The Chronicles of Ladakh - Part 10 - The Remoteness of Hanle

Previous: Pangong to Leh

Day 10, 17th September, 2012 – The Remoteness of Hanle

Leh > Karu > Upshi > Chumathang > Mahe > Loma > Nyoma > Hanle (275 KM)

Around 8.30 in the morning we left Leh towards Hanle (the locals pronounce it as ‘Aanle’). We already submitted the required papers to the Leh IIA office for our accommodation at the IIA guest house at Hanle.

We were again on the Leh Manali high way through which we already travelled partially when we traversed towards Hemis and when we returned from Pangong. We crossed Karu and reached Upshi in no time. From Upshi one diversion towards the right leads the way towards Manali, crossing the Tanglang La. The road towards the left goes to Chumathang further from which Hanle is situated.

The journey again was uneventful and the landscapes were familiar to even us, so without wasting much time over photography, we drove all the way to Chumathang. It was a little village with only a single guest house – so staying here was not always a good idea if the guest house ran full. It did when we reached Chumathang. Anyway, at a small roadside dhaba we had our lunch with some tasteless food and Rigzin loaded some more Diesel.

Chumathang was popular for a hot water spring. We expected a lot from this hot water spring and in reality, it was just a small spring after all, but the water was too hot. The dhaba owner stated smilingly that they normally get the eggs boiled from the water within minutes.

Chumathang Hot Spring

Chumathang Village

From Chumathang, we reached Mahe where we had to submit our permits. A small wooden bridge towards our right indicated the road towards Tso Moriri. Rigzin mentioned that while driving to Tso Moriri we have to backtrack towards Mahe and then take the towards Tso Moriri crossing the bridge.

After Mahe, the landscapes changed completely, only similarity was the aridness. The mountains became too colorful gradually, vast patches of sandy valleys appeared and remoteness was too strong. As far as the eyes could behold, no symbol of human civilization could be found. That’s why perhaps this region was the abode of many wild creatures – one of them was the Kiang (Wild Ass), we saw many of them grazing in hordes. The Kiangs were too colorful as well.

The Kiangs

The remoteness of the route was so appealing that we wanted to stop our car at almost every nook and corner, we did so at many occasions but Rigzins mentioned to save some energy as we had to visit the Hanle Observatory as well and since we have to return through the same roads. We agreed. We crossed Loma, Nyoma and had to submit our permits once again.

The Way Ahead

We saw the diversion towards Koyul, Dungti, Fotula and Fukche but unfortunately tourirts are not allowed in these regions anymore, so we had to drive straight towards Hanle. Hanle Monastery appeared at our right side and the village on the left. One thing which struck us was the greenery all around. The whole village was more or less covered by a carpet of grass which was very strange given the desertscapes all around us. We asked our Encyclopedia – Rigzin. He mentioned that beneath the whole village there’s a big lake flowing which supplies the water to the village!

Desertscape

Where is it leading to?

Kiangs grazing

Hanle Monastery

Some Himalayan Buzzard - flying with speed of a jet

Hanle Wetland

We drove past the village and started ascending a hillock, on top of which the Observatory was located. When we reached the parking at the top, the village houses seemed tiny little boxes from there. The monastery even looked a house of the Lilliput. A 360 degree view of the gorgeous surrounding was a welcome, despite our tiring journey.

Hanle Monastery from the top

The observatory dome

The observatory curator explained the functionalities with eagerness to us, we saw how the telescope functions, how the dome above actually slides during the night in order to watch the night sky and how the mirror feeds the data to the computers. We saw how the liquid nitrogens were used to cool the machinery. We were too proud when we learned it was the 3rd highest observatory of such kind in the whole world.

Machinery

Coolant - liquid Nitrogen

Hanle Village from the top

Hanle IIA Guest House and the scattered data collection centres

The IIA observatory guest house was located at the base of this hillock. We reached there at around 5 in the afternoon. Getting a room was an easy task by showing the permission granted by the authorities. Rigzin dropped us there and left for his friend’s house where he’d spend the night.

The room was state of the art with all the modern facilities. When we were served with sandwiches and hot tea, we found some of our lost energy. After getting freshened up with hot water (the weather outside was too cold with severely chilled wind) we took rest till the dinner. The dinner was sumptuous too – no less than an extravagant hotel. So immediately after the heavenly food we sank into a delicious slumber.

To be continued...

Next: The Magical Tso Moriri

The Chronicles of Ladakh - Part 4 - Around Leh Town

Previous: In the Capital of Ladakh

Day 4, 11th September, 2012

Leh > Hemis > Stakna > Thiksey > Shey > Leh (130 KM)

Hemis Monastery

The next morning, the sky was clear with the shades of blue and white all around indicating a fantastic day ahead and our moods lighter. After the breakfast, Rigzin arrived with his black Scorpio at 9 O’clock sharp as promised, and we commenced our journey to Hemis.

Once we passed Karu, we had one more fellow traveller with us – the Indus – which runs towards Chumathang as a trusted companion, if one is traversing in the same direction.

After Karu, we needed to take a diversion towards Hemis and through some spellbinding landscapes; Hemis – the largest monastic institution in Ladakh - was in front of us, surrounded by mountains.

