The Week India - July 29, 2018

76 THE WEEK^ • JULY 29, 2018

COVER STORY

TRAVEL

BY SHUBHAM MANSINGKA

WHY HAVE YOU come here in this season?

Th ere are better ways to die,” remarked Tenzin,

the cab driver who was taking us to Leh. In Janu-

ary, with the temperature dipping to -13 degrees,

there were only a handful of people, aside from

the red-robed lamas, in the fl ight to ‘little Tibet’,

as Ladakh is often called.

Life in Leh is an adventure by itself, teeming

with experiences like walking on a frozen river in

Rumbak village. It happened when the woman

who ran the homestay in which I was staying

asked me if I could take her children as well as

some other kids to the neighbouring village; only

that the village, which, unbelievably, consist-

ed of only one home, was located on the other

side of a frozen river. Th e children skated across

eff ortlessly like pros, while I slipped and tripped

my way there, as the little devils laughed at my

misery. I could feel my heart fl uttering like the

prayer fl ags in the valley.

Later, I boarded a bus that took me to the

enigmatic village of Turtuk, 205 kilometres from

the town of Leh. It was one of the villages that

was wrested from Pakistan during the 1971 war

and is the last outpost in India after which the

Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan begins. A

quaint place, it is seemingly cut off from the rest

of the world. Th e villagers told me that the near-

est town with a barber was 90km away. Th e place

has a mysterious air about it, and the stories the

elders told me about sleeping in Pakistan one

night and waking up in India the next morning

Life on the

cutting edge

From walking on a frozen river to getting stuck on the world’s

highest road, there was never a dull moment for me in Leh

were fascinating. Buddhist swastikas and Iranian

symbols are carved on the pillars of a mosque in

Turtuk.

Whether it is rafting in the thundering Zanskar

river or trekking to one of its many high-altitude

valleys, adventure in Ladakh always starts at Leh.

Wandering in its streets transports you to 13th

century central Asia. At its tea lane, for example,

diff erent types of tea are sold—the tradition-

al milk tea, the salt and butter tea of Ladakhi

Buddhists and the nun chai of the Kashmiris,

served with varied breads. Wizened old men and

women sit on the pavements selling apricots,

almonds and other dry fruits. Th e beige shade of

the monuments like the Leh Palace in Old Leh

feels very medieval.

ADVENTURE Leh in Jammu and Kashmir

Place State Adventure

Ladakh Jammu and

Kashmir

Mountain biking,

trekking, camping

Western Ghats Multiple states Trekking

Bir Himachal Pradesh Paragliding

Spiti Valley Himachal Pradesh Trekking

Auli Uttarakhand Skiing

Gangtok Sikkim Off -roading,

paragliding, trekking

Rishikesh Uttarakhand River rafting

Siang Arunachal Pradesh River rafting

ADVENTURE

LOCATIONS

GRAPHICS: DENILAL