My First Solo Travelogue: Part Nine

Day Nine: 27.07.2018

Today was the last day of sightseeing; time passes so quickly. We got up at 7am and had breakfast at 8am. Having skipped dinner yesterday, I voraciously ate parathas and did flower photoshoot in the garden. Today our maroon vehicle did not arrive, so we had to accommodate ourselves into any of the other vehicles. We reached Shanti Stupa at 09:30am. We drove through the road while there is also a series of 500+ steps to climb on foot.

Shanti Stupa

Front view

Rear view

It is a white domed stupa on the hilltop in Changspa at 11841ft, built to promote world peace, prosperity and to commemorate 2500 years of Buddhism. Read the below snippet for more details:

We had to walk an elevated road. There was a wooden outhouse kind of structure. We walked ahead towards the front view of the stupa. Vatsal elaborated on the story. We walked up to the first floor. There is a central golden Buddha image sitting on the turning wheel of Dharma (Dharmachakra). 

There were structures depicting the birth of Buddha, Buddha defeating the devils and the death of Buddha (Mahanirvana). The stupa is illuminated with lights at night. So you can see the below design shining in the dark:

Leh Main Market

We reached the Leh Main Market at 10:30am for shopping. There were a lot of souvenir shops consisting of key chain, prayer flags, prayer bowls, bracelets and necklaces, prayer wheels, wall hangings, wheel chains, etc. First we got into a big shop having a variety of pashmina shawls and carpets, scarfs, tops, etc. Done with the shopping here, three of us (Param, Mayuri, me) went on to explore more shops. Param and I bought T-shirts printed with "My Sis went to Ladakh and all I got was this bloody T-shirt" for our younger brothers. Mayuri got one customized for herself. I am crazy for hats, I end up buying nothing but hats for myself on every trip and use the very same hat in the next trip. At 12:30pm, we got into Himalayan Cafe for eating momos. 

Finally we wrapped up the shopping activity and walked straight to the Hotel Kanishka. Mayuri was sure of the route yet I kept asking, "Are we on the right track?". We had lunch and took rest in our rooms. We had tea break at 4pm, shopping stuff was discussed while sipping tea and there were momos too. At 04:30pm, we left for the  Military Hall of Fame War Museum. The scenic beauty captured on the way:

Hall of Fame

The museum is constructed by the Indian Army in memory of the brave soldiers who laid down their lives defending for India. The first section contained all the flags, infantry and cavalry.

Glimpse of Ladakh

This section includes all you want to know about Ladakh. Leh district is Eastern Ladakh while Kargil district is Western Ladakh. Ladakh is truly called the Land of High Passes. We already covered Khardungla, Changla, Fotula and I had mentioned about these in my earlier posts. Others are:

Rohtang Pass: situated at a height of 13051ft above sea level on the Manali-Leh highway.

Zoji La: situated at a height of 11570ft in the Great Himalayan Range on Srinagar-Leh road.

Lachulung La: situated at a height of 16598ft on the Zanskar Range, offers a breathtaking view of Ladakh plateau.

Baralacha La: situated at a height of 16040ft on the tri-junction of roads from Leh, Manali and Spiti.

Namika La: situated at a height of 12139ft on Zanskar Range, connecting Leh and Kargil.

The traditional food consists of Skyu (pasta), Thenthuk (noodle soup), Paba (Peas and wheat mixture) and Tangtur (buttermilk), Khambir (pan bread) and butter tea. The local drink is called Chang.

Battles of Kargil

There was a separate section for Operation Vijay, describing each and every battle in detail with the terrain model. I have written on this in previous post. There is a Last Letter written by Captain Vijay Thapar to his parents before he made the ultimate sacrifice. Have a glance:

There is a Heroes Gallery detailing on the soldiers who sacrificed their life for India; a War Gallery describing all the wars from 1947 till 1971. The center line had different types of war weapons.

