The Chronicles of Ladakh - Set 6 - Turtuk Village, Once Across LOC

Previous: Nubra Valley

Day 6, 13th September, 2012

Hunder > THOISE > Turtuk > Deskit (185 KM)

THOISE

Next day our major attraction, as planned, was Turtuk – the-village-which-was-once-across-the-LOC.

After a sumptuous breakfast, we started from Hunder around 8.30 in the morning. Within no time, through the smooth roads and the ever-charming and gorgeous landscapes, we came near to THOISE.

THOISE is not a village – it is a Transit Halt Of Indian Soldiers Enroute and arguably the highest military airbase in the world. The place was fully inhabited by the Indian Army and full of military installations. For reasons not unknown, Photography was strictly prohibited of these installations.

THOISE Airbase

Can you see the chopper?

Spot the same chopper if you could - shot behind the closed window of the car

On the way

On the way

On the way - Shyok Valley

Turtuk, a different world

Once we crossed THOISE, it was a straightforward drive towards Turtuk. Through the rugged mountains and keeping the Shyok river besides, we drove towards the LOC. The landscapes were us usual too mindblowing to be missed.

We had to submit our permits at a checkpost while nearing Turtuk. Turtuk was still around 25 Kms from this checkpost. Rigzin mentioned that prior to the 1971 Indo-Pak war, this place used to be the LOC. So we already entered the region which was once in Pakistan – in fact we were heading towards the new LOC and so was the river Shyok.

The feeling was inexplicable – we were spellbound by the victory of the Indian Army, while we realized that Pakistan was no different from India on the other hand, as far as the natural beauty was concerned. Nature does not bestow its generosity based on the barriers of the countries.

All through the road there was heavy presence of the Army, which was no surprise. At one point we were stopped by them, as a firing practice was ongoing. We were fascinated to see our jawans in (dummy) action from such a close distance.

When we reached Turtuk it was around 11.30 in the morning. The village was small and could be covered within an hour or so on foot – in fact the village is situated on such a hillock that a car cannot enter inside the village and one has to roam around on foot.

We also donned our explorer-suit (not literally, of course!) and started to visit every nook and corner of the small village. One has to cross a small stream to enter the village. Just besides this point, one road goes straight towards the LOC and beyond – obviously civilians are not allowed beyond Turtuk. Within just 20 Kms of Turtuk, the first Pakistani village, Franu, can be reached through that road.

The overall look and feel of the village was different from the usual Ladakhi culture – the people too. Most of them speak a language called ‘Balti’ and the region is called as Baltistan in local language. The ethnicity of the people was also different from what we can see in other areas in India.

Turtuk village is nestled on a flat valley over a hillock and surrounded by high mountains – some of the mountains house army bunkers from the respective countries. The flatland on top of the hillock was mostly covered by farmlands.

The village was small as we could cover it within an hour on foot and we reached to the bottom of the hillock through a series of steep stairs.

There was a small but newly built guest house (Ashoor Guest House) cum restaurant where we had our lunch. I engaged in a conversation with the friendly young manager. Most of the information I supplied above were the result of that chit-chat.

Abdullah also mentioned that the culture is absolutely similar in the Franu village as well because that also belonged to the ‘Balti’ region. Residents of both sides of the border wear the same clothes, eat the same food and speak the same language. They use the same water supplied by the same Shyok river and breathe the same air. It is us, the humans, who decide and divide.

We were so engrossed in the conversation that we did not even notice how the time had flown; it was already around 3.00 pm. Time to go! So we had to bid farewell to the cute little village at the frontier, its people and my newly found friend. We both agreed to meet again before we parted – a promise we have to keep.

Our Trusted companion Shyok

Rigzin - the great climber

An amazing pose by Rigzin

Shyok

Pakistan Village - within 100 kms

Just outside the Turtuk Village

A typical Turtukian house

A naughty little one

The village - surrounded by mountains

Farmlands

Another Turtukian

Innocence

Mother and Child

Farmlands

This memorial signifies hard-fought battle

LOC - 20 kms down this road

Deskit

The rest of the journey was uneventful. With a great joy emanated in our hearts we drove through the familiar roads towards Hunder this time. We crossed the military airstrip at THOISE, we surpassed the Sand Dunes of Hunder, for we had to go to Deskit.

Since we had to travel towards Pangong Tso next day, we wanted to stay at Deskit instead of Hunder. Compared to Hunder, Deskit had nothing to offer if one had already covered the Deskit monastery. No, I was wrong, Deskit had internet connection and phone booths!!!

In Deskit we lodged at the Eagle Guest house since all the renowned ones were occupied by a large shooting group. This guest house is not recommended for the travellers because of various reasons (I shall cover that under the Logistics post), but only go there if it is the last option.

Anyway, we reached Deskit at around 6 pm so we didn’t also have much time in hand to pick and choose. Rigzin advised us to take rest, since we’d have a long journey towards Pangong Tso the next day.

Shyok from a closer look

Rigzin's 'Baba Ramdev' avatar

Shyok at its roaring best

Approaching Nubra

THOISE Runway - classified

Hunder Sand Dunes once again

Deskit - a non descriptive village

To be continued....
Next: On the way to Pangong Tso

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