Fifty Shades of Yellow

Navigating at an altitude of around 12,000 feet above sea level, when you see stony yellow mountain changing its colour from yellow to dark grey right in front of you and that too within fraction of few seconds, you get mesmerized, you get goosebumps and If you don’t; you have got to be a robot!!! I certainly was no robot and I was literally bamboozled by what I was witnessing. 50 shades of yellow swept the floor beneath me!!!!!!

The blog post name might be similar but, nope; this post is not even distantly related to 50 Shades of Grey. This post is all about how I got laid…oops… I meant Leh'd or to be even more precise, how I got Ladakh’d. 

I was always fascinated with this amazing region and a visit to Leh was on my list for a long time!!! After an extensive research about the safest and most convenient way to reach Leh (without getting affected by the altitude changes), I realized that the road to Leh is via Srinagar and thus eventough it was not in the itinerary to begin with; Srinagar and Kashmir got drafted into the tour!!!!! Can you imagine Paradise on Earth, as Kashmir has often been referred to, as a tag along in the itinerary!!!!! That’s the extent to which I was fascinated by Ladakh, the land of high passes....

Kashmir tour began with stay in houseboat @ Dal Lake and then progressed through Gulmarg, Sonmarg and ended with Pahalgam. The beauty of Kashmir starts engulfing you slowly… Two colours dominate the entire landscape- Green and White..The sobriquet ‘Paradise on Earth’ is indeed well deserved…

Sunset at Dal Lake, Srinagar

Betaab Valley at Pahalgam

Lush green plane and snow clad mountain at Gulmarg

After this lush green and snowy white Kashmir; we began adventure filled journey to Leh via 434 KM long Srinagar- Leh Highway.. It also happens to be National Highway 1 (NH-1). 

Traversing through one of the most difficult passes; (this is my opinion) Zoji La (La = Pass) our first destination was Kargil!! Zoji La is about 9 Km from Sonmarg and is at an altitude of 11,575 ft. One of the most challenging part of this entire journey is road or lack of it!!!

However one must take into account the geographical conditions of the surrounding area before lamenting on the poor condition. The entire area is snow clad for almost 8-9 months and is completely inaccessible during this period. Border Roads Organization (BRO) an organization which operates and maintains roads in this region does a fantabulous job!!!    

I learnt that each year BRO loses few of their men while opening this road for travel!!! With officers and troops drawn from various outfits of Indian Army, BRO is the real force majeure, why we can connect to Ladakh…. Here’s my standing ovation to BRO. 

As we started to move away from Sonmarg; we began to notice the difference between Kashmir and Ladakh region… once ubiquitous lush green starts getting replaced by breathtaking stony yellow. After a first pit stop at Kargil, we began our move to Leh via, Namika La (12,198 ft) and Fotu La (13, 478 ft- Highest Point in Srinagar- Leh journey)…

 

We got used to the stony yellow colour surroundings, as we began to navigate through these ‘Passes’…

It's amazing to see, the geographical landscape change so very drastically within few hundred kilometers…. Whilst Kashmir is green, Ladakh is yellow, if Jammu/Kashmir is Beauty then Ladakh is an absolute Beast…. albeit a beautiful one!!!!!!!

Cloud shadows playing hide-n-seek

Cloud shadows playing hide-n-seek

This terrain is a completely different and this stark colour contrast, hit me even more since we were used to seeing lush green valley and hills while we were in Jammu-Kashmir region…..Ladakh terrain is absolutely raw, rugged and barren.. however there’s one thing common between Ladakh and Jammu Kashmir region and that is abundant natural beauty….the vast barren expanse of yellow mountains bowl you over with their shear ruggedness and beauty...  

one out of 50 shades of Yellow

Ladakh is not just about huge mountains, there is more to it… Can you imagine a desert at around 10000 feet with flowing river and snow capped mountains; well Ladakh has it!!! We witnessed Hunder Sand dunes at Nubra valley.. It has all the natural elements in one place… Water, sand, mountains, greenery… Serenity filled Nubra valley is a stunning place… To reach this natural wonder, one needs to crisscross through one of greatest tourist or should I say biker’s attractions- Khardung- La!!!!! The highest motorable road in world at an altitude of 18380 ft!!!! Travelling thorough pass Khardung- La was a real breath taking experience!!!     

 

Sand dunes, patch of green at Hunder, Nubra Valley

The last hurrah of this Leh sojourn was the azure Pangong Tso (tso = lake), a saline water lake spread over 134 km…. 

.... Oh WOWWW!!!!!! was the only reaction of one and all when we got the first glimpse of Pangong… a blue spot visible amidst the stony yellow mountains… We were still faraway from the blue spectacle that is Pangong Tso… Showroom mein itana.. toh godaam mein kitna was my reaction; and it did not disappoint us one bit… The blue spot started to grow bigger and bigger as we moved towards the lake…

Blue spot of Pangong Tso peeping through the yellow mountains

Blue spot of Pangong Tso peeping through the yellow mountains

Colour changes is very much a normal event in Ladakh and this fantabulous lake is no exception…The hues that we saw from top i.e. en-route to Pangong and the colours that we saw when we were at ground level were vastly different… While we could notice the tinge of sea-green from top; it was all azure from ground level….. 

                                            

Various hues of blue, green en-route to Pangong Tso 

Various hues of blue, green en-route to Pangong Tso

The azure Pangong Tso

Feeling the cold saline water of Pangong- Tso on my feet, watching it change colour-was the fitting finale of this long journey. It was that 'AHA' moment, it was that 'epiphany moment' of the adventure called Ladakh...  

I feel at the loss of words to express this Ladakh experience.. the ever changing shades of stony yellow colour mesmerize you every time you see it. It's really mesmerizing to see the entire mountain changing it's colour right in front of your eyes. Sunlight and the area under the cloud cover lead to these sudden colour changes. I had not seen something like this ever before and that’s why I describe Ladakh as land of 50 shades of Yellow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Serenity, the ethereal feeling that you experience while at Pangong, at Nubra Valley is just beyond the realms of anything that you have experienced so far. Words/language is very mundane, inadequate way to communicate that feeling, that emotion… One has to undergo that surreal experience, one has to feel that moment...... 

Amir Khusro had famously said about Kashmir:

Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,

Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast

English Translation: 

If there is a paradise on earth,

It is this, it is this, it is this

I think Amir Khusro had not travelled to Ladakh, he had not seen 50 shades of Yellow.....

P.S: How can Amir Khusro travel to Ladakh, there was no BRO then; to connect Ladakh to beautiful Kashmir!!!!!!!