Leh, the dream place to work from! Lesson I learnt Part 2

Binita had been waiting for me in Leh. She had been living in the mountains for 6 months now and was on the last leg of her journey.

Upon waking up to the sunrise on the flight, I realised the desert city was surprisingly sprawling with newness. Ladakh as a whole has grown many folds thanks to the Indian Army and Ambani's Jio.

Binita had taken a homestay at The Empyrean House, and it was lovely. We were the only guests as it was new and it was all home-cooked food. There was a garden outside the room with a spectacular view of Stok Kangri. But she had other plans. We were to move to the only and most happening hostel in Leh, Woosah Hostel. Binita had already made friends with people there, and the weekend trips were all planned.

Me and Binita came from very different backgrounds. Binita, the Juhu girl, is a therapist and a fitness enthusiast. I, the loud Delhi girl, with no calm and no will for fitness. Every morning I would wake up to see her attending her HIIT class online, while I would still be pulling over the comforter. Never had I thought that I would make friends with a Bombay girl so easily, but that was the thing. Our love for travel and being outdoors broke all the typical barriers, and this accidental trip showed me a different side of the Guju-cum-SoBo girl. One night, we almost spent 5 hours just discussing and telling each other all of our men-capades. Her Bangladeshi-son of a politician BF, my ZNMD style lover turned into a disaster BF. The sharing and bonding was endless, something we all had forgotten given the rules of isolation. The pure joy of chit-chatting in person and not on a screen was bliss. And for this, I thank Mr. Complicated had he not ruined my Manali plans, I would have never landed and met a soul sister, Binita.

But this was just the beginning. This coming weekend we were to leave to watch the Milky Way galaxy with our naked eyes and witness the most gorgeous lake ever. The Leh-Hanle-Tso-moriri-Leh weekend trip.

The plan was to reach Hanle on Friday night and witness the milky way on a new moon night, then drive to Tso Moriri the next day through an uncharted route and then back to Leh by Sunday. There were a few options.

1st - Travel in a shared taxi and reach Hanle, and then figure out the rest.

2nd-Ride the bike with a group of IIT boys. It was an 8-hour journey, and the thought of being on a bike for eight hours was too much for us 30-year-olds. I am sure the boys were also relieved to not have us.

3rd-Anish.

Binita, being the social queen, had made friends with Anish, the Ludhiana boy who was also working from Leh. Their mutual interest of rock climbing and the Stok Kangri expedition brought them together for this plan. And we, along with the IIT boys, Shivakid (Anish's friend and caretaker of the hostel), left for Hanle on Friday morning.

Anish's Fortuner was a heavy loader and had bags for around 7 people + 5 litres of diesel + all camping gear. While getting the diesel, Binita asked Anish the most innocent question. "Bike mein diesel padta hai"? (Do bikes run on diesel?) The fuel for the IIT boys' bikes was to be in Anish's car. And we realised that we had forgotten the petrol for them. Thus, we got another 5 liters of petrol. So, in a Fortuner full of 10 ltr fuel, bags, and four people, we started our journey.

And then what we saw was just unspeakable. I'll let the photos do the talking. This is Changtang valley of Ladakh.

This was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Yes, it was surrounded by a lot of soldiers, and we crossed army barracks, whose pictures I cannot put up, but the views were mesmerising. I almost felt hurt that man was preparing for war in a place that is no less than heaven.

Upon reaching Hanle, we were stopped at the army checkpoint and were told to visit Hanle and return by evening. But our plan was to witness the milky way as Hanle is the highest point in the country for stargazing. Thus, our new moon night plan was in jeopardy.

Anish looked at us and said, "Guys, Risk hai. Let's go and not return. If they ask, we'll say "tyre puncher." We all nodded our heads in silence and left the checkpoint without promising the soldiers anything. We arrived at a random homestay and waited to meet the IIT boys who were way ahead of us in the journey. By sunset we realised the bikes have not reached Hanle and now we might meet them in Tso Moriri. There was no network for us coordinate. We were chilling with the little girls from the homestay when we saw an army jeep come towards us.

Two army officers came out of the jeep and inquired about us being in Hanle after sunset. To stay the night in Hanle, you need a permit, and we had none. Thus, we were sure that we would be asked to leave immediately. A senior officer with a Marathi accent walked towards us and introduced himself. Binita, my very friend from Mumbai, then exchanged a few lines with him in Marathi and we were in the clear. So much so that he invited us to visit the observatory with him the next day.

What did Binita say to him, you think? Well, she just said, "Sir, we only want to see the milky way, we have nothing on us." And her innocent Marathi reply won him over. Being honest helps!

The night took over and then we witnessed what we had finally come for.

But this was not it. There was more waiting for us. The next morning when we left Hanle, it was another world we entered. Read Part 3 to know what happened next.