Journey to the top of the world- Ladakh

Today is our first day of journey to the top of the world, Ladakh.
We reached kempegowda international airport Bangalore, two and half hours before boarding, Since the traveller count has increased drastically after the pandemic the wait time has also increased on the airport. Luckily our flight is scheduled from T2 terminal which was constructed recently for international flights. The new terminal is majestic and eco friendly. Our waiting period for flight passed awe-struck looking at the airport building and interior. The whole interior is decorated with plants and Bamboo products.
At around 10:30 pm in the night we boarded the flight, it was delayed due to congestion at Delhi airport. I forgot to tell you there is no direct flight to Leh from Bangalore, So we have to take a connecting flight from Bangalore to Delhi and then to Leh. The only issue with this flight is the layover of 7 hours at Delhi airport.
We reached Delhi at  1 am in the morning and the flight cost us ₹9000 per person. The wait time for the next flight is long so i roamed around Delhi airport as i visited for the first time. It is a huge airport with all modern amenities.
After wandering for a while i started feeling sleepy but couldn't find a place to sleep as i had seen sleeping pod facilities at Delhi airport. But to my disappointment it is not available. Few paid sleeping spaces are there but not available till 4 am in the morning.
I went to the transfer section for my Leh flight, completed security check-in and started searching for a place to sleep.
There are many lounge options available but are available only to credit card holders with complimentary facilities to lounge from their bank. Unfortunately my credit card expired and I forgot to collect a new card from the bank.
So i have to wait for the next 5 hours sitting in the food court.
It is a difficult night as i am too sleepy and it's cold also due to centralised AC. Since i dressed according to the month of April in Delhi, i started to regret it as the night was cold and sleepy. All my clothes went in my luggage bag. So please dress properly if you have any flight with layover during night.
At around 7:30 am boarding for Leh started and i am happy that night ended. Flight is amazing as it serves breakfast and there is a screen for watching movies during travel time. Time literally flew, during end of our journey to Leh i saw majestic Himalayas covered in snow❄️.
We landed in Leh which is a defence airport hence photography is prohibited 🚫.
Temperature dropped drastically from what we experienced in Delhi. It is -6°c in Leh. They transferred us to the airport by bus and then i collected my luggage and then booked a taxi which cost ₹550 for just 2 km to the hotel.
I had booked a sangto green guest house before coming to Leh from goibibo. It cost around ₹4000 for two days with breakfast included. Food is home made but cost is on a higher side for lunch and dinner. They charged ₹400 for each meal. I reached the guest house at 10:30 and slept till 4 pm. After waking up i went down for Tea and later had dinner and completed the day indoors to acclimatize.

Cost:
Flight fare- ₹9000
Taxi to Airport - ₹700
Taxi to hotel- ₹550
Hotel for 2 days - 4000
Dinner - ₹400 per person

Today is my second day at Leh, I planned to explore a nearby tourist attraction. Booked a scooty for ₹1000 and visited all the places which came on the way to Alchi monastery.
The first place i reached is gurudwara pathar sahib after praying for a while i started for Sangam also known as Nimmu, It is a junction where two rivers Indus and Zanskar river meet. few water activities like rafting are conducted here. After spending some time there i went to the bottom of the hills  where there is a beautiful bridge, i took some pictures and then started for Magnetic 🧲 Hill, The road throughout the journey is magnificent like i never saw before. It really felt out of the world.
Magnetic hills were full of people clicking pictures or engaged in dirt bike races.
I also stopped for a while as the place is so beautiful and magnanimous that i looked like a tiny dot before those hills. It is really one of my favourite places among others in Leh.
Finally we started  at Alchi monastery after a few hours drive i reached there. It is a very old Monastery with beautiful painting and interior. I couldn't visit as i reached late in the evening around 5 pm and it was getting dark and cold too. The monastery is situated on the bank of a beautiful Indus river. The vibe and the feel of the place hit differently.
There are a lot of hotels, cafes and guest houses around the monastery. It can be a one day stay trip to Alchi. If i had no time constraints i would definitely like to stay a night there.
My day 2 ended with returning back to Leh at around 8 pm in the night.

Cost:
Petrol - ₹450
Coffee - ₹ 150
Snacks- ₹50
Lunch - ₹350

On day 4 i started my journey to other districts. i had hired a car for my trip. We started around 10 in the morning. The first stop was khardung la pass which is the highest motorable road at an altitude  of 17982 ft. The place is around 1.5 hrs from Leh. The roads were mostly hair pins in the mountains. You get to see a lot of bikers on this route. Before reaching khardung la we stopped at a scenic spot for the view . As this was the first time I was witnessing snow i was super excited by this time. After clicking some pictures we set the course to mighty Khardung la. After almost 45 mins drive we reached the pass. The wind was chilling, the place was cold and covered in snow. People were clicking pictures near the board. The pass is also a military post and that side is prohibited for clicking pictures. As i got down the car i could feel the chill in my bones. It was windy by the time i reached ,the wind brought snow along and i felt the chill of snow for the first time on my face. I felt the joy like a child. Even though I wanted to play in the snow  we had to move from there but we stopped in the next near spot for me to get my hands into the snow. After a brief snow play session we started our journey to nubra valley. We stopped in a nearby shop to freshen up.Had a cup of coffee and Maggie there ,while i was waiting for the coffee i had a small chat with the natives there. After the refreshment, we started. The journey was around 1 hour to reach Hunder. In contrast to the previous stop,the place was full of sand and sand dunes,the cold desert. I did a Atv bike ride in the dunes for the first time. Even though I thought it would be similar to bike riding, apparently it wasn't. It was somewhat tough. Luckily the guide was there helping with the handle control and directions. After the ride ,we resumed our journey to nubra valley. As i was a bit tired, i decided to spend the rest of the day in the hotel. We reached the stay for the next two days, the olgok guest house . The guest house has a very beautiful location and a cozy ambience. After the check-in , i had a quick refreshment with some snacks and coffee. The food they served was very tasty compared to all the other places i had tried so far since the trip. I had a small nap before i headed out for a small walk.