After spending some moments with the already familiar paintings, carvings, architecture, we returned back towards Leh again through the same sky-kissing-the-mountains landscapes.

Decoration

Hemis Monastery from a different angle

Paintings



Landscape



Stakna Monastery

From Hemis towards Leh, we took another diversion to reach Stakna Monastery. The road towards Stakna was heavenly, especially the part where we were on a very narrow bridge to cross the Indus.

Stakna was a very small monastery on the top of a small hillock and as it is not even as half famous as Hemis, Thiksey etc, most of the tourists give it a miss.But when we reached at the top, we immediately knew that we didn’t make a mistake coming here. The 360 degree view offered was absolutely breathtaking, without any exaggeration. The Indus valley, the village below and the Thiksey monastery far away all contributed to the heavenly beauty.

I am actually at a loss to describe how it was, so I leave it on to the readers to judge from the below pictures.

On the way to Stakna - visible at the left

Stakna Monastery

Shot with 250 mm Lens - can you imagine the vastness?

From the same angle, but with 18 mm Lens this time

Indus Valley - from Stakna top

The valley below

Thiksey Monastery from Stakna

Indus Valley - Thiksey at right

Stakna at the backdrop

Thiksey Monastery

We spent more time at Stakna than Hemis which was quite incredible, given that many travellers don’t even consider Stakna to be on their itinerary. In fact, while we found Hemis and Thiksey all thronged, Stakna did not have anyone else apart from us and another fortunate group of travellers.

The next destination was Thiksey – another popular destination. We already passed by Thiksey while on our way to Hemis, so we already knew what to expect from the same.

Thiksey was beautiful undoubtedly and offered spectacular bird’s eye view of the village below, apart from the normal sacred items and utensils.

Stok Range far far away

The Stok Range

Thiksey Monastery - a closer look

Chhortens

Thiksey from a photogenic angle

Shey Palace

With our heats already filled up with joy to see these beautiful monasteries in person (I have read and seen so many articles and snaps about them), our journey was all but over, as the Shey Palace was the next destination.

Shey Palace was built at the top of another hill by the kings of the Shey dynasty in 16^th century in front of a small lake. The royal family don’t live here anymore and have moved to the Stok palace. Most of the palace were in ruins and had little to offer – apart from a golden top Chhorten. But again, the views offered were magnificent.

Shey Palace

Golden Top Chhorten

Sindhu Ghat

It was already 1.30 pm and so before we continued further, we thought it better to get our stamina back by consuming some food, so we had our lunch at Choglamsar village, on our way to Leh.

After the resumption, the first halt was at the Sindhu Ghat – a place newly built just besides the Indus river to worship the river itself. The place was really amazing and the fact that we could actually touch and dip our feet into the cold water of Indus made it more so. The whole place was so peaceful and quiet that apart from the intoxicating sound of water, nothing could be heard.

Leh Palace

Leh Palace was built by the local rulers of the Namgyal dynasty around 1553 AD.

We didn’t expect much from the Leh palace after what we have seen from the Shey Palace, but we were wrong. Leh palace was much much bigger than its counterpart at Shey and was in a much better shape.

There were many rooms in the palace, explaining to us how the royals lived – many of rooms exhibited items and utensils. The whole city of Leh was visible from the rooms with the vistas beautified by the rugged mountains, found in abundance everywhere around the town.

Leh Palace

Leh City, from Leh Palace

Solitude

Hall of Fame

The sky which promised to be a great day ahead was no more. Now it became cloudy and started drizzling, dampening our spirits. So when we entered through main gate of Hall of Fame, we didn’t know what to expect.

Hall of Fame was built by the Indian Army to showcase what it had done for the country, for people like us. It housed details of each victory India achieved through the hard-fought battles against its neighboring country – during 1962 to 1999. Pictures of jawans capturing and re-capturing the places from the opponents, archives, maps, detailed information of the war everything were greatly preserved. Even the actual arms recovered from the opponents and personal/official documents seized from the enemy were on display. The pictures of the martyrs made us sad, the pictures of the victories made us happy. But overall, we felt proud to be an Indian. A great Salute to our Army, Air Force and Navy!!!

When ‘Elvis had left the building’, we were definite that this was the best place we visited on the day.

The brave martyrs

Badges

Arms recovered from the enemy camps

A funny one

Indian Air Force Emblame

Shanti Stupa

Stanti Stupa was built by the Japanese as to show a symbol of love and peace in the region. As per plan, Shanti Stupa was on our list to be visited during the dusk. The day was about to end and it was almost dark because of the cloud, so it was a great timing to be at the feet of Lord Buddha. The Leh city was slowly sinking in the dark with some lights flashing here and there like fireflies.

Shanti Stupa is always a great place to be but after a tiring day. Shanti Stupa lived up to its name – we found what ‘Shanti’ is, even if temporarily.

Rigzin dropped us in front of Asia Guest House and advised us to take rest, as we would be going for a long journey the next day – towards the Nubra Valley.

Shanti Stupa

The One

The view from Shanti Stupa

To be continued...

Next: Nubra Valley, snow and Sand