It was my wish, that in this lifetime, I travel to the two most exquisite and natural wonders located in India. One - Andamans, second - Ladhak.
You must have read about my trip blog about Andamans, the southern-tip-islands of Indian territory which are less known to people and possibly less famous to the usual holiday spots. It was a god-gifted opportunity to travel to a pristine, serene and heavenly beauty like Andamans back in 2010...
The visions of snow capped barren mountains, valleys, tranquillity of Leh, Ladhak, Kashmir was always somewhere in my heart.. I was jealous each time a colleague / friend took a trip to this picturesque heaven. Some travelled all the way from Mumbai on Bikes, Cars ! It took me 2 years to convince my family for this trip.
A vacation was what mother needed, out of the hectic life in Mumbai. So did I. I had just returned back to the city and settling in; we discussed where we could possibly go in this monsoon. Monsoon was all we got, any other time won't work. Well, tragically, all the places in the list of where we haven't been to yet, didn't seem to be a candidate. Rains create havoc in North-East refraining us from visiting the beautiful Sikkim-Mizoram belt, Madhya Pradesh's Kanha Bandhavgarh would also be shut and tiger Safari (one of our favorite past times) are not likely, South India will be drenched heavily.. :)
Mom: Is there no place we can go in rainy season in India ? I want to go for ten days.
Me: Well there is only one place, where June - September is the best season to visit. It is in India and it is Summer there right now..
Mom: How is that possible ? India has only 3 seasons across the country.
Me: Well that is what text-books say. But, if you are ready, why don't you consider, Leh, Mom ?
....... And she did for once in 3 years !
Off to all the planning. I was not going to leave any stone unturned and go there without booking hotels. I'm not taking old parents on hitch-hiking, hotel-hopping trip in a cold state. We are going to relax and unwind in the beautiful land unseen by so many.. Google, TripAdvisor and Internet have made mankind so powerful, that I sitting thousand miles away from a tiny remote village in a far-land Indus basin valley, was able to contact, read reviews & make splendid bookings for my family !
Off we are to this magical land.
Day 1: Mumbai - Delhi - Leh
Well this began pretty much earlier the previous night. Took Jet Airways to Delhi, and spent the night on a bench in Delhi International Airport. All Leh flights leave at 5:30 AM onwards as weather is pretty challenging for dropping us off at the 1 of the World's Highest Airport (3256 m above sea level).
We are at sea-level in Mumbai & straight up at this height as soon as you land. I did read about the impact of this on breathing etc. So we did what is the best suggestion, take the AMS medicine as you land or while on your flight to Leh. You will be normal, no headaches, no dizzy. I will recommend, that you consult your doc before deciding which one to take as per current health scenario. My parents, age 55+; they took this well. It is not better or worse compared to the long treacherous road trip from Manali - Leh over 2 days.
Well, no matter how bad the night was, the views from the flight, I'll let them speak below..
On the flight, I was seated next to a young guy from Israel. He mentioned that their country people love India, this was his 3rd visit to India, he will visit even later, he is on a long tour of India and there were many other people from his country with him coming to Leh ! Well, I wished him the best and safe trip. We shared tips for our stay in Leh and discussed AMS.
The entire flight had like 5 Indian nationals and rest all were Foreigners. Now you see what I mean by a sought-after famous amazing land for entire world to come in ?
We can see the glaciers too !
On Landing:
We transferred to our hotel in the main city called as Sia-La Guest House ran by gracious 'Mr. Nabi' and family. My Sia-La Review [they are the most helpful and generous couple we know and recommend you to stay with them]
I planned the entire Itinerary according to our taste, we hate to travel with a tour company as we like to spend time our way, not anyone's given 5 mins, we don't need Gujarati food everywhere and are more than happy to try local cuisine, we don't need 4 and 5 star hotels and pay high money for that, but we need a hotel with clean and comfortable beds and great views.
We got views of Leh mountain range, home Veggie-garden, amazing Starry skies and heavenly sunrises. Nothing can beat the feeling of the warm sunshine while sipping tea in the balcony of the room enjoying this view.