Cost:
Maggi and tea on the way- 300
Food - 1500
Atv bike - 1200
Guests house - 4000

Day 6 is reserved for the most exotic visit of Ladakh which is Pangong Tso lake.
Who wants to miss a place which is more famous than Ladakh itself.
Internet terms are heaven on earth. So we reached after a drive of 162 km. Since we travelled in April the place is full of Snow, the road is slippery, and we almost died by falling into Pangong lake. Our car Innova made a 180° degree slip on the bank of the lake luckily we survived. So make sure to take snow chains for car tyres during your winter or beginning summer visit.
We booked the stay in advance though it is not required as there are fewer tourists. The day we reached we were the only people in the whole of Haan village. Haan village is another stretch of Pangong lake. There are other villages too like spangmik and merak.
Most of the people prefer to stay in spangmik but we couldn't find hotels in spangmik only tents and wooden cottages are available. And the month of April is cold and there was snowfall too that day.
The lake I visited the same evening we reached. Half part was frozen and the other half was water. It is mesmerizing to look at both sides from the top of the mountain road.
I spent around 1 hour by the lake in the evening till it started raining as clouds started forming over our heads and on the lake.
We returned back to our homestay and had a local dinner in Ladakhi style.
The morning was mesmerizing as we got up with brisk sunrays falling on our faces. It was around 6 am in the morning and sun 🌞 was slowly coming above the mountain like it was staying behind that mountain top.
We freshened up and went to the lake to see it in its full glory.
That morning is probably the most beautiful morning of my life. I went to the bank and looked at the lake awe- struck, Never in my life have I felt so content. I sang out loud  in my best and worst voice as till miles nobody was there to hear. I Jumped and played in the lake, ran after wild goose like a child.
Later after taking pictures and a few videos i returned to the homestay as a wind storm started.
Had a hearty breakfast and continued my journey back to Leh. Leaving the place is a little disheartening but our time was up.
And time up is not literal we had two life threatening situations happen on our way back to Leh one was on the Pangong lake road where We were about to fall in the lake and later was on chang-la pass where due to black ice formation on the pass road. Our vehicle was slipping like a light object on ice.
Unfortunately our driver forgot the snow chains of  vehicle wheels or out of overconfidence he didn't bring i am not sure but that day was the most hectic and frightening day of my life where you have a snow wall and slippery road on one side and then a 1000 feet valley on the other side.
My hand along with the driver froze finding soil on a snow covered mountain to put it under our vehicle wheel so that it gets little friction and moves and doesn't slip and kill us.
Luckily we got support from a few drivers behind us. We passed the second highest motorable mountain pass in the world called Chang-la paas.
I will never forget that journey to Chang-la pass as it provided me much needed adventure which i missed during Ladakh trip and also bone chilling and mind boggling death scenarios.

Cost:
Homestay - 5400
Dinner- 500
Miscellaneous - 500
Vehicle charge for 3 nights and 4 days - 31000

Note: if you share the vehicle, charges reduce considerably but i wanted my own private space so it cost me more.

Note: This trip can be budget friendly as Ladakh has a lot of homestay and guest houses at affordable prices starting around 800 per night in Leh. And almost 1200 in Nubra valley.
Pangong stays were a little costly but they also can come around 2-2.5k. cottages and tent🎪.

Note: Food is towards the costlier side, try to eat outside in cafes and hotels rather than in homestay. Cafes are cheaper than having food at homestay.

Note: Roads to all the places in Leh are amazing, i roamed around on scooty at 12000 ft. Elevation.
Roads to Nubra valley from leh is perfect, it is a concrete road perfect for bike rides or car drives.
The road to Pangong Tso from Nubra valley is not good It is an off- road experience most of the road in shayok valley is under construction.

Note :Best seasons to visit in my opinion will be Late April or Early may for Bike riders who don't want water clogged roads or water crossing as mostly they are dry and with little snow. Also hotels are available and tourists are less, places are not crowded.

For other months if you are visiting please book your stay everywhere in advance and expect crowded places and expensive hotels.

Public transportation is nil in Ladakh except a few buses going to Pangong and Nubra from Leh.

June- September is the peak season for tourists.

Note : The most important thing is to take a postpaid sim card otherwise the prepaid sim that we use in cities will not work at a single place in Ladakh.
Main postpaid providers in Ladakh are Jio, Airtel and BSNL. BSNL gives last mile connectivity it will work in the Pangong area too.

Note : Innova car booking - 9469241560 ( Gulzaar)

Sangto green homestay and bikes Leh - 9596746323
Pangong Tso lake stay- 9469778070 ( Durjoy)
Odbar homestay leh (cheap and best )- 9797132361 (Samir )

Nubra valley Hunder:
Olgok guest house - 9469177357
Oxygen cylinder - contact Gulzaar