It was an action packed day. With a lingering thought that the challenging Khardung-la pass at a height of 18000 ft above sea level and the highest motorable road in the world is waiting for us. We were all packed with our warm cloths and altitude sickness medicines.
It is the passage to Nubra Valley and Siachen and is in the Karakoram mountain range. Our vehicle was taking twist and turns around the swiveling paths through the magnanimous ranges on the way. It was pleasant ride till about 40 KM from the city where the motorable road was still of asphalt, then started the rocky mountain roads.
The hill begins the real challenge and all your survival instincts gets called for. The roads or whatever was left of it gives all the upswings which you rather pay for in the amusement parks. The upside road was all rocky and dusty and clough so high left us goose bumps. It takes a skilled driving with discipline to maneuver this tough terrain.
The place was cold and windy and also had low oxygen at top, we all were little light headed by the time reached at top. The Top was packed with enthusiastic tourists who were engaged in clicking selfies with snow backdrop. The feeling was unique to be at the top of the world, a sense of accomplishment.
The around mountains were snow laded, we played with the snow too. We were instructed not to stay there for long due to breathing issues, though we had some amazing clicks to reminisce our lifetime. We started descending from Khardung La and headed towards Nubra through Khalsar Village. On the way not to forget wide spread of azure skyline and continuous snow wrapped hilly range accompanied us, we enjoyed every moment of the drive.
Along the way we crossed lots of bikers who were all geared up to take on the challenge of the place and come out victorious. After 30km or so, the muddy Shyok river continued parallel by our side. The roads definitely get better as we marched downhill and surprisingly felt better as well. The stretch of many miles and no part of living could be seen. Our travel had been lonely on the road, with very few cars and military trucks and of course the bikers passing at intervals. The vista presented by small road in midst of naked desert mountains on both of your side was awe-aspiring. We visited 32 metre Maitreya Buddha statue is the landmark of Nubra Valley and is maintained by the Diskit Monastery.
The place was so quite to unwind your senses. Diskit Monastery offers a spectacular view of the Nubra Valley.Greenery started coming more in the picture of a cold desert and it had started looking like an oasis.
Around 8 kms from Diskit on a moderate road was the village of Hunder famous for its sand dunes. The average altitude of the valley is about 10,000 ft. i.e. 3048 metres above the sea level. The exhaustion of reaching the summit fades away, it’s an amazing and surprising proposition to see sand dunes spreading at least over 5-6 kms in the middle of mountainous terrain. Under the stunning blue sky the desert is surrounded by the barren mountains with camels around! These camels are different and very special; they are double humped Bactrian camel and we had our share of ride too.
The place was the perfect combination of sparkling Dunes, the thin river floating out of nowhere and the huge surrounded mountains.
We took shelter in a guest house in nearby Hundar village, night brought in we had organized bonfire and some old music to make it special.
One thing you realize while on the trip is, your mobile network doesn’t pick up and hence you are disconnected from your life back in the civilization. When you are off the gadgets, all you do or can do is talk with your partner or just be silent. With limited resources and extensive time at hand, your life still moves on. We were awake till midnight and kept chatting, singing and talking about the place surrounded by long trees, heavy wind but our bonfire didn’t lose hope, it went on for quite some time and then we slipped into a slumber.
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