"Too young to worry, Too old to smile"

The day began with some hot tea and the view of the sun rise. The golden drops of warmth were more than inviting. A quick shower and we hit the road to visit the only Monastery where in the statue of Lord Buddha is in the outside. Lukhil monastery, as it was called in the old days, today has been given a more more acceptable to our palate, Likhir Monastery. This was the only place where we could see many young monks running around the compound of the monastery, many adolescent ones prioritizing their work for the day ahead and the elderly yelling out the days chores to all in their vicinity. We had packed a crate full of food for our lunch by the Indus. The trickling of water around the rock edges and the steady flow of blue water was truly mesmerizing. A few snaps of us by the river and i was ready to grab a bite from my lunch box. Bioled eggs, Boiled Potatoes, Cheese sandwich, juice and some cookies. Mouth watering!!!! considering the fact that food is difficult to find in this in...

Agenda for the day: To drive to Lamayuru Monastery, visit Alchi, visit the village (Which was not planned initially), Have a borne fire, great dinner and stay the night at a motel at Alchi village. Sounds like a lot but we added a few more things to our plan as the day went by. We drove around 140 kms to visit the Lamayuru. Most places en-route, like the magnetic hill, the Sangam and the gurudwara, we had visited on an earlier day. So i caught up a long argument with my driver regarding Buddhism, as taught today and to what would have actually been taught by the Buddha himself. Although our thoughts were similar in the matter of fact that todays teachings are more orderly, which is not right, we still argued on the true reasons of re-birth, purpose of being born and many trivial things that we really dont think about in our daily being. It was a great experience to have chatted with him as time flew and we reached moonland. Apparently, many travelers visit this place to admire this vie...

This was one of the days i was looking forward to all my life. Somewhere, subconsciously, There was always a thought that i need to visit Pangong Tso. The place where my father took me 20 years back and it was awe inspiring from then on for me. I always wanted to be here when i am older, to remember the place till my last breadth, And today is the day. It was a little over 130 kms from Leh and we started around 8.30. we started late since we were planning to camp by the lake. If it was to be a day trip, it is advisable to leave much earlier if you want to spend at least 2 hours in heaven. First stop, Karu military station for some breakfast. Next break was to be at Chang la, the Worlds third highest pass. The drive to Chang La was filled with snake like roads, thinner than a street. Ice had hardened on the road and had become dangerous to drive on. Reaching Chang La was an achievement in itself. With only a few Army guards bitting the cold, the place was surrounded with snow and the wh...

A long drive of close to 120km to Alchi at 8.30 AM was planned and on our ride to Alchi, we witnessed some lovely low level flying by the Sukhoi's among the hills. A bit further and 2 ALH's were also patrolling the skies. Nice to know that at least there is someone apart from you in these dry cold deserts. Alchi monastery, one of the oldest shrines in Ladakh dating back to the 11th century. The monastery is owned by the Likir monastery a little distance away. The numerous 11 century books line in the inside walls of the monastery around the gold Maitreya Buddha. The place outside the shrine is famous for its massive Stupa's, ranging almost 2 storeys in height. A stupa is a place where ancient Buddhist teachings along with Buddhist statues and rituals are buried for future generations. On our way back to Leh, we were to visit Sangam, that's the place where two rivers meet to become the giant Indus. In summer, this place is flooded with water and is one of the favourite s...

Woke up early, it was a spine chilling 2 degrees at 9 AM. Had some hot soup, cheese sandwiches for breakfast, packed more sandwiches for lunch and hit the road. Agenda: visit monasteries and palaces around Leh. First up, the Stok palace. A lovely palace overlooking Leh city from the southern side. Although the sun would give us some respite from the otherwise chill breeze, we had to enter the palace and boy was it cold. we had to take of our shoes at the more holy places within the palace. The inside temperature would surely have been well in the sub zero region. there were many artifacts from the 16th century inside. the silver cups and tea kettles, the gold ornaments and the queens turquoise stone studded crown. There was a 300 year old Yak skin wine maker. Many stuffed mountain goat heads lined the Kings chamber. It was a spooky place with a holy fragrance filling the air. A step outside gave us the much awaited heat from the sun and respite from all the spookiness. We took some lov...

With only 2 hours of sleep and a major hangover, i reached the airport at 4.30AM to take the 5.45AM flight to Leh. Air India sucks and so does every hostess. They don't have manners and courtesy. I am sad i pay taxes for these people to give such a pathetic service. Anyway, Landed in Leh at 7.30AM. the cabin temperature was set to a normal 25 Deg. As we got out after landing, we were informed that the outside temperature was -4 deg. Stepped out of the plane to witness the first snowfall of the season. It was an enthralling feeling. I saw snow after 20 years. The tiny flakes of snow touching your skin with a painless prick and melting into an invisible tiny droplet before even your eyes wink. Everyone were appraising the flight commander, Capt. Ajit Singh's flying capabilities as very few have landed in Leh in such extreme conditions. We waited at the airport for a while before we were picked up to our hotel, a few minutes drive from the airport. We met the owner of the hotel an...

Reached Delhi at 9.30. A good friend picked me up from the airport and we drove to his house. I witnessed a new generation of roads. 10 lanes and 34 level toll gates, which on a weekday would be packed for hours. Within 20 min we reached DLF phase 1. I could not stop looking at each house. Massive is an understatement. I really wonder where does so much money come from. it was the next day to Diwali and most shops and people were still waking up with a strong hangover. 10.30AM and we hit the 1st wine shop open. The dude at the counter was counting all the money he had raked in the previous night. Picked a few bottles of beer and hit the road to his house. Shoes off, beer opens, hit the bean bags - All this to start a lovely Sunday morning, the way it is supposed to be. Drank till night and slept very late. This must have been the best Sunday in a long time.

Chikmagalur - A weekend of surprise for my better half clubbed with memories lasting a lifetime, thats what both of us would carry with us forever. A very relaxed drive took us just under five hours to reach a place we had never been to before. Nestled in the foot hills of Baba Budan hills, Chikmagalur is a calm, serene town full of scenic surprises, hills, valleys, streams and snow-white coffee blossoms. Situated 251 kms from Bangalore, Chikmagalur is a trekker's delight, with its rugged mountain trails. I kept the surprise of the place we were to stay till our car crept into our refuge at the end of a long and winding road, snaking between forests of tall trees, cloaked in pepper wines, shading the burgeoning bushes of coffee called 'The Serai'. Serai, the Turkish interpretation is ‘a palace of the Sultan’, the Persian version means a comfortable, accommodative place where intrepid travellers and battle-weary soldiers rested and recuperated from their rigours and travels ...