.

Trekkers guide to the Yuksom - Dzongri - Gochela trek

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 10:33:11 +0000

The Yuksom - GoeCha La trek in Western Sikkim takes you right under the shadow of the mighty Kanchendzonga, the 3'rd highest mountain in the world. This 7-8 day trek, is one of the more remote and stunning treks in India, taking one through forests of Rhododendron and valleys covered withÂ lichenÂ and moss, offering numerous birdingÂ opportunitiesÂ and encounters with herds of Bharal or Blue mountain sheep and not to mention the stunning vistas of some of the highest mountains in the world.

Kanwar yatra : The march of a million faithful..

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 10:30:52 +0000

Every year, during the monsoon months of July and August, the roads and highways of North India will be bathed in saffron by millions of pilgrims undertaking the Kanwar Yatra. This is a story of the Yatra, the Yatris and of me hiking, cycling and walking in their midst.

palace under renovation, not much to see inside but great views of the valley

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:23:20 +0000

The Shey palace is pretty impossible to miss when you are driving on the road out of Leh (towards Manali).

For me personally, the best part about visiting Shey is the expanded view of the valley and its villages. From one of the vantage points (a little up the hill above the palace) you can spot the Thiksey, Stakna, Matho and Spituk monasteries. Goes to show how important this vantage point is and it is no wonder that the ancient kings of Ladakh built their capital there.

a memorable visit to Hemis during the Angchock festival.

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 09:50:00 +0000

The Hemis monastery may not look as pretty or spectacular as some of the other monasteries (Thiksey, Chemre, Spituk etc) in Ladakh. But i love it for its simple and practical design which makes it easily accessible by the visitors.

For starters one does not have to climb a plethora of steps to enter the monastery. It is easily accessible by foot. The entrance opens up to a vast courtyard where the annual mask dance festival takes place. The monastery's main building is on the right side, facing the courtyard and a beautiful two-tired viewing arcade lines the other three sides of the courtyard. The walls of the arcade facing the main building are adorned with beautiful stone slab paintings.

Overall you get an overwhelming sense of openness and space here when compared to any other monastery in Ladakh.

My home in Leh on and off for a month..

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 05:13:38 +0000

With a plethora of guest houses and hotels in Leh it can sometimes be hard to pick one. I have a feeling that you can walk into any guesthouse and more often than not the place would be warm and welcoming. Atleast thats how i stumbled upon the Kurja garden guest house.

I arrived in Leh, mid-October, after cycling the Manali-Leh highway. After the long, hard journey i wanted to indulge myself in a little bit of luxury. Luxury for me would be to have a nice large room to sleep in, preferably with an attached bathroom with running water and hot showers.Â I also wanted to avoid the commercial looking establishments (like the ones close to the Leh market are) and find a more homely place to stay in. My wanderings led me to the Karzoo pond and there i was greeted with numerous signs advertising various guest houses.

Jackpot !!. The guest houses around Karzoo were all farmhouses, extended with a fee rooms in the upper floors to accomodate guests. They definitely had the homely feel i was looking for. And i picked the house with the smallest sign and walked in. The family was nice and friendly, they asked me to help myself to the apples collected from their orchard and then showed me the rooms. The rooms were all bright and roomy with spotless attached bathrooms. Some rooms even came with small working kitchens.

Since it was the end of the season, i was able to negotiate good rates for the rooms. 200Rs for the basic one and 250Rs for the one with the attached kitchen. Even though i was not planning on cooking much, i took the room with the kitchen as it would save me from the long walks to the market area on the days i was feeling lazy. And it definitely came in handy.

The room had a large double bed, kitchen and a sitting area by the window with a small couch and a traditional center table. The big ladakhi sun widows opened up to a gorgeous view of the Stok Kangri peak to the south. Every day i woke up to the sight of the morning light climbing across the Stok mountains and i never grew tired of it.

I used the guest house as my base for the next month or so. I'll stay there for a few days of rest and relaxation, and then ride out to explore a different part of Ladakh (Pangong, Nubra, the monastery circuits etc), come back stay in the guest house for a few days and venture out again.

For the first couple of weeks the weather was nice and we had running water in the bathrooms, but once the first snow fell the running water was cut off and we were left with getting hot water in buckets. This is a common issue in all of the guest houses in Ladakh as they are worried about the pipes cracking with frozen water. Only the more expensive hotels seem to have running water even in winter.

The family was nice as well. Tashi, the owner, speaks good English, so does his wife. Everyone else speaks good Hindi, so communication was never a problem. The'd always help me with the travel information for visiting different parts of Ladakh. And once in a while they'd invite me to have tea with the family and on days i arrived late from somewhere far they'd invite me to share their dinner as well.Â

if you buy only ONE book to get to know Ladakh, let it be this one..