Below peak seen in the picture is the mighty Stok Kangri.
You must have read about my trip blog about Andamans, the southern-tip-islands of Indian territory which are less known to people and possibly less famous to the usual holiday spots. It was a god-gifted opportunity to travel to a pristine, serene and heavenly beauty like Andamans back in 2010...
The visions of snow capped barren mountains, valleys, tranquillity of Leh, Ladhak, Kashmir was always somewhere in my heart.. I was jealous each time a colleague / friend took a trip to this picturesque heaven. Some travelled all the way from Mumbai on Bikes, Cars ! It took me 2 years to convince my family for this trip.
A vacation was what mother needed, out of the hectic life in Mumbai. So did I. I had just returned back to the city and settling in; we discussed where we could possibly go in this monsoon. Monsoon was all we got, any other time won't work. Well, tragically, all the places in the list of where we haven't been to yet, didn't seem to be a candidate. Rains create havoc in North-East refraining us from visiting the beautiful Sikkim-Mizoram belt, Madhya Pradesh's Kanha Bandhavgarh would also be shut and tiger Safari (one of our favorite past times) are not likely, South India will be drenched heavily.. :)
Mom: Is there no place we can go in rainy season in India ? I want to go for ten days.
Me: Well there is only one place, where June - September is the best season to visit. It is in India and it is Summer there right now..
Mom: How is that possible ? India has only 3 seasons across the country.
Me: Well that is what text-books say. But, if you are ready, why don't you consider, Leh, Mom ?
....... And she did for once in 3 years !
Off to all the planning. I was not going to leave any stone unturned and go there without booking hotels. I'm not taking old parents on hitch-hiking, hotel-hopping trip in a cold state. We are going to relax and unwind in the beautiful land unseen by so many.. Google, TripAdvisor and Internet have made mankind so powerful, that I sitting thousand miles away from a tiny remote village in a far-land Indus basin valley, was able to contact, read reviews & make splendid bookings for my family !
Off we are to this magical land.
Day 1: Mumbai - Delhi - Leh
Well this began pretty much earlier the previous night. Took Jet Airways to Delhi, and spent the night on a bench in Delhi International Airport. All Leh flights leave at 5:30 AM onwards as weather is pretty challenging for dropping us off at the 1 of the World's Highest Airport (3256 m above sea level).
We are at sea-level in Mumbai & straight up at this height as soon as you land. I did read about the impact of this on breathing etc. So we did what is the best suggestion, take the AMS medicine as you land or while on your flight to Leh. You will be normal, no headaches, no dizzy. I will recommend, that you consult your doc before deciding which one to take as per current health scenario. My parents, age 55+; they took this well. It is not better or worse compared to the long treacherous road trip from Manali - Leh over 2 days.
Well, no matter how bad the night was, the views from the flight, I'll let them speak below..
On the flight, I was seated next to a young guy from Israel. He mentioned that their country people love India, this was his 3rd visit to India, he will visit even later, he is on a long tour of India and there were many other people from his country with him coming to Leh ! Well, I wished him the best and safe trip. We shared tips for our stay in Leh and discussed AMS.
The entire flight had like 5 Indian nationals and rest all were Foreigners. Now you see what I mean by a sought-after famous amazing land for entire world to come in ?
We can see the glaciers too !
On Landing:
We transferred to our hotel in the main city called as Sia-La Guest House ran by gracious 'Mr. Nabi' and family. My Sia-La Review [they are the most helpful and generous couple we know and recommend you to stay with them]
I planned the entire Itinerary according to our taste, we hate to travel with a tour company as we like to spend time our way, not anyone's given 5 mins, we don't need Gujarati food everywhere and are more than happy to try local cuisine, we don't need 4 and 5 star hotels and pay high money for that, but we need a hotel with clean and comfortable beds and great views.
We got views of Leh mountain range, home Veggie-garden, amazing Starry skies and heavenly sunrises. Nothing can beat the feeling of the warm sunshine while sipping tea in the balcony of the room enjoying this view.
Below peak seen in the picture is the mighty Stok Kangri.
I will talk more about our actual day trips in Leh in the coming posts...
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