We woke up after a refreshing and relaxed sleep to a bright sunny day. We enjoyed our morning tea in the sit-out outside our room. No newspaper to read, no internet to surf, we just sat and watched the world go by. The resort staff going about their various morning chores, the gardener (a woman actually) plucking vegetables for today’s lunch probably. Then we took a walk around. It was amazing to see the surrounding mountains change colour, light and shadows at work as the angle of light and our point of view kept changing.
There was running hot water for the bath even in the single digit temperatures, and we were soon dressed and ready. Electricity in these remote places can be erratic, but solar heaters are quite effective. At the restaurant, we were served breakfast from their farm fresh produce. The milk was a little too thick for a city bred like me, but I did not say anything – didn’t want to offend the friendly cows. The eggs were of course delicious. Otherwise, the fare was completely vegetarian all through. In fact so was the previous night’s dinner. We checked out after breakfast and were on the road again by about 9 am. Our destination was the Lamayuru monastery, which would be the furthest point on the Srinagar highway that we would be going to.
The highway built by the Border Roads Organisation is absolutely super. Our driver told us that this is how it is most of the way to Srinagar. Work is still going on for replacement of some of the weaker bridges along the route with newer, stronger steel structures. This is after all a militarily strategic road and large military convoys ferrying supplies, livestock, personnel and equipment are continuously on the move along the highway. Several military units line both sides of the road. Pearls of Wisdom from the BRO, like we saw yesterday, continue to be displayed on safety signs all along. The River Indus continued its flow alongside, it was now a turbulent mass of rapidly flowing slate coloured water. Soon, we would part ways, we would head towards Lamayuru while the Indus would take its course flowing towards Pakistan.
Just before the Lamayuru Monastery, along the highway itself, is a unique mountainous area known as Moonland. The appearance of the mountains here is supposedly exactly like the surface of the moon. Not having been to the moon, it is difficult for me to comment about that, but yes indeed, the area is unique and quite different from the mountains that were running along the road earlier. We stopped to admire the view and take some pictures. It was something quite unlike we had ever seen before.
Here are some pictures from the Moonland
The Lamayuru Monastery, was built in the 11th Century. It is atop a hill, you can drive most of the way, but the fantastic view from various parts of the Monastery is worth the small climb or trek that you may have to do. Besides the winding road, you get to see the Moonlands from a higher view perspective, making it look even more awesome.
Here are some pictures taken at and from the Lamayuru Monastery
It was now time to start our journey back to Leh. The 120 Km journey back to the Hotel The Kaal would need about 3 hours, but we still had another stop – the Basgo Monastery. This is a relatively new monastery, built in the 17th Century. A giant Buddha statue occupies centre stage here, there is a children’s boarding school here where 180 school children study and reside. There is also a sacred Geneva Tree, which we were told is 1,000 years old. It took us a while to walk around the Monastery, while Dorje had his lunch here. We rested our tired legs and spent some time conversing with a resident Lama over a cup of green tea.
Here are some pictures taken on the way and at the Alchi Monastery
We reached our hotel towards the evening and sat in the garden, me sipping my beer while Tiny enjoyed her Health Drink.
Days 2 and 3 of our visit had been planned so that we visit places which are more or less at the same altitude as Leh. The roads we travelled on were excellent, trekking and climbing was kept minimum, and we could do it all at our own pace. The idea was to help us in getting further acclimatized. The next few days hereafter were going to get more difficult.
But we were looking forward to them.
One of the best parts about today’s drive was the quality of the road. The Leh-Srinagar Highway has been constructed by the Border Roads Organisation and is a pleasure to drive on. Beautifuly paved, an excellent surface, no potholes, no litter – except for the rare idiot who still flings his empty Lays packet from his window. A picturesque drive all the way. And the safety signages along the road are just as witty as they are informative. Here are some of the Pearls of Wisdom relating to road safety which we came across during the two days of our traversing the Kashmir Highway
- Smooth Road for Smooth Ride
- Drink & Drive Don’t survive
- Drive Slow – You are expected
- Start Early Drive Slowly Reach Safely
- On the bend, slow down my friend
- Feel the curves don’t hug them
- Join Hills Join Hearts
- Safety First Speed Afterwards
- Always Alert Accidents Avert
- Take Heed Don’t speed
- Three Enemies of Road – Liquor Speed & Overload
And several more which we probably didn’t note when passing.