Nubra Valley

3rd Day left early for Nubra valley. It’s 6-7 hours journey from Ladakh.

The scenary is serene and worth watching while travelling 😀 After sometime there was a photo-stop.

Khardungla Pass

Then we continued to Khardungla pass, the highest motarable road in the world. It takes 3 hours to reach Khardungla pass. Altitude sickness is a serious health concern for travelers not previously to high altitudes. The air is very thin here. One shouldn’t run or walk at a pace because there is less oxygen level. Usually drivers carry oxygen cylinder in case of emergency. The good thing is there was maggie and kahwah. Kahwah is tea in which many different type of spices are mixed. A must have drink when it is so cold. All time favourite Maggie is available at such a height !!

Now some clicks near Khardungla Pass 🙂

Then we went to Diskit Monastery. The road from Khardungla pass is very bumpy and narrow too. If military vehicle is passing by this road then everyone has to wait for hour/s for the vehicle to pass. There is a military base camp on the way to Nubra valley.

Military base camp.

Road to Diskit Monastery.

Diskit Monastery is connected to Mongol mythology in that the monastery is believed to be the place where an evil anti-Buddhist Mongol demon once lived and was killed near the monastery grounds but is said to have been resurrected several times.

Dikshit Monastery

The work is very intricate and colourful. This impressive 32 metre (106 foot) statue on top of a hill below the monastery, faces down the Shyok River towards Pakistan and, according to Mr. Tsering Nophel, chairman of the committee which organised it, most of the money came from local donations. The Head of the Gelugpa, Ganden Thipa, and Abbott of Rizu Monastery, gave 8 kg of gold for its decoration. It is the first time a Ladakhi monk has been the head of the Gelugpa sect.

The statue’s construction was started in April 2006 and it was consecrated by H.H. the Dalai Lama on 25 July 2010. Mr. Nophel says the statue was built with three main functions in mind – protection of Diskit Village, prevention of further war with Pakistan, and to promote world Peace.

Candid Picture.

Then we went to white sand dunes. I was bewildered by the scenary and landscape nearby. There were double hump camels. People can ride on it. The price varies as per time, if you want to ride for half an hour or an hour. As I went in June it wasn’t very cold, So the camels didn’t have much fur.

Then one camel went lose from the handler. It ran away. But other guy caught him. It was making crying sounds when it was caught. The whole incident is below. Don’t ride on them it’s cold and tiring and even they might run out of breath. In the above picture you can see the calf resting.

Then after this we were free for an hour so we just clicked some pictures. Luckily it was windy when we went to click near the sand dunes. You can see the windy effect of sand. The pictures turned out stunning because of wind.

Then we headed to the camp. Just before that there was a cultural show. We had tea and saw the show. You can miss this show because first you cannot understand what they are singing, second they just change clothes and again do the same dance.

Then went to the camp, the tent was comfortable and big. And there was wifi XD and that is important :P. Then we had dinner, it was good. After that everyone gathered around the bonfire and we played some games too. It was fun. It was cloudy so we couldn’t do star photography.

The next day we got ready, had breakfast and again travelled back to Ladakh. Selfie with the people who organise everything perfectly and make our stay comfortable.

We travelled for sometime and then we stopped for ATV ride. It was complementary. ATV ride on world’s highest sand dunes.

While heading back we had to wait for one hour at one place, because there was a military vehicle passing by. While waiting we met our friends, unexpected to meet friends at such a place. They were heading to Nubra valley.