A promise that will last forever... 

It was third week of November 2003. I was recovering from relapsed Malaria and pneumonia and had returned to my parent’s place from Navi Mumbai. My then husband turned up one early evening and surprised me with a gift. The gift was a cute little black Labrador retriever puppy of less than 3 months of age. (November 20, 2003)

I always wanted a dog but my parent’s understanding of responsibility had always denied acceptance of a dog. We had fish and birds but a dog was too much.

I had dreamt that when I will grow up I will get myself a German shepherd and my ex-husband always had dreamt of having a black lab. So obviously he picked up a black lab. When the puppy came home, my first reaction was, "ohh my baby is here!"

Day one

On day one, this pup sat near the chair which was like ten times his size, six months later he found that the space beneath this chair can be his hideout when a bath is called upon, and a year later, he managed to knock this chair down when ma had tied just once in his entire life.

I remember the day when he came home and walked straight into my life. I had no experience of having a dog and people were ready to offer their free advice, most of which were illogical.

There were some smart asses too… They told fancy stories of assaults by dogs to their owners. Some warned about different infections including diseases like asthma. Well, I am a living example that a dog never attacks the real owner - handler and you don’t catch infections/ diseases even after sharing the bed with a dog for a prolonged period.

During the first few days, I fed him thick rotis with milk as per advice of a friend of ex-husband. This fellow couldn’t digest it and the house was full of his shit. So there was a first visit to the Vet.

The vet declared that it was a non-sense decision to adopt Riki as he was below standard conditions of health and we should return him to the original owner. I was determined not to give up on him yet. I went ahead and challenged the vet that I am going to keep this guy and will do everything to keep him healthy. The vet said he won’t survive beyond 5 years.

Our married life was already on a roller-coaster ride and soon Riki's chores and expenses became an additional ride.

But for me, Riki had become inseparable part of my life. He wouldn’t allow me to be alone for a second. For some time, locking toilet and bathroom door also was not allowed.

In spite of financial issues, professional dog trainers were hired and Riki always refused to go with them for training. The trainers were surprised and mentioned that they had never seen such a bond between a female owner and a dog.

In May 2004, I again returned to my parent's place owing to terrible weakness. Riki followed. I realized that

This is my part of Sofa, which was like 2/3rd of sofa taken and his head on me

this guy felt the pain of separation from me even if it is for a minute. I couldn’t be on different floor... If I would sit on couch, he wanted to be seated right next to me and cuddle.

My cousin Rahi came to my mom's place during the same period. By then this guy had become possessive about my mom too. My mom was not allowed to put plats for this little girl but within a week's time they too became friends.

When I went back to Navi Mumbai in June 2004, I was not sure about staying married any more. Knowing the mindset of ex-in-laws and my ex-husband, Riki's future was uncertain for me. I am thankful to my ex-husband for letting me have Riki. In August 2005, divorce was finalized and God had honored my motherhood with custody of my four legged Son – Riki without any hassles.

Now, I had only him to care for, to be responsible for and to pamper. The love from both ends was mutual. I spent most part of my income for him.

Riks and I at a picnic

My father was posted at Murud Janjira and we would travel there once in a while. He enjoyed playing in sea and chasing birds on the beach. We spent our mornings at the beach.

He detested me going to work for long hours but enjoyed our weekends together at some nearby place and loved riding on foot board of my two-wheeler. He also loved treating me as his private chauffer at times and slept peacefully on passenger seat when I drove long distances with him.

At times when, I, ma and he would drive together, he chose to be in co-pilot's seat and watch over my driving. He had learnt to open his window pane by himself. (My car has power windows.)

All the way, he kept showering me with love. Minor medical issues kept cropping up but the love kept us strong. Every time I went for an outing / trek without him, I would be waiting eagerly to reach him knowing that feeling was mutual.

I pampered him with toys and food and he pampered me with his unconditional love. More importantly, he kept me human. He didn't let the bitterness take over me completely.

My extended family and Riki at a picnic

He had made good friends with most of my cousins and friends. He demanded their attention when they came home and obviously wanted treats as toll to enter the house. My extended family had accepted that he would follow me wherever I would go, so be it any type of function or picnic, the seat would first be reserved for Riki.

