CHITKUL VILLAGE.

View of Chitkul village. The houses are wooden. Besides a lot of activities involving wood cutting and storing them in large numbers were seen all over the village.

Watch the heap of wooden logs lining the road. Tourist cars are not allowed beyond Chitkul.

Watch my short clip on Chitkul. Click here.

LADAKH LANDSCAPES.

Waves in Pangong Tso. The lake is surrounded by not so tall mountains on the other side.
It was cloudy the day we reached there making the place look more beautiful.

This beautiful landscape on our way to Pangong lake, shows a mountain deer running towards a lake.
 The camel brown coloured soil gives a distinct appearance to the region.

This click was taken during our visit to Nubra Valley desert. One can see tall rocky as well as snowy mountains in the background.

Glacier at Khardung La. Many such snow laden mountain tops are seen throughout  Khardung La journey.

Diskit Monastery.
Diskit Monastery or Diskit Gompa at Diskit in Nubra valley is located at a height.
It is the oldest monastery in the region. The monastery presents you a picturesque vision of  Nubra valley,
 having a large statue of  Maitreya Buddha and Shyok river seen flowing across.

SANGLA AND CHITKUL

Sangla or Sangla valley as most of the people call it lies in  Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh in India.Chitkul is the last village in this valley before China(Tibet). Sangla is more developed with a petrol pump, ATM machine, medical stores, bars etc. to fulfill demands of  tourists and so a more comfortable place to stay for tourists coming to this part of the world. Even accommodation wise, Sangla has far better staying facilities among the two. Chitkul has very few hotels, not the kind one would really enjoy on a vacation.

Sangla valley, at a height of about 8800 feet, used to be an old Indo-Tibetan route for trade long back and was actually a prohibited area till 1989 due to its location which is close to China border. The valley is connected to National Highway 22 at Karcham. The roads from Karcham were the only sad part of our journey as they were in bad shape, partly due to construction of the dam and hydro power project in the area and partly due to occurrence of landslides.

Sangla Valley

 A right turn at Karcham across a bridge, took us to a beautiful valley lined up with Deodhar trees, apple orchards and occasional waterfalls. Here too the roads were a bit bumpy but we were really too busy watching the scenic beauty around us. The Baspa river was showing us the way as it followed us most of the time. As we approached Sangla, we could see tall snow capped mountains further enhancing the magnificent beauty around us.

We stayed at Hotel Prakash Regency. It was a very clean and comfortable hotel, offering us multi cuisine restaurant. The owner of the hotel Mr. Mohan Prakash, who in fact arranged our trip to Kinnaur district personally took interest to make our trip comfortable.

Chitkul village.

Baspa river in Chitkul valley.

The next morning we left for Chitkul.The road to Chitkul was lined with a series of snowy mountains. We reached Chitkul in about an hour or so.

Chitkul, at a height of about 11300 feet, presents a picturesque view of tall snowy mountains, Baspa river flowing through it and tall Deodhar trees stretching across the mountain slopes. The pale green Baspa river flows at amazing speed through the valley. Its a pleasurable experience sitting on one of the flat stones lining the side of the river and enjoying the flow.

The village Chitkul looked very clean and sparsely populated. There's a temple of a local goddess called Chitkul Maathi. The temple is called Mata Devi Mandir. A couple of small hotels facing the river where few snacks and tea were available are some of the things we came across here. We can walk up further to reach a base camp where permission for tourist ends as the border approaches.

Mata Devi mandir.

After a couple of hours at Chitkul, we came back to Sangla. We were lucky to get good weather, as Chitkul is said to be notorious for sudden change to snowfall and bad weather. The journey to Chitkul and back took about four hours but it was a refreshing one, for sure.

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4 PLACES YOU CANNOT MISS IN LADAKH

Heaven on Earth. That's just what Ladakh is. Situated in Jammu and Kashmir state of India, one of the most beautiful places in India. June to September is the best time to visit this place, as the snow recedes and the roads become clear. Leh, the capital of Ladakh is at a height of about 9000 feet.

 Pangong Tso is a salt water lake which adds up to the beauty created by the snow capped mountains. It is undoubtedly the most beautiful part of Ladakh. The lake changes its color during the day. The waves in the lake makes it look more like sea. The lake is completely frozen in winter. The weather is very cold and windy most of the times and you have to make yourself comfortable staying in one of the tents on the lake as that is the only accommodation available here. Pangong Tso is partly in India and partly in China thus forming a part of Indo China border.

Pangong Tso.

Khardung La.

At a height of a little above 18,000 feet is the highest motorable road in Ladakh called Khardung La. This is a mountainous road and a bit rough due to landslides occuring frequently with snowing. The beauty of the place is in watching glaciers all around you. You should be wearing goggles and woolen clothes while you are here, as the glare is too much and the cold is quite severe,especially when there is snowfall. Altitude sickness can be a problem here in case you are not properly acclimatized. Khardung La has a military canteen to satiate your hunger,that offers  Kawa(local tea) and few ready to eat snacks. It is imperative to carry food along with you while you travel through this way as there are no other proper restaurants on the way. Khardung La connects Leh to Nubra Valley and Siachen further down.

Khardung La top.

Another beautiful pass on the way to Pangong Tso is Chang La. At a height of about 17800 feet, this motorable road offers a breathtaking view of the snow mountain ranges. Chang La too has a military canteen on top which serves Kawa and ready to eat snacks. The roads here are very steep and have frequent landslides. The road leads to Changthang plateau and to Tangtse village further down. There is a guest house called Dothguling guest house which serves food to tourists on the way to Pangong Tso.

Chang La

Nubra Valley

Nubra Valley has everything one can ask for. Sand dunes in a cold desert, snowy mountains and a beautiful river flowing through. Camel rides on double humped Mongolian camels are an attraction here. Diskit is the capital of Nubra. There is a famous monastery, a tall statue of  Maitreya Buddha(future Buddha to be born) and a beautiful river called Shyok river which separates the Ladakh range of mountains from Karakorum range at Diskit.
The weather in Nubra is generally pleasant. It is at a lower altitude(about 10,000 feet) compared to most other places in Ladakh. Hunder is a small and beautiful village in Nubra valley.

View of Maitreya Buddha from Diskit monastery.

One can certainly not afford to miss the confluence of Indus river and Zanskar river near Leh once you are in Ladakh. The rivers are completely frozen in winter season making it a venue for Chadar Trek, a walk over the frozen Zanskar river to reach Zanskar Valley, which is otherwise cut off from the country for several months. In summer, Zanskar river is a great location for river rafting.
The beautiful Shanti Stupa, Leh palace, ancient monasteries and the fine taste of apricots which linger on for a long time all contribute immensely to the beauty of this place.

Click Here to watch the beautiful Pangong Lake.

Click Here to watch my Ladakh video on Youtube.

Watch beautiful Ladakh landscapes on Flickr. Click Here.

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