Getting Leh-ed!

Kehathe hein... agar kisi cheez ko dilse chaaho toh puri kayanath... usse thum se milaane ki koshish mein lag jaathey hey!

They say... if you wish for something with all your heart, then the whole world.. will start working towards making you meet your goal! -Shahrukh Khan - OSO

In 1998 when Mani Rathnam's 'Dilse' was released, one more thing other than Preity Zinda and A R Rehman's music caught my attention... the awesome landscape or rather 'moonscape' of Ladakh! It was unlike any other places I've ever seen in south and believe me, it was the first time I was seeing that part of our own country! Right then I decided I'll visit this place someday. Exactly a decade later, when I made a promise to my Travel Bug, I included Ladakh also my wish list for 2008. After checking the holiday calendar, I decided October is the suitable month!

However, lot of trips in the first 6 months made me over-confident and I didn't do any home work for Ladakh trip. I thought that I can do it in August, 1 month before going. But i didn't know that it'll be raining / snowing in the hills and transportation will be an issue if I go in October. In my over-confidence I would have missed the Ladakh trip this year.. if it weren't for my friends! They were :

Shoyeb - the mastermind behind the whole operation. He contacted the tour operator, did the negotiations and was in charge of everything. We had earlier gone on a rafting trip in Rishikesh last year. (Another travel addicted guy)
Camera : Nikon D40 DSLR with the default kit lens 18-55mm and an additional 55-200 mm

Rajesh - One who was desperate to go on this trip as he didn't want to waste the golden opportunity of the absence of his wife. (Babhi ji was back home!!! I pray to god.. pls pls pls make her see this!)

Gokul and Rahul - the ever ready travel freaks. We had also gone to the North East and the Haridwar-Rishikesh for rafting a couple of times.
Cameras :
Rahul's Nikon L101 camera 5x Optical zoom
Gokul's Sony DSC H3 with 12x Optical zoom

Varun - alias Naidu alias Chiranjeevi alias Cheeru.....

So totally 6 including Myself with my Sony Cybershot DSC W50 with 3x Optical zoom.

It all started with a casual talk in the pantry on a July afternoon. A quick Google-ing, fighting the dilemma (to go or not to go..), and after lot of convincing from my friends i was in! Actually I had no other options as I realized the issues if I plan to go in October. In Oct, only 2 of my friends were ready to come with me. But in August I had these 5! Less friends means more expense per head. Also the weather may become unpredictable in October. As said earlier it may start raining/snowing and the road travel wont be possible.

Since we all are still economy or the budget travelers... we decided to travel by road. Even if you can afford two way flight expense, you will be missing a lot if you dont travel atleast 1 way on road. The landscape, the panorama, the vast emptiness, the simple and kind people... you have to travel by road to enjoy all of these.

Now our main confusion was the mode of travel. We had to consider the cost factor as well. We all agreed that we will try to minimize the cost as much as possible. I started gathering info from online communities, fellow travelers and travel guides regarding the expense and other stuff. Based on the details gathered, we thought it will come around 10 to 11 K if we go on our own on public transport and shared jeeps. (this is including accommodation and food and sightseeing). But then Shoyeb came with a suggestion of trying a Tour Operator in Delhi the 'Crazy 4 Adventures' run by one Vishal Prasad. After a lot of negotiation he agreed to take care of everything (travel, accommodation, food, sightseeing) for 75000/- That means 12500/ per head. That was not a bad bad idea. In fact it was the best option we got at that moment. What more do you want.. you are getting pickup and drop from your home!

All this was happening just 1 week before our travel date 8-Aug-2008. All of us had applied for leaves and were eagerly waiting for the D-Day.

Earlier...

• Leh Itinerary