Cometh his 8th year, it became difficult for him to climb stairs and to get to my (our) bedroom. Hence, I shifted my sleeping place to drawing room with a

Riks in his bed, first few minutes of night

rolling mattress. He welcomed this adjustment happily. Soon I realized that no matter how luxurious and comfortable his bed would be, sometime during the night, He would be walking into my bed and there will be encroachment and I will have to give up on more than 75% of my bed.

Time passed very fast... It was his 10th birthday and I sincerely thanked God for these many beautiful and precious moments of pure love.

In 2014, I reduced my weekend endeavors and tried to stay by his side as much as I could.

But being a born idiot, on August 3, 2014, I took the annual trip and left him with a caretaker. 13 days later, I returned only to find him in a deteriorated state. My heart sank and I will blame myself all my life for being so irresponsible towards my only one. The visits to vet came to the frequency of 2 / 3 days. The guy who enjoyed long rides on my two-wheeler, now couldn’t bear it for couple of kilometers. He didn’t seem to enjoy the drives as well. I was getting restless. On August 30, 2014, we celebrated his eleventh birthday in each other's company.

During one of the follow up treatments, the Vet hinted euthanizing him; I couldn’t reply as I needed time to think. I knew I will have to let him go one day but I was never prepared. I secretly prayed God, please let it happen right in front of me and let it happen naturally.

Today, Sept 20, 2014 at 8:15 pm he crossed Rainbow Bridge. He was in my arms and his head was resting against my heart when he was crossing the bridge. Sounds dramatic yet it is true... I felt honored that he found my arms to be the right place for transition. Also, I am happy to say that he didn’t put me through the ordeal of choosing death for him.

I write this as I watch his carcass in midnight waiting for dawn for burial. As I stare, I feel he would get up and will stare right through my eyes and say, “Ok, It looks like you are not using your bed tonight, hence it is being taken up.”

I will have lots of stories to tell about my furred Son and only another dog-parent would relate to them.

Actual Itinerary: 
3rd August - Pune - Delhi early morning flight, Delhi Manali Bus
4th August - Reached Manali in morning and Left for by Himachal Tourism's bus, stay at Keylong (Via Marhi, Rohtang La, Khokhsar, Sissu, Tandi)
5th August - Keylong - Leh via - Jispa, Darcha, ZingZingbar, Baralacha La, Sarchu, Pang, Tanglang La, Rumptse, Upshi, Karu
6th August - Rest, Local site Seeing - Sakthi Monastery - Festival, Chemday Monastery, Hemis Monastery
7th August - Spituk Monastery, Guru Pather Sahib - Gurudwara, Hall of Fame, Shey Palace & Monastery, Thiksey Monastery, Shanti Stupa
8th August - Pangong Lake
9th August - White Water Rafting from Chilling - Nimmo - 28 kms
10th August - Khardung La, Panamik, Sumoor Monastery, Hunder Sand Dunes & Camel Ride (Nubra Valley)
11th August - Diskit Monastery and Back to Leh Via Khardung La
12th August - Tso Moriri and back to Leh ( Mahe Bridge)
13th August - Left for Manali - Stay at Keylong
14th August - Reached manali - Left for Delhi, got stuck 5 kms after Pandoh - Night at Dhaba
15th August - Left Dhaba at 11:30 in Morning &
16th August - Reached Delhi Airport at 02:30 in Morning, took flight back to Pune at 05:05 AM reached Pune at 07:00 AM

Photos:
https://www.facebook.com/shraddha.mehta/media_set?set=a.10152203867452680.588232679&type=3
 
Reaching Leh: 
1) Air: Delhi to Leh flights are available.
2) Road:

Via Manali: Himachal Pradesh Tourism Corporation operates buses from Manali to Leh
http://hptdc.nic.in/bus.htm
      You can ride a cycle or a bike through this adventurous road. Private/ shared taxis also available.
Via Srinagar: You can take private transport from Srinagar.

