After travelling for 75kms, we stopped at a place called Sonamarg. Yeah, the scenery along the way was simply stunning. It just kept getting better. Now coming back to this place where we stopped – it was surrounded by mountains on all sides, with snow melting in patches all over them. Initially we thought that we had stopped for tea. Soon we realised that we had to spend an eternity here. There had been a landslide up ahead and the road was blocked.
Palzer, Kenny (an English guy travelling with us) and I spent our day climbing up one of the hills and looking down below. It may sound pointless, but there is nothing else to do when you reach right up there. By the way, Palzer and Kenny tried to ski down the hillside, through a patch of snow. It was funny to see them wrap some plastic bags around their shoes, and try their best not to lose control over themselves and reach the bottom of the hill. In the evening, we learnt that the road would only open the next morning. So we checked into a hotel to spend the night. About an hour later (around 8.30pm), the driver came to our room to inform us that the road had just opened and we were going to leave in a few minutes. Huh, the bastard who was in charge of the hotel didn’t even give us a refund!
It was dark and the roads were bad. Soon it began to snow. “You wanted an adventure, and you’ve got one,” joked Palzer as I stared outside the window of the car on a bumpy night. By the time we reached Dras (I believe it is the second coldest inhabited place on earth), I was comfortably asleep in a most uncomfortable position. Woke up for a while in Kargil, but even before I could blink I was asleep again. I woke early in the morning to find myself in a completely different seat from the one I had dozed off in, the previous night. We had entered Ladakh and were on our way to Leh. On our way, we managed to catch glimpses of the Lama Yuru Gompa (the oldest monastery in Ladakh) and the Alchi Gompa.
Reached Leh finally this morning. The car ride during the night was one of the tougher journeys I’ve been on. We decided to rest today and start going around the place from tomorrow. Got a pretty decent hotel for a reasonable price. After a meal of momos and fried rice, we dozed off again, but this time in our cosy hotel beds. I woke up in the evening with a severe body ache. Palzer slept right till eight o’ clock. Considering the fact that he hardly slept last night in the car, I felt that he needed it more than anyone else. However, when I now reflect back at the circumstances in which I managed a sound sleep last night, I know that I am going to be the man to beat if there is ever going to be such a thing as a “sleeping contest.”
I spent the evening looking at some paper-mache stuff in a store nearby, and collecting some information about local spots of tourist interest. Have thought of some things. Will keep recording them here as things happen. By the way, Kenny joined us for dinner and we ate in a Tibetan restaurant. We were glad to find the rates reasonable, but to our horror, the food tasted terrible. The meat was old and undercooked. None of us could finish what was on our plates.
By the way, I wrote a poem an hour ago. I mention this because I wrote one after quite a while. Now as the night covers itself in silence and chill, I must say goodbye, until… (Well, tomorrow of course! Just wanted to make it rhyme.)
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