withdrawal symptoms ...
Hey!
its been almost a month since I got back to Kolkata, and I have to say, its been tough. I spent nearly fifteen days between Jammu and Manali, driving (rather, being driven) through Laddakh, and it was simply exquisite. I do travel a fair amount, in fact, I travel as often as I possibly can, which amounts to about three to four trips a year, usually to the hills, and like every other time, I prepared, both, by educating myself about the place as well as physically, but Laddakh!. Laddakh takes you by surprise.
It was a trip I had been planning for about six months and dreaming of, for about six years. My friends and me, we spent months reading blogs and chalking out maps for the trip, calling travel agents and cab drivers, and of course, collecting tit-bits of information from any source we could contact. By the time we left Srinagar for Kargil, I was pretty confident about what to expect, but, I was wrong!
Laddakh is like no place I have every been before, its not just some rocky mountain desert, like a lot of people seem to think it is. I saw some of the lushest valleys, the most beautiful green meadows, and hills, each one a different colour. I saw the bluest streams and the muddiest rivers (Saru river flowing alongside Kargil was the darkest black, not sure why though). I saw skies lit up by a million stars, hang over a mountain lake that had no end.
I saw the the quaintest monasteries, built into the fierce mountains, and of course the people! by far the nicest, the most pleasant group people I have ever met.
Laddakh is an experience every traveler should have. In a strange way, it puts things in perspective. If you are observant and listen closely enough, the hills they speak directly to your soul and you're a better person for it! I travel and I return home, end each time I move on with my life, but for the first time, I find myself stuck, I close my eyes and I'm transported back to Tso Kar, staring at the mountains as the snowflakes paint them white!.
P.S. coming up ... the specifics of the trip.