Refer this to finalize site seeing:
http://www.thrillophilia.com/blog/leh-ladakh-tour-travel-planner/

Detailed information of Ladakh on: 
http://devilonwheels.com/

 
Trivia Bits/ Learning Points:

1) There was an aunty from Kolkata, when we reached Tanglang La, the second highest pass of the world, she suffered from AMS. When we reached Upshi; she was treated with supplementary oxygen at the military centre. There was visible improvement in her health.
2) We had hired a moped on first day, August 6. Since we hadn’t tested the moped before hiring it, we couldn’t argue much with lender.
3) On our way to Pangong, the Innova had LCD screen and Zulfibhai played movie Maine Pyar Kiya. It was quite fun to watch this movie on one of the most scenic roads.
4) We were just five rafting in one raft; obviously the power was less and had to put more efforts to raft through calm waters of Indus. The more , the merrier.
5) The Itinerary / expectations from the particular travels should be discussed between all the people travelling. If the expectations are not discussed the entire travel can become a mess. One or the other may feel dragged.
6) Be friendly with drivers but don’t let them cross the line. At the same time, do respect them. During all my travels, I usually make friends with a lot of people. But this uncle from West Bengal, with whom we shared the taxi to go to Tso Moriri and return, I didn’t even want to speak much to him because he never ever spoke well to or about Zulfibhai.
7) There was a small shop bang opposite to our guest house,. An elderly person ran this shop. We usually filled our water bottles there. On our last day in Leh, we went to bid adieu to this guy. After Juley, he said, “If I have hurt by mistake or whatever reasons, please forgive me.” This was touching. We had barely spoken to this guy beyond our daily business.
8) There was a cute little girl at our guest house- Padma. She helped around the house after her studies and school. We made good friends with her.


The Manali Story

Reporting Hotel Pushpak in Manali near Mall Road. On August 14, 2014, We had checked in for few hours between 1 pm & 5 pm, they charged us rs.500 for 5 people which was well economic.

However, 2 people went for lunch & 3 left later for siteseeing. The ones who left later submitted the key at reception & the ones who went for lunch had no idea of this.

Later, the hotel management denies access to room. We requested duplicate key which they said was not available.

Later the manager / owner, agreed to cut open the netted window pane. He charged rs.200 for damages.

A careful review of the netted window pane revealed that such incidents had happened in past & it was cut earlier as well. Additional thing that was noticed was that the main door of the room didn’t not have any opening facility from inside and the only way to open the room was from the latchkey outside. So should anyone forget the key inside is also jammed.

The girls who had been for site seeing returned in the meanwhile & said that they had left the key at reception.

The manager / owner called filthy names to us when called upon for discussion & threw money on our face and asked us to vacate the room immediately.

According to me this implies 2 things: first being dishonesty of hotel staff & second being safety of the luggage.

Please keep a note of this before checking into Hotel Pushak opposite New Bus stand Mall Road Manali Himachal Pradesh.

This place was not chosen because it was cheap but it was chosen as it was mentioned in Lonely Planet book.

13 August: It was 4 something, when I woke up. Praj was ready to leave hence I freshened up fast and we went to Stanzin’s office across the road. We called Stanzin but Dorje- our driver to Nubra came outside. He said he would drop us to the bus station. We were wondering what to do and in couple of minutes, Stanzin also appeared. He told Dorje to go back to sleep and started the car. In couple of minutes we were at the bus station.

The bus was jam packed. And to our surprise most of them were foreigners. The attendant checked our ticket and took charge of our luggage and we gotten on our way.

I had decided to sleep all the way as it was the same old way we had travelled while coming to Leh from Manali; And as it is Avomin, my motion sickness tablet had done its job of putting me to sleep well.
Although I was a bit sleepy, I could feel that the road was bumpy. The bus kept taking its halts for loo and food. I was just tired… bored may be of travelling all this time and all I wanted was to reach Manali and get to the civilization…

The nature in this part of Himalayas is dry yet pretty. We could see hardened snow melting at places and the beautiful glaciers. But somewhere back of my mind, this was not keeping me interested. Other worries had started crawling back. For last 12 / 13 days, I had managed to live a carefree life but now the responsibilities of Mortal world were waiting to kill me…

Today’s journey was long; we were to cover something like 300 odd kilometers in a day. So after periodic halts at Upshi, Tanglang La, Pang, Sarchu and Baralacha La, at about 7 in the evening, we reached Keylong. We got the same tent we had got last time. This time we shared it with 2 Italian ladies.

Over the dinner, we discussed their further travel plan and the cuisines of India and Italy. The bland aloo gravy was also too spicy for one of them and she dipped roti in tea and fed herself.

