High Himalayan Heavens :Part two

Day 3 and 4 -

We had a tentative plan of leaving by 3:30 am to Kaza ,the village which was the start point of the trek. It was disrupted due to heavy rains at Kalath, that morning. We started an hour late. Two Tata Sumos , one with nine of us jammed in and the other with the rucksacks tied overheard,and the remaining five of them. We had a lot of gridlocks on the way to Rohtang Pass, the weather was getting colder,all of us rejoiced, only initially. The longest we waited was for an hour, because the car stuck in the muck had a puncture. It was drizzling all through the journey,interspersed with heavy rains. Ganpath (a.k.a Gannu) looked like a cute fat baby with his manali woolen cap and woolen gloves. The first glimpse of snow capped peaks left us all in silence. The higher we climbed,the landscape opened up into phantasmal beauty. Rohtang Pass was brimming with snow,all of us were mad with enthusiasm! Mad is an understatement! We frolicked in the snow like ten-year olds and had our share of snow fights. The boys ogled at the parade of bullets.

We crossed Rohtang and stopped by a small chaiwala for a hot meal of paratas and maggi when the bad news struck.The vehicles coming from Kaza side,informed us that the road to Kaza was closed due to heavy rains,bad roads and landslides,which indirectly implied that the Spiti Trek was cancelled.All of us very upset about it, Spiti is a phenomenal place and we desperately wanted to trek the Spiti valley . Tarle quickly suggested that we carry on driving till Leh and climb another peak .Leh was 372kms from there. Weather is such a moody goddess ! But the same Goddess helped regain our jovial mood, and we were comically singing all the 90's hindi songs as we continued our journey. We passed the Pagal Nala , all of were astound at how cement-textured the water had become, because of a landslide. We halted that night at Padma Lodge,Jispa . We got a scenic,cozy dormitory with individual beds for all of us, and snow surrounded it. Wow! :) Words fail to explain the scenic beauty around. Our cooks conjured up a brilliant meal with lip smacking custard for desert . But for the boys,it was another night.:)

We woke up early the next day but got stuck at Darcha,because the road ahead to Leh was blocked. We decided to wait till out till the road clears and continue to Leh. We had 2 hours to kill, so we climbed up a small hill in Darcha,was a steep climb. On the way , we hiked through fields of sweet pea, ate them raw,was deliciously sweet! We hiked till the snowline of the small hill, and had serious snow fights !:) We could see the roads from Leh on the other mountain,and we noticed some vehicles on it. All of us elatedly ran down the hill, to the car. Leh! Finally,after all the waiting. On our journey,we passed through Baralacha La(means pass) at 16,500ft. Nothing I write here will do any justice to what we saw and felt as we drove past this pass. It was vast ice cone! There was so much snow,I give up, I don't feel like a seasoned writer to even try and put it in words. Spectacular!! Excuse me for the intensity,but now I can die with no regrets for I have witnessed one of natures marvels .

We were surrounded by brown mountains sprinkled with snow ! On more relatable terms, oreoes with vanilla cream sprinkled on the outside as well, light brown caramel cake with icing! We descend to enter the Ladakh valley,witnessing an entirely different landscape. A seemingly never-ending stretch of 48km, the place was beyond comprehension,we observed natural rock formation on the mountains,crafted by the nature gods. Barren hills with enigmatic raw charm.

We had a quick dinner at a make shift white tent(Mess tents) at Pang,that also offers beds for tired travelers. Our journey didn't halt after dinner,we decided to drive all the way to Leh. Gannnu was feeling a little uncomfortable , so we inaugurated a strip of diamox and made more space in the car for him . We traveled through the night ,Poops and I sat near the driver ,making petty conversation with him. The drivers took a precarious short cut down the hill, it set my adrenaline pumping as he took the monster down the 45 degree incline in the pitch darkness in first gear. Sheer talent! We reached Leh at 4 am the next morning .