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...
Our original plan at Nubra was to enjoy the sand dunes and relax. We took one look at the crowds and changed our mind! Of course, it helped that we had a destination in mind – one that had been suggested by many people we had talked to, over the past few days – Turtuk! The village of Turtuk, about 200 km from Leh, lies in the region of Baltistan. This is one of the few villages of the region under Indian control. The rest of Baltistan is part of Pakistan. The village lies about 2.5km from the Line of Control, and is the farthest visitors are allowed to go. Changing our plans meant that we would have a long day ahead. We were on the road at 5 AM, with the dawn to ourselves, not a soul on the road! We did startle a pair of foxes which ran across the road. They probably wondered why humans were out on the road so early! Watching the mountains change as the day broke made the early start worthwhile. There was a flip side, though. We reached Turtuk at 7:15 AM, only to find everyth...