Post dinner, I was too tired for anything and simply went to sleep. That night, I slept like a baby. When I woke up at about 5:30 next morning, for couple of minutes I was trying to figure out where I was. I had a feeling that I had slept in my mom’s bedroom at home and should get up and go down to check my dog.

14 August: After I regained myself, I was told that the breakfast and tea is not yet ready and we would be leaving late by half an hour. I was happy. I wanted to get back home but didn’t want to board that bus.
Now Manali was only 140 kms away. I dragged myself into the bus when it left at about 7 AM.

After nominal halts at Tandi, Sissu, Khoksar, Gramphu we reached Rohtang La. The attendant told us about Maharshi Vyas temple, when other people were busy peeing and taking photos, we ran to the Temple, as he agreed to pick us on the way.

After Rohatang La, it was Marhi. This is beautiful town on the edges of the mountain has a PWD rest house along with several guest houses. The weather was pleasant. Now Manali was only 35 kms from here. It was a relief.

As we were getting back to the civilization, one of my friends informed me over Facebook that Manali – Mandi road is closed to landslide. I was anxious and tried my level best to keep calm.

We reached Manali at about 1:30 PM and checked into a stupid hotel. The things that happened here needed to be reported to the concerned authorities. This was the worst experience of the trip and I was terribly upset with the management’s behavior. In all these many years, anywhere that I have travelled so far, this was one such experience that left me aghast.

I and Praj also had worst Masala Dosa of our life here. And ultimately we walked to the bus station across the road at about 5 PM and got into the bus for Delhi. The attendant checked our ticked and took charge of our luggage. The bus left on time. After travelling for about 20 kms, Praj said, “I doubt if we are in right bus, this bus was supposedly to be an A/C Semi Sleeper.” Me, who was already concerned about going home as early as possible couldn’t say anything.

As we reached the petrol pump at Pandoh, we were informed that we would have to move another bus waiting here and the people in that bus were to get into the ordinary bus that we were travelling. The people from that bus were apprehensive to the extent that there was a big façade and they were ready to burn the bus. The thing was they had already travelled in the bus from Delhi and due to the land slide they were stuck on the way and the route which usually takes about 12 hours had taken for more than 24 hours and a day of their long weekend was already spoilt. The quarrel went to extreme level and the local police was involved. Finally, we took a step back and let that bus leave for Manali and we waited for the other bus which had left Manali an hour later after our bus. So finally at about 9 PM we were on our way and were very hungry. When asked, the attendant said we would stop at a nearby Dhaba.

At about 10:30, we reached the Dhaba. I knew this place since our bus from Delhi to Manali also had stopped here. We had dinner, and the attendant informed there were more landslides and the further road was closed and we will have to wait until the road reopens. God!!!

This wasn’t even the last thing I ever wanted. We chatted, we co-travelers. Divya is a cute young girl from Delhi. She had been trekking to Hampta Pass; there was a Sirdarji uncle, who used to be an avid mountaineer until recently. His strength was commendable. Then there was a group from Italy, who had been cycling to Leh. They had a pretty interesting story to share.

Finally at about 1 AM, we requested the attendant to put on the AC in the bus so everyone could sleep comfortably. I woke up couple of times in night, nightmares perhaps…

15 August: After 6, I couldn’t sleep anymore and went back to the Hotel and helped myself with a Sandwich and a cup of coffee.

Today, Our 67th Independence Day. There was live telecast of our Prime Minister was walking towards the flag mast. I heard the national anthem and tears started rolling down. I couldn’t watch further. I had hoped to be in Delhi – the capital on this day.

The view from the Hotel on both sides was pretty. This Dhaba is situated at corner of the road about 5 kilometers from village of Pandoh and 12 kilometers from Mandi. On the front of the road, at the curve of the road there was a beautiful waterfall and behind the waters of Biyas river were ever rising in scenic surroundings.

The Italians were nervous since they had a flight to catch at 9 PM. Delhi was still far away. They requested the hotel owner to arrange for an alternate mode for themselves and at about 10:30 they left by a minibus with their cycles.

The patience of the people from the bus was on its brim and they had started to get aggressive. They even tried to block the road and then again the local police arrived. At about 11:30 another bus arrived from Manali and we left for Delhi.