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 08:44:36 +0000

This book provides a wonderful introduction for anyone looking to learn more about Ladakh. Its author, Janet Rizvi, lived in Ladakh for a few years during the late 1970's. In a few hundred pages she provides a wealth of information derived from her own experience of the place and from her research on Buddhist literature and from various accounts of early travelers and traders who passed through this region.

I found the entire book to be lucid and rather enjoyable to read. I read this book after having been to Ladakh a couple of times and spending over 2 months traveling across the region. The book was last edited in 1996 but i could still see the similarities in the lifestyle of the people as described in the book and what is there today.

The book's description of the geography of the region finally gave me a handle on the various mountain ranges that i encountered during my travels. Before reading the book, i could never say for sure where the Ladakh range was, where the Zanskar range was and what the mountains surrounding the Pangong Lake were called. Now i know..

The other bits of information from the book i found fascinating were...

Â Â - The description of the ancient trade routes which passed through Ladakh and how it shaped the history and culture of the place to this date.Â

Â Â - TheÂ description of the local'sÂ ingenuity in coping with the challenges posed by the extreme environment they live in and the limited resources they have to work with. Even practices likeÂ polyandry were designed to minimize theÂ stress on the resources posed by the threat of over population.

Â Â - And about the peaceful coexistence of both Muslims and Buddhists living together in this region for close to a thousand years. Even though wars were frequently fought, the book's claim that conversions were generally peaceful and voluntary was incredible to believe.

a collection of few interesting articles about the Tsomoriri Lake.

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:04:31 +0000

A few other articles about the Tsomoriri lake that you might be interested in.

- Travelogue :Â The Tsomoriri Trip.. A troubled trip that couldn't have gone any better..

- Myth/Folktale :Â The story of how the Tsomoriri lake got its name.

- Myth/Folktale :Â The story of how the Tsokar lake lost its waters and how the Tso Kiagar lake was born.

a few other titbits about the Tsokar lake

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:26:44 +0000

A few other articles about the Tsokar lake that you might be interested in.

- The story of how the Tsokar lake lost its waters and how the Tso Kiagar lake was born.

breathtakingly beautiful... imo the most beautiful of ladakh's high altitude lakes.

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:33:01 +0000

In my opinion, this is hands down the most beautiful of all the high altitude lakes in Ladakh. I visited the Tsomoriri lake back in October 2007 on a rented Enfield motorcycle. The trip turned out to be one huge adventure. I was delayed at Leh due to a slight miscalculation with regard to fuel stops (basically had to drive back to Leh to fill up). Â The drive was wonderfully stunning that it delayed me even more.

As far as mountain roads go.. the stretch between Leh and Tsomoriri has to be one of the best there is, taking you through the entire gamut of mountain landscapes. We start at Leh and ride gently upstream along the Indus river with the Ladakh range to our left and the Zanskar range towards the right. Initially we ride through the heart of Central Ladakh passing through villages rich in luxuriant vegetation and cultural heritage.Â

After Karu the vegetation thins out and gets more desolate with long straight emptyÂ stretchesÂ of road. But just when you start to get bored with the landscape, the valley narrows and mountains put on their most fascinating show yet. First you'll gaze in wonder at the copper mountains surrounding Hymia, the dusty rubbly mountains are replaced with smooth walls of copper colored rock. From then on a every few kilometers the mountains take on a different but equally interesting characteristic. The purple mountains near the Kiara army base (you'll have to see it to believe it), the tiger mountains with stripes of yellow and black and as you venture further, mountains of shale in various colors (green and purple being the most dominant).Â

Finally at the Mahe bridge the road veers off the Indus river and climbs up towards the Namshang La pass (4950m) passing the (Puga) Sumdo village. The most incredible scenery on this route opens up just after crossing the pass. A highÂ altitudeÂ (~4800m) grassy plateau ringed by snowcapped mountains and a small emerald blue lake (Tso Kiagar) in the middle. The place is so beautiful that you'll be forgiven for thinking that it is the actual Tso Moriri lake and turn back after spending a few hours there. Fortunately i was warned about the beauty of this lake by the guards at the Mahe bridge checkpost and i continued on towards the Tsomoriri lake.

The road pretty much disappears at this point and you'll have to be careful to avoid getting caught in the sand banks. My destination was a tiny village called Korzok which is supposed be right on the banks of the Tsomoriri lake.

