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Planning to Execution and Anti-climax

In January 2023 we began planning for a trip that we wanted to do in May 2023. After considering several options, such as Budapest, Croatia, Japan, and more, my partner (D) and I finally decided to visit Ladakh, with a focus on Leh. We started executing our plans in the second week of April 2023, with the trip scheduled for May. Time being a constraint we narrowed down to Ladakh.

Neither D nor I had ever been to the Kashmir region. Both of us love Kashmiri cuisine. We have relished the food from Poush and Taftoon. D has for long been nursing the desire to complete the great Kashmir Great Lakes trek. However, due to a lack of enthusiasm for a full-blown trek, work constraints and general laziness, we ended up with shelving the idea of a trek and finally booked a six-day planned trip with MakeMyTrip. D wanted to go on a non-group trip, and I agreed. We finalized our trip logistics, including upgrading our accommodations to a four-star hotel for one of our stays, and paid for the trip.

However two days after finalizing everything comes the anti-climax. D has to go to Chicago to solve a client situation and would be there for a month. And she has to go ASAP! Talk about the life of a consultant. Sigh :). 

D has been waiting for such an opportunity for a couple of years now. We discussed the situation and finalized that D will go to Chicago, and I will continue with the Ladakh trip. Cancelling the trip for both of us was not an option, so I decided to embark on a solo trip. I have never been on a Solo trip and this will be a new experience for me.

The next few days were spent in shopping appropriate stuff for us to travel to Ladakh, and to Chicago. We purchased suitcase, thermals, gloves, footwear, jackets, and more. Temperatures in Ladakh are expected to be from -5 to 10 degrees Celsius, and I have never previously stayed in such cold temperatures for 6-7 days at a stretch. The coldest temperature I have experienced was 0 degrees while at Lucknow in the winter of 2010, so this will be an interesting and sometimes challenging experience. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to some memorable days!

I also wanted to take this as an opportunity to start blogging again. I plan to share my experiences and adventures throughout the trip, from start to finish.

I am excited to document my journey and share it here. Stay tuned for updates on my trip to Ladakh!


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