Couple of days earlier, the town of Mandi was flooded. The site was terrible; there were vehicles which were partially buried in mud or at places in cracks of roads. There were rocks as big as a house on the roads. The traffic was slow yet moving. We stopped at another place for lunch.

Couple of hours later, I wanted to sleep but my body itched for some exercise. I became restless since I was tied to some or other bus since 13 August 5 AM. I requested the attendant to allow me to walk for a while. He said, take a stroll along side the bus. The road was full of diesel smoke. But walking for few minutes made me a bit relaxed. They changed the driver at a point and the journey continued.

River Biyas at Village Sambhala - The scene behind the Dhaba

We stopped near Chandigarh for dinner roughly at 9 PM. Delhi was still far far away… All I knew was I was now fed up! Post dinner, we called Praj’s brother and requested him to book flight tickets from Delhi to Pune. He instantly booked and emailed. So now the only challenge was to reach Delhi and get to the airport in time.

16 August: We reached Himachal House in Delhi at 2:30 and took a shared taxi to the Airport. I was nervous about travelling in Delhi, but guy from Bangalore who also had flight at 6 shared our taxi.
At the airport, we had chocolate milk to keep us strong enough to reach Pune and then home.
Thankfully, at 5:05 the flight took off right on time and we landed in Pune at right time. We took an auto and came home.

So the journey to the paradise had a way back home through hell!!

That moment when we landed in Pune.

10th August: It was a good morning as it I could get up leisurely and get ready. We packed all luggages and kept in the guest house’s cloak room. (There were barely two big backpacks technically.)
Today, I was well prepared with motion sickness tablet. We set ourselves in the SUV and picked up 2 Austrian girls Viktoria and Christa. They were on long vacation to India. We withdrew some money as we did not have any bookings made at the Nubra Valley.

Our driver Dorje was a middle aged man, who claimed to be an ex-army. Jolly good fellow. He was fun to chat and seemed to be experienced as he knew how to handle 4 girls.
Khardung La is barely 40 km from Leh. And most of the road to Khardung La overlooks Leh city.
Shanti Stupa looked glorious in soft sunlight. Now, we were gaining altitude rapidly and I was haunted by the memories of Kargil war and Formula One car at Khardung La. Every time, we drove past the Army Officers, a feeling of regret, shame and pride kept revolving in my heart. Today, there was a war between a patriot and a F1 fan. I am glad to say, the patriot won.

When we reached Khardung La, I didn’t feel much of AMS but was overwhelmed to see the Army officers. We offered them some toffees… And I was crying. The officer kept saying, just pray for us. The conditions are hostile in every possible way. They are placed far far away from the families in the fierce Himalayas where the air is thin, the weather is harsh, and the bunkers are make shift arrangement to suit the weather. And more importantly, you don’t know who is friend and who is foe. There could be an attack any time… I was proud of them, but same time, I was ashamed of the scenes that we all put up back home. The ego clashes, the money wars, the power wars, the dirty face of politics. Tears kept rolling down for next 10 minutes. (I would disagree that it was AMS since it happens every time I see an army officer, even at sea level.)

Later we all got some good number of shots taken. Obviously with the Famous Hoarding of Khardung La. Then it was time to move. Soon we arrived in the village of North Pullu. We all were hungry, had few momos and tea, and the journey continued.

Now it was early afternoon, and I was sick of being the car for long time, for so many days… I was probably getting homesick as in I was perhaps missing my dog.

We drove past Sumur village; the Sumur Monastery was sitting halfway on a mountain on right side. Dorje said, “We go there on our way back.” OK!

So the first stop was Panamik Hot Water Springs. I had lost almost all of my enthusiasm and just dragged myself to the springs. The view wasn’t great. The place is not littered but looked dirty in the first look. A few minutes later, I realized, it was all Sulphur that was giving this dirty look to the springs. The girls soaked their feet in the water for few minutes. The Women Allianz of Ladakh has constructed a bathing complex. This modern day “Panamik Bath” is a clean complex yet failed to appeal my low mood. Few clicks and we moved.

