Manali to Leh

After heat and dust in Delhi and beautiful but rainy Manali we made our way up to Leh, in North-Western India, just four hundred something kilometers away from Kashmir, where I was last summer, but incredibly different. The way to Leh is an adventure itself, most people take a minibus or a jeep from Manali, if everything goes well the journey takes less than a day and gets you through spectacular mountain sceneries, first the green foothills around Manali, then, as you go up vegetation becomes scarce and eventually the roads lead through an eerie high altitude ice desert, frozen lakes, snow capped mountains, mud/snow slides partially blocking the way. This route is definitely out of this world, I could have never even imagined a place like Ladakh. At the same time it wasn't easy to get here. I got bad altitude sickness at night, when we stayed in tents to get a couple of hours sleep, all joints in my body were acheing, I couldnt sleep, breething hurt my lungs. Fortunately this stop over at roughly 4200 meters was followed by us going downhill, it is amazing how much difference 200 meters in altitude make!

Leh, the capital of Ladakh is yet another very different India. But that seems to be the standard reaction whenever you go somewhere new in this incredibly diverse country. Ladakh has a high Buddhist presence, you see gompas (temples) everywhere and prayer flags are not just put up for decorative purposes. Now, in summer, it's very pleasant, but temperatures drop to -30 degrees in winter. During these months the region is virtually cut off the rest of the world, hard to imagine now! Still, the conditions are extreme. At one point during the journey my right was facing the glaring sun sweating, while my left was in the shade with goosebumps. I wonder if the many workers who try to keep the road free from ice and landslides ever get used to this feeling... After sunrise, our driver had just woken us up and told us that a mudslide was blocking the road. We had to navigate our way around it to get to the bus that was waiting for us on the other side. The bit of road you see here could be considered "good" compared to other bits...
What looks like a nice little hike was actually pretty exhausting. While the constant stream of travellers had formed some kind of path the detour turned out to be more climbing than walking.

Within half an hour the hill was packed with people selling snacks to waiting travellers or offering their help (or rather their horses') to carry luggage up to road.On the road again! Tristan grinning painfully after we had boarded the bus. In the background one of the many stunning waterfalls, sometimes we had to drive through ankle-deep water!
Stunning view at about 3000 meters. Apart from the uncertainties about the road quality the journey was simply amazing. Our fellow Indian traveller didn't even bother to appreciate the view out of his window, after a while tiredness gets you and even the wildest scenery doesn't get you anymore.

"Next Filling Station 365 km ahead" You won't believe it but we saw people on bicycles on the very same road!

The promised prayer flags. If you look at the mountain in the background, you see that its much lighter, dustier than the ones earlier. The massive variety in - what felt like climate zones - was typical for the trip, a nice example is the next picture.Some village on the way, the mountains around this oasis are grey/brownish, but for some reason the settlement is surrounded by lush greenery! Who wouldn't want to live there (were it not for its remoteness?)Time for a chai (and a group hug!)

As we made our way up and down, up and down the mountains the landscape changed within hours. Here one of the long (and cold) bits we compared to Mordor, an extreme contrast between the black rocks and the white snow!

One of my favourite parts of the journey. A frozen lake, between 4000 and 5000 meters high. Here breathing was difficult, none of us spoke when we didn't have to. But the pains were worth it, just for moments like this!

The highest pass of the trip. 5680 meters if I remember correctly. The side of the road was full with little heaps of stones, Buddhists (or just the mountain people in this part of South Asia?) put them there after successfully crossing it.
The day after our arrival in Leh. After 14 hours of sleep I felt nearly normal, just a bit short of breadth but after a while we all got acclimatised and ventured on the first expedition, to a monastery on the mountain that dominates the old part of town.