On the Roof of the World

The proper first day of the trip. As per actual plan today is the day I am supposed to take rest to acclimatize. Since I already did that yesterday, I thought to exploring Leh city on foot. Although the manager had mentioned breakfast will be ready by 7 am, it was not ready even by 8. I used the time to call up D. While the breakfast was of really poor quality, I felt I and another family were the only patrons here. And their cook must be really pathetic. I decided I would not have any meals in Royal Holiday Hotel. One good thing with the hotel is that it is at a walkable distance from Leh market. So I geared up and left by about 9.30 am. Looked like a bright sunny day. On the way I saw that De Pashmina Emporium was open. I had heard about this place in blogs and Google reviews stamped it as selling good authentic Pashmina or wool products albeit at a price. The owner Omar did his magic and I ended up buying 3 products, don't ask me the prices and all the three can only be dry-clea

Having covered the city yesterday, today am covering places a few kilometres away from Leh and Leh Palace (within Leh, that was not covered yesterday). MMT had booked an SUV and the driver Abdul arrived at 9.30 am in his Mahindra XUV. Abdul, a jolly fellow, all of 34 years was born in Nubra, but his family migrated to Leh due to lack of opportunities in Nubra. His father was a labourer and his is a story of economic migration now that he has become a driver. After completing his 10th in a English medium private school, he started working to earn money for his family.  Abdul took me everywhere the itinerary mentioned and more. By the end of the day I had an headache with all the climbing at each attraction, in an oxygen deficient environment. But I recovered in sometime.  We headed on the Srinagar - Leh highway. Most of the attractions to be covered today are on this road. A view on the way. We started off with the Hall of Fame. It is built in tribute to the Indian soldiers.

Today I am checking out of Leh and travelling towards Nubra (or Dumra locally). Nubra is also a river. Nubra has lower altitude than Leh but we need to cross a pass on the way which is at a higher altitude. Nubra has better vegetation due to the milder climate as a consequence of lower altitude. The roads again and again reminds me that I am travelling through a cold dessert, with minimal flora and rare fauna.  Also as we started gaining altitude, I could see some grand views. It started snowing as we further went up. I am seeing a snowfall after a long time.      After sometime all one gets to see is white. As the snow was fresh I was able to grab a handful. And Abdul helped with this click. Then we reached the highest point (altitude) of this trip at Khardung La, at 17,582 feet (or 5,359 m as per wiki) above sea level. The height mentioned at the location was however 17,982 feet. It has the second highest motorable road in the world. This pass connects the Indus river valley and the