Now the Sumur Monastery. They had a long staircase and huge open area. There are 3 main parts of the Samstenling monastery, Sakhyamuni Temple (Dukhang), Mahakal Temple and Maitreya Temple. They also have an apricot tree which was overflowing with apricots. Monasteries give me power to persist. I realized that I hadn’t meditated even once from the time I had come to Leh. I was surprised and angry with myself. Having taken life lessons of Buddhism, I let go of anger in few moments and returned to the present quickly.
Now, back in the car, we asked Dorje, where next? He said, now we go to Hunder. The sand dunes, the Bactrian camels, the tallest Maitreya on the way. It was time to get excited…

We drove back for some distance… Then I realized we were about to cross Nubra River and get to the opposite bank. Thanking the lowering number of my grey cells, I looked out of window. The Basin of Nubra River is a wide area of few kilometers and runs along the river. It was a spectacular view.

Soon, we passed by the Tallest Maitreya Statue of Diskit and couple of kilometers ahead of this, the desert started. Prajakta asked Dorje to stop right there and took a few snaps.

We urged her to leave fast so that we could reach for the camel safari in time. Once at the parking lot, I saw Viktoria rolling a cigarette. My jaws dropped. I knew how a joint is rolled and it is all a hush-hush affair here in India. I was surprised with this openness. I turned to Prajakta and said in Marathi, we are finding a different place and these girls are staying at different and that’s final. And I started walking towards the herd of the camels. It was for the first time I was seeing a Bactrian camel. They look pretty friendly. After a vein bargain, we climbed our camels and went for quick 15 minute ride in the sand dunes. Later, some more clicks and we were about to return. And then this happened…

I had totally lost track of time and that was full moon’s day. The moon was rising from the East amidst some clouds and mountains… The view was beyond words… Absolutely mesmerizing! I didn’t want to move from there but it also started getting cold and I was bare feet as well. So chose to return.

On the way back to the cab, we again ran into the girls. I am not sure if Viktoria had read my face or my mind, but she explained me that it was a normal cigarette of a tobacco which was not much harmful. She even handed over the packet to me to see. I was relieved and when Dorje took us to Hotel Snow Leopard, we occupied rooms next to each other. The dinner was served by 8:30 pm and was really yummy. After a tummy full, we strolled around the garden of the hotel, chatted for a while and went to sleep.

11 August: It was a long peaceful night and I woke up at about 5:30. (So unlike me!)
I went out to the garden. The tree we had seen last night was full of small unripe Apples. This wasn’t the first time I had seen a apple tree with apples on still it but this definitely was first ever closer look. The apples were at the height of my shoulder. I was amazed. I returned to the room with a smile and found that Praj was still asleep. I too went back to bed for some time. When I woke up, Praj had already cleaned up. I freshened up fast and we went for breakfast.

The breakfast consisted of toasted Bread, butter, apricot jam, coffee, aloo paratha, omelets and cutlet. It was good enough to survive until late afternoon. We ate well, and checked out. At the time of check out, I again took my motion sickness tablet and realized that now we had ran out of the tablets.

We drove to Diskit Gompa. An old monastery with breathtaking view. The new constructed Maitreya statue embarks a landmark in an otherwise empty valley. Now, we were on our way back to Leh. With a quick stop at the restaurant at North Pullu we were back in Leh by 6 PM. The girls and we decided to have dinner at Woodlands. I and Praj went to the market for shopping. I was actually tired and bored and couldn’t find much enthusiasm to pick up anything. Hence, I went straight to the restaurant, grabbed a table and kept waiting for the 3 girls to arrive.

The girls came and we had some views exchanged on cultural aspects of both the countries over the dinner.

This was first time, Stanzin actually followed us to the restaurant to discuss next day’s trip to Tso Moriri. We had to keep Viktoria and Christi waiting to have a quick chat with him. So the next day’s trip was finalized to Tso Moriri. Soon dinner was done, exchanged contact information and greeted farewell before we rushed to Stanzin’s office.