It was well past 5pm and slowly the october sky was getting darker. The last section to the lake was a downhill ride and finally after negotiating it, i came upon the mouth of the lake. I expected the village to be right there at the beginning of the lake but it was no where to be found and the road branched off in both directions.. to the left and to the right. Not sure which way to go, i decided to just camp there on the shore of the lake. Once it was completely dark, the lights came on in the village and i knew where it was. But it was too late to drive in the night. The next morning i was treated to a wonderful sunrise and had great fun exploring the swampy shores of the lake.

I spent the next day in the Korzok village. Accommodation options were plenty mostly of the home stay type. I stayed at place for 150Rs a night, including food. From the village there are plenty of nice hiking options along the lake. I choose to spend the evening close to the village, walking among the grazing sheep and talking to the nomads.

Start it up.. The daily dance between fire and ice to get the trucks moving.

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:40:43 +0000

Traveling along the Manali - Leh highway, one is witness to numerous interesting sights. While most of them are of the stunning, take your breath away variety, there are few quirky man made sights that are equally interesting. The strangest of them all for me was sight of truck drivers squatting underneath their trucks every morning and lighting its fuel tank on fire !!

simple homestay, friendly and knowledgable host..

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 10:51:43 +0000

When i visited Maan back in October 2010 there were no signboards advertising homestays or guesthouses. I asked around, and villagers pointed me to a local home (check the map above for the exact location of the house).

The host is the wife of the headmaster of the government school in Maan. She spoke good hindi and was friendly and hospitable. They did not have a separate room for vistors and i ended up staying in their common 'glass' room and had my dinner in their kitchen with the family. Overall it was a typical homestay experience in ladakh, warm and friendly.

Tourism is relatively new to the Maan village, the villages of Maan and Merak were opened to tourists only in 2010. Few of the enterprising locals are scrambling to cash in. My hosts were also building a couple of rooms to accomodate the tourists and it should be ready by the 2011 tourist season.

Because of its location, in between the Spangmik and Merak villages, Maan should be relatively quiet and (relatively) unaffected by tourism compared to the Spangmik and Merak villages. Spangmik is too easily accessible to the tourists, while Merak being the last village on the route will attract tourists willing to go the distance. Maan sitting in the middle of these two villages might just lose out of the tourist crowds.

Beautiful scenery, diverse wildlife. A photographer's and nature lover's paradise.

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:03:26 +0000

I visited the TsoKar lake back in October 2010 while cycling the Manali - Leh highway.

The Tso Kar lake is located close to the main highway and one can always do a short detour to the lake before continuing on their way to Leh (or to Manali). It is well worth the effort.

The approach:

To reach the Thukje village one has to take a diversion at Debring (at the base of the climb to the TangLang La pass) and follow the asphalt road for about 15km to reach the village. There are a few dirt tracks available before Debring which lead towards the lake. We (me and 2 other cyclists) followed one of them, only to realize later that they do not lead to the Thukje village but to a campsite near the lake's wetlands.

By the time we realized our mistake, we were too far in to turn back, and we could see the Thukje village in the distance. So we cut across the rough scrubby terrain, the going was a bit tough as the path was mostly sandy and sometimes our tires would get caught in the sand and we had to get down push our bikes along the sand. It was tough going, but i knew that it would be a fun experience to look back upon and it is :)

The Manali - Leh highway : A visual journey through the landscape

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:05:10 +0000

A journey along the Manali - Leh highway is bound to be one of the most exciting, adventurous and visually stunning journeys anywhere in the world. The route traverses through some of the highest mountain passes in the world, crossing the Pir Panjal, Great Himalaya and the Zanskar ranges.

The road, traversing through these mountain ranges, takes the traveler to a stunning array of landscapes. The lush alpine forests and grasslands of the upper Kullu valley, the scrubby slopes of the Lahaul region, the snow capped peaks of the Great Himalaya, the ochre mountains of Kiling sarai, the grasslands of the Sarchu plans, the sand blasted anthill slopes leading to Pang, vast rolling Morey plains bowl-like and fringed by low mountains, and finally the comforting descent to the Indus valley towards the first of the many beautiful Ladakhi villages leading to Leh.

7 things to look forward to at a Buddhist monastic festival in Ladakh

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:05:00 +0000

Ladakh's landscape is not just about its majestic mountains and brilliant blue skies, it also reflects the (majorly) Buddhist heritage of the land. The landscape is dotted with numerous Chortens, Mani walls, fluttering flags and majestic monasteries overlooking entire villages and towns.

Religion forms an important part of people's lives here and no where it is better exemplified than in the monastic festivals that happen allÂ around Ladakh at different times of the year.