Salute to the Army! (Day 2)

 We woke up early feeling much better than the Day 1. The hotel served yummy breakfast that had 2 special dishes apart from the regular toast, sandwich, fruits, poha, juice and coffee/tea. For those who eat non-vegetarian food, they serve boiled eggs every day. (It is suggested to avoid non-vegetarian food and alcohol/tobacco while in Ladakh)

Hall of Fame

After breakfast, we started off with the local sightseeing in a Scorpio, driven by Paljor. The first destination was ‘Hall of Fame’. This is a museum by the Indian Army and has exhibits about Ladakh’s geography, the various wars that were fought in the past by India - The Sino-India war in the 1960s, the India-Pakistan war in 1971 and the Kargil war / Operation Vijay in 1999.  

There were exhibits of various weapons captured in the wars and a section dedicated to the various Param Vir Chakra and Mahavir Chakra recipients along with their achievements, and in some, how they were martyred. The mere sight of the exhibits in the museum could make any Indian feel emotional and proud. 

A section dedicated to Operation Vijay had items collected during the operation and letters written by our comrades in the army to their family. One of them is the last letter from Captain Vijayant Thapar to his family during the Kargil war. It was a letter that brought tears to everyone who read it.

 There were other exhibits where soldiers explained the borders of Ladakh and how they defend along the Line of Control. There were some exhibits where soldiers explained the details of the Kargil war. Everybody present there was asked to shout out ‘Jai Hind’ from the bottom of their hearts. One could see the patriotism in everyone’s voice. Outside the museum was ‘Shaurya Stal’ where there were plaques of the hundreds of soldiers that have laid down their lives for our safety. The museum also hosts the 'Sound and Light Show' in the night ( on the Kargil War)

Sangam

After the Hall of Fame, we went to a place called ‘Sangam’– a confluence of 2 rivers Indus and Zanskar. This is on the way to Alchi, the hometown of the famous Sonam Wangchuk. The difference in the colour, direction and speed of flow of the water of both the rivers were visible. It is mentioned that this is the world’s highest point for rafting

From Sangam we drove back to Leh. On the way we saw the University of Ladakh

Magnetic Hill

The next stop was a place called ‘Magnetic Hill’ – a place that is believed to defy gravity. When a car is parked in neutral gear in a particular spot with the engine turned off, the car automatically moves. The real reason behind this is optical illusion, but it is exciting to just watch this happen whatever the reason be. The kids dressed up in traditional Ladakhi costumes here and we clicked as many pictures as we could

Gurudwara Pathar Sahib Ji

Gurudwara Pathar Sahib was the next stop in the agenda. It is constructed in memory of Saint Guru Nanak and is maintained by the Indian Army. Legend has it that there was a demon in this region who troubled the locals. Saint Guru Nanak came to help them. The demon threw a rock at Guru Nanak but as it approached the Saint, the rock softened like wax leaving the imprint of the back of the great Saint. This rock can be seen in this Gurudwara today. 

Hot delicious lunch called ‘langar’ was served by the Indian army at the Gurudwara.

We halted at a couple of places to enjoy the breath-taking view of the city and the mountain backdrop. This is the Leh-Kargil highway also called NH-1. 

Spituk Monastery

The last place for the morning tour was the famous 'Spituk Monastery' in a town called Spituk outside of Leh (our first monastery visit in Leh). By this time, a little exhaustion set it. Walking up all the way to the top of the monastery was getting difficult but the view from the top was breath-taking. We could see the run-way of Leh airport from here

Inside the monastery, there were paintings on the walls that dated back to several centuries ago. It is believed that the colours used were those from the rocks and stones that were on the banks of the Indus river 

By the time we reached our hotel, it was early evening. After the day excursion, the evening was relaxed and quiet – a long travel was ahead of us the next day to Nubra Valley through high altitude passes. We picked up a small oxygen cylinder as a precaution for the travel for the next few days.

At the hotel, we ate dinner, packed our bags for the journey and were off to bed early feeling much better than before. 

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Ready, Set, Go

Leh, Here we come (Day 1)

Khardungla and Nubra Valley (Day 3)

Panamik and Samstanling Monastery (Day 4)

Pangong Tso, Tso Beautiful (Day 5)

Hemis Tsechu and Thiksey Monastery (Day 6)

The Palace and the Market (Day 7)

Julley, Leh (Day 8)