Stanzin told us to be ready by 5 AM in order to be returned by 8 PM, so that we could catch the next day’s Bus for Manali. He said he would reserve the tickets for us. This bus also leaves at 5 AM from Leh. I wasn’t much excited about trip to Tso Moriri as I had ran out of tablets and also that I was a bit bored with this site seeing activity. It was happening like; we were going there, spending some half an hour, munching something and leaving. This is not my idea of travel. I would want to be on the banks of the lake for some good time. Just sit down and do nothing or watch the birds fly by or just feel the waves splashing on my feet. The reality was far from my dreams. Time constraint was a major issue here…

12 August: So we there we were, ready to leave by 6 AM in morning. Today, our co-passenger was a uncle from Kolkata.

With no motion sickness tablet, I was already low on my morale. Thankfully, Zulfibhai was our chauffeur cum guide for the day. We told him to take us to the military camp on the way near Upshi. This was the only possible place where we could have found the motion sickness tablet, and we did find it.

We had the breakfast at Karu at same place where we had breakfast when we had been to Pangong Tso. Same Aloo Paratha and tea.

With several check posts on the way, we drove past the shooting point of the bollywood movie “3 Idiots”. The major check post is at Mahe. I was about to take a snap but seeing the board of photography prohibited at the beginning of this bridge, I refrained.

Tso Moriri is at higher altitude than Pangong Tso. The scenic beauty on both sides of the road ahead of

Mahe Bridge was mesmerizing. We passed a village, and soon it was Tso Kar. During my homework, Google had failed to show any road leading to Tso Moriri although location of Tso Moriri was on map. We didn’t stop at Tso Kar and drove directly to Tso Moriri. There is no marked road to Tso Moriri post Tso Kar. It was fun off roading.

Zulfibhai was driving at his normal pace and we were in Karzok Village. Karzok is said to be one of the oldest settlements in the world. So this is the PLACE! Zulfi said we will come back later for food and Karzok Gompa.

So we kept going on (off road) the side of the lake until the uncle from Kolkata said let’s stop here. So we took a break. The color of water of this high altitude lake was mesmerizing blue. In spite of high altitude, the ecosystem has wider spectrum. Birds and reptiles of different species can be easily spotted.

We spent some half an hour by the lake and returned to Karzok village. The Karzok Gompa is a monastery worth a visit. The Fish shaped lock at the door, the receiving area and then the main prayer room (Dukhang). Walls of Dukhang have different painting dating back centuries. Thankas and the vajras, the singing bowls, drums… everything in its rightful place. It was quite peaceful here. A few clicks more and I moved out. The monk at the lower end of staircase told me to lock the monastery and leave the key in the lock. I didn’t get the logic but I did what he advised me to do.

There was a small eatery right next to the Monastery run by an old lady. She was friendly and her store was flowing with the all the items I hadn’t expected to see. The pen refills, tennis balls, tissue rolls, chocolates, Maggie, cold drinks, water bottles, diapers… It was a mini shopping mall at such a remote location.
We entered and were not sure what to eat… Maggie had become an obvious choice. I didn’t want to experiment with my otherwise motion sick tummy and avoided eating any local food she could offer. She served us with so much of love as if we were her long lost daughters. These people I tell you… I wonder how they could be so gentle and sweet to the strangers…

She also informed us that she offers Homestay too and pointed to a frame hanging on a pillar. There were certificates of recognition by J&K State Government and some hospitality course for arranging Homestays. She was fluently using English and Hindi for communication and also knew how to operate a mobile. The overall picture left a very positive impression on me. We bid her adieu and left for Leh. I drowned myself in sleep. Zulfibhai was feeling tired perhaps, he stopped near a fresh water spring and washed his face, smoked and got back to driving. We crossed Mahe. Now the actual road with turns and twists… All I wanted was just to get out of this place as soon as possible. But there was no escape. We reached Karu at about 7:45 PM. I wanted to pick up a few souvenirs for my friends. Zulfibhai said we will make it to market before some of the shops would close.

We reached Leh by 8:25 then the city traffic. He dropped me near Market area and they drove ahead. I sprinted through the market and picked up Apricot Jam, couple of T-shirts, a few more post cards, and a Vajra.

Then the last visit to Woodlands, I thanked Dhiraj – the server and the other guy for their hospitality and rushed to the guest house. Then last visit to Stanzin. And then this guy surprised me yet again… He had picked up the motion sickness tablets for us and informed that he was coming to drop us at the bus station next day morning. I was aghast with this gesture. He could have just passed on the tickets and said bye, but he chose to be more kind. This was unusual.

Both theses Stanzin brothers… They were some of the best people we met on this journey.
We went back to the guest house, had dinner, packed and slept.