Road Trip to Leh (India): July 2009 – Day 6 of 10

Leh / Khardung La

Two of us woke up at 6 in the morning to make a quick trip to Khardung La pass – the highest motorable pass in the world. It lies 40 Km from Leh and falls en route to the Nubra Valley, which itself is about 110 Km from Leh.

The other two, which included me, woke up late and went out for breakfast and some internet surfing. We had been cut off from the world for a good 5 days now; I wanted to know how my stocks were doing. Internet is surprisingly fast here in Leh, but the charges are quite high – Rs. 90 per hour of surfing. I surfed for about half an hour and was glad to find that the world was still in place, my stocks hadn’t dipped, I hadn’t been fired yet and the Facebook friends who liked me till last week hadn’t changed their mind.

We roamed the market for a while; as we asked for the newspaper from a book store, the lad proudly presented the newspaper from two days back, saying this is the latest edition to hit Leh.

Our friends were back from Khardung La by noon and we sat down to figure out a good way to spend the rest of the day. Rafting in Zanskar was one idea, but we were already late for the day trip. We tried to inquire about some massage centers so we could rejuvenate. We were told that such parlors are now banned in Leh because of some shady activities that were being run under the garb of massage. We thought damn, we’re too late.

However there is one rejuvenation center being run in a hospital under the supervision of doctors. It is a joint venture between a meditation center in Leh and some doctors from Kerela specializing in Ayurvedic therapies, including a whole range of massages. The center is located 12 Km from Leh.

After a light and refreshing day today and an excellent last three days, we decided to move on from Leh tomorrow morning. Plan was to head back to Delhi via Srinagar. We heard from a few people that Leh to Srinagar could be done in one day instead of stopping at Kargil for one night en route, which we had originally planned. We are thinking of giving it a try and have packed our stuff.

Adios Leh, you’ve been just like a dream.