Let's get Leh'd with Tripver

"This year we will travel more, we say.

We ponder the exotic locations we hope to find ourselves in.

We think of the adventures we’ll go on and the people we’ll meet.

We begin to formulate plans, research trips, and save money.

But, as the year progresses, most will abandon those dreams, forever pushing them off as life throws them curveballs that derail their aspirations."

Chances are, you’ll find a reason why today just isn’t the right day.

“Tomorrow,” you’ll say.

“Today isn’t perfect, and I just have too many things to do. Now is not the right time.” The “right time” is usually when you have more money or more time off, or when things aren’t so “crazy.” Then you’ll be able to travel. The stars need to align a little more, and things need to be a little less busy. But here’s a secret: it’s never going to be the right time to travel. Thank you, Nomadic Matt, for penning this down.

So, when Tripver offered me a fully sponsored trip to Leh-Ladhak I took it, I prioritised my things at work & took a break for 7 days, first in 2023 glad I took the decision & went ahead amidst all that work chaos. It took me 5 minutes to decide ,1 week to take action another week to implement & let my mentor know that I might take a break & at last formally aggreging to the terms that am going on a trip.

The beauty of this trip was, it came like work, and I accepted this & went ahead so there was no time to plan, to think, to fantasise about what I will do & things like that, packed my stuff in 2 hours max & left for airport.

Day 1 & Day 2: The Perfect Escape & Beyond the Magical Views:

Next, I know I was at Leh Airport (24th September 2023). We were group of 15 people ( 1 family, 1 couple & rest all solo travellers)

Beautiful Apple trees, white mountains, less oxygen, Leh Festival & a warm stay at Ewam Chunka Hotel, with this we geared up for 2 days stay at Leh in which we covered Leh Palace, Shanti Stupa, Hall of Fame, SNM Leh Hospital (that was my personal visit).

Day 3: Silk Route & Khardungla

After a comfortable stay we all started the day early, driving through the same tracks that formed part of the ancient silk route. At South Pullu basic formalities related to registration and permit were covered, post which we arrived at one of the highest motorable roads in the world "KHARDUNGLA".

Also covered picturesque Diskit Monastery and later explored ATV ride, zipline & camel ride at the Nubra valley. Our stay was at Hunder where our warm & cozy swiss tents were waiting for us with bonfire, music, beer, scotch & lip-smacking food. Trust me nothing can beat the beauty of Nubra Valley, once you reach you would not want to go back, it is that beautiful and serene.

Day 4: The Pangong Dream

Once we left from Nubra Valley, headed towards those roads that dreams are made of!

We travelled parallel to extraordinary Shyok River & reached the Pangong Lake in the evening time. It was freezing cold, and it was so windy, we were at 18ooo ft height and at the night I was actually having breathing issues due to height but still worth it. It would be right to say that "we took the pause we wanted to take in a world full of machines".

At Pangong, our stay was at 100 sky camps in swiss tents, the next day when we were leaving from Pangong , I rode Classic 350 at the lake almost after 3 years, standing at the lake I was overwhelmed, I could not stop I was so emotional at that moment even though there were 300+ people on that lake but still I felt so content , at peace, life had been busy, I was juggling nonstop I realised I never took pause to question, analyse or grief with the events I have been through. Undoubtedly 2022 will always remain one of the difficult years of my entire life. With learning to live on machine, unconditional support from my family, extended family & virtual friends I never knew how blessed I was. Honestly without their support it would have been really difficult to come back & live again. Always grateful & at that lake I had all these mixed feelings & I was at so much peace with self and universe. Thank you.

Day 5: Moments & Nostalgia

After insta stories & clicks we left from Pangong Tso & started our journey to Leh crossing the Changla Pass.

Passing stunning landscapes including meadow patches we reached Upshi & covered Thiksey monastery and Shey Palace. We also covered Rancho's school. It was a moment to celebrate the Bucket list & 5 people from our group bid us bye since they were doing Delhi - Leh- Delhi while rest of us were also covering Srinagar in our itinerary.

