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Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out!  Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...
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Off again, on another trip!


The biggest festival of the year – Diwali – approaches, and, more than anything, we look forward to the vacation that comes in its stead. We usually celebrate the festival at home, lighting lamps and bursting crackers, but this year, as you know already, we can’t celebrate the festival, and are free to travel.



We have chosen to travel into interior Maharashtra this year, combining spiritual destinations with something different. Our main destination will be Nanded, to which I have managed to get train tickets. From then on, it will be us depending on local buses to get around and see as much of the places around as we can. On my radar are Aundha Nagnath and Parli Vaijnath, two important Shaivite shrines in Maharashtra, which also figure on the list of 12 Jyotirlingas. If all goes well, I will be on the verge of completing my Jyotirling circuit soon.

Also on my list is the Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan at Shegaon, a place I have heard lots of, but haven’t yet visited, and that is where we plan to be for Diwali.

After all that spirituality, it is time for us to relax and enjoy a bit of nature before we head back to the concrete jungle, so my final destination will be the Lonar Crater Lake. This is yet another place which I have planned to visit for a long, long time, and am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping it all works out.

This is slated to be a budget trip, trying to keep costs under control, since we have already travelled much more than expected this year (and spent a lot more too, if I may add!). Besides, we are also trying to sneak in some more travel before the year is out! How far we succeed depends on whether we manage to keep to our resolution to avoid hiring vehicles and travel completely by local buses. While that really isn’t as daunting as it sounds, remember that we have Samhith in tow, so it is indeed a challenge. We tried it from Mumbai to Nashik, and were quite successful, but this trip is much longer, and thus more of a challenge. We have booked a few tickets online, so those parts of the journey are already fixed, but the rest has been left to chance, and the efficiency of MSRTC!

I will be away for just over a week, and meanwhile, have tried to schedule posts for most days. Enjoy reading them, keep coming back.... and wish you all a very Happy Diwali! 


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