The Score Magazine - Archive February 2009 issue! | Page 31

T
he trip to Ladakh was Suresh’s idea. He is an
advertising photographer by profession and
wanted to do an exhibition so what better
place to photograh than Ladakh.
He wanted company. Satyajit and I joined him after re-
aligning our rat race.
The entire trip to Leh and around Leh was organized by
Mr Wangchuk of Snow Leopard Trails. Mr Wangchuk is
the man to see if ever you want to make that trip to La-
dakh. He organized the trip with military precision. Hotel
rooms, cars, drivers, permissions, food and whatever. It
was simply fantastic, nothing ever went wrong which is
amazing feat in such a hostile and violent environment.
The other person who made this trip memorable was
Spemba, the 27 year old Ladakhi lad, our driver. An out-
standing driver, never put a wheel wrong, never said a
wrong word and on call 24/7. In Ladakh, one mistake on
these slippery mountain roads and you’re one for the
history books. While we might have made the effort to
go to Ladakh, half the credit goes to Mr. Wangchuk and
Spemba as they are the ones who made this trip pos-
sible.
Visiting Ladakh was the best thing I ever did in my life.
It’s tough, it’s ruthless and no amount of money or tech-
nology can conquer that place. Mother nature rules and
in spades. It humbles you, and I swear, I came face to
face with my maker so many times.
travel
We flew from Chennai to Delhi. Mr Wangchuk’s man Mr
Kaku picked us up in an Toyota Innova and drove straight
to Manali for 17 hours. Not a great drive but we had to
do it anyway. We didn’t want to jet around, you don’t
get to see that much. At Manali we stayed at Club Ma-
hindra. Fairly decent accomodation, got some rest and
started feeling human after that 17 hour long drive.
Lazed around Manali for a day started getting used to
the weather and the height. We left the following morn-
ing for Jispa and Serchu enroute to Leh. Reached Jispa in
the late afternoon. Very basic accomodation, very cold
stay in the hotel opposite a river. Very scenic. Left the fol-
lowing morning for Sarchu. Change of drivers and cars,
another Innova and the perfect ‘Mr Spemba’ steps in.
Note:The thing that worries everybody is AMS(acute
mountain sickness). As you go up in altitude the oxygen
startes getting thinner. You will feel breathlessness, a lit-
tle heady etc. That’s why you climb gradually, averaging
5000 ft every two days.
Panorama of the town of Leh; a dusty town with little
greenery and a couple of old monasteries.