Day 6: Miracles of a Road trip

After leaving from Leh we headed towards Kargil, the land that witnessed the 1999 war. With our first stop at Drass, Kargil War memorial where we witnessed the memorabilia and history of the war in all its glory.

No one knew what was coming ahead it was a heart wrenching journey to Army War Memorial, I cannot express my excitement, pride, tears of happiness and Joy, here when I was standing at that mountain which was captured by Pakistan & later recaptured by Indian Army in the Kargil War, our 563 soldiers sacrificed their lives & approx. 1363 soldiers were injured in that fight so that we can live peacefully, they knew it from the beginning that it will be difficult but not impossible. In this era of WhatsApp, I could not contain my tears rolling down from my eyes while reading their letters sent to their family. I cannot even express what I felt there, we all must go & visit. We are so busy in our life that we forget someone actually is fighting for our freedom, their families are staying strong so that they can protect civilians from unforeseen danger.

With heavy heart & empty stomach, we left for Pathar Sahib gurudwara where we all had lip smacking langar.

Enroute, we covered Magnetic Hills, Zanskar Sangam and we witnessed the morphing terrains & took a 10-minute halt at Lamayuru also knows as the "Moonland" due its moon like landscape. Our stay was at The Kargil Rangyul.

Day 7: Grand Touring

After Kargil we headed towards Kashmir. This part is all together another section of the Himalayas.

In the morning we went to cover one of the top attractions Line Of Control (LOC), On the other side of Drass River, we can actually see villages of Pakistan and their army bunkers. Waving our Indian flag at that mountain and feeling proud, left for the Kashmir valley. After crossing the Zozilla Pass, we stopped at Sonmarg for break, after a long 1.5 hour shopping spree we reached our stay which was at a houseboat, yep Shikara.

Day 8: Back to Base

We all woke up at 5 & left by 5:30 since our flights were scheduled at 7:30. As they say all good things come to an end and so must this trip. Nothing will ever be same anymore after this life exchanging experience.

Thank You Tripver, without you I don't think so I would have made an effort to plan a trip and enjoy the breathtaking views, riding bike at lake, meeting new people, visiting Kargil, reading those letters and visiting in person the mountain which took life of 563 Indian soldiers.

This trip made me aware how blessed and privileged I am, even with severe health conditions I truly believe am not even 1% close to what our army is doing for us. And the warmth and hospitality Pahadi people provide, no wonder Pahadi's are gem of a person.

Am so happy I did Leh, it was all worth it.

PS: 1. I forgot to take travel breaks, I won't now.

2. I will keep meeting new people, try to know them, though am lazy pants and don't take much of effort but still I will try.

3. I will click pictures for I know I will cherish these memories forever.

4. For Female Solo travellers, trust me it would be worth going & taking chance.

5. Above Itinerary could be a bit haywire since am writing this after 20 days of the trip & with alpha, beta and gamma going in my head i tried my best to memorise.

Let's get Lehe'd with Tripver!

I used to be an avid traveller, would take a break in every 3 months & would go out alone or with groups into the woods, mountains I don't know when I got so busy that I stopped going out, I stopped travelling, trekking & at this moment I realised that I did not do anything I used to do, that defined me as carefree, free-spirited. I became a completely different individual, responsible one though maybe marriage do change a person a lot. But sitting at my couch & looking back at the journey of those 5 years (2019-2023) am aghast though there were reasons like covid , ckd , health issues , managing things at work, sorting life, I don't know I did not take a break , just kept on going , it become more of a race to complete one task after another , just be on the loop & finally I broke that loop , am out of it now with a clear mind - these things will continue to go on, we need to take out time for sleep , meditation, catching with friends, going out with work-friends etc. Lesson learnt the hard way.

We all should at least try to take a break in 5 months for a week, go out travel alone, trek a mountain, sip that kahwa, figure out, detox your mind & re-think if all this is worth it or not. If after a decade we think about our journey we should have something in mind to think & laugh about , do we? if yes, indeed your 20's would have been colourful, mine was at least & am making an effort to do something different in my 30's so that after a decade when I will evaluate my 20's & 30's I could have two completely different graphs, only if I could make this happen.

Thank You!

Images attached below.