Army Aviation Gallery

Having read about the warriors on the battlefield, lets move to the warriors in the air. "When you have once tasted flight you will forever walk the earth with your eyes skywards for there you have been and there you will always long to return".

Operation Meghboot: The Army Aviation Corps provides intimate combat support in the frozen frontiers flying at 20000ft and above at extreme fringes of helicopters operating envelope.

Operational Logistics: Its the art of movement of men and material into the theatre of war. It keeps the men fed and the machines going on the icy heights of Ladakh.

Operation Sadbhavana Gallery

The operation was initiated by the Fire & Fury Corps with two commitments:

Winning of Hearts: establishing an emotional connect and gaining the trust of locals, by an ever ready helping hand, whenever times are difficult and conditions hard.

Winning of Minds: empowering the locals with knowledge and skills thereby promoting employment avenues even in the remotest areas.

There was a billboard wherein visitors have pinned their messages for the Indian Army. So even I added a note:

Siachen Gallery

"The toughest and highest battlefield on earth where the soldier and his will is challenged by the gods themselves; at -53 degree Celsius and 21147ft above sea level"

The Siachen Glacier in Karakoram ranges is the second largest and longest non polar glacier. Eating out of air dropped tin cans and braving the bone chilling winds that can cause frostbites on exposed areas of skin within minutes; soldiers deployed at Siachen serve the nation driven only by their devotion to duty and indomitable will. Air maintenance is their only lifeline and avalanches is their daily routine. Dome-tents is their abode, ice axes and snow scooter is their vehicle on this white snow environment with snow blizzards. Logistics play a vital role on these frozen frontiers, flying every 7 minutes on the extreme weather; and the casualty evacuation is done at Pahalwan Post. 

Souvenir Shop

There were caps captioned Ladakh with a small flag embroidered on it, books on Ladakh culture and war stories, pashmina shawls and scarfs, small pouches, embroidered handbags, walnuts and apricots, T-shirts, wallpapers, coffee mugs, fridge magnets of different sizes, prayer flags, bracelets, etc etc. Again everyone got into shopping mode. Here again I met Soniya; we talked on the amazing envelope of landscapes and today was the last day to view all these natures beauty. There is a War Memorial right ahead of the main museum; War cemetery to its left and Adventure park to its right.

War Cemetery

It constitutes of the epitaphs of the brave soldiers who set out to serve the nation's and did not return. Its a tribute to our heroes.

War Memorial

There are nine flags and two soldier statues on both sides of the main memorial structure, where the eternal flame of Amar Jawan Jyot is kept lit all the time; provides vigil to the inverted rifle with helmet depicting the soldier.

We all gathered on the stairs in front of the War memorial for the flag lowering ceremony at 07:15pm. Havaldar Yoginder briefed on the foundation of Hall of Fame. We got to meet a small group of soldiers; thanking them in words can never be enough. At 07:15pm, the parade of 10 soldiers marched towards the Amar Jawan Jyot to lower the National Flag. We all stood up in attention, the National Flag was lowered in honour, with the triumph music in background and "Bharat Mata ki Jai". The flag will again be hoisted tomorrow with the first sun-rays.

The temperature had dropped since it was evening and we were shivering due to the cold breezes. All the cold and body shivers vanished when we watched the documentary video by the Fire and Fury Corps. Sharing parts and photos of the video:

Guardians of Ladakh

It described how the complete borders of Jammu and Kashmir (the Crown of our Motherland) are protected by our brave Indian Soldiers since 1947, fighting against and defeating our so called neighbors Pakistan and China. Operation Bison of Nov 1948 and Operation Kala Pahar of 1965 were elaborated. Operation Vijay of 1999, fought at 17000ft and above heights with laser sharp edges of the terrain was described; a live reporter from the Tiger Hill detailing on the current situation of the war; Captain Vikram Batra's message before he set for the mission of conquering Tiger Hill successfully, but himself returning back wrapped in the tiranga; photos of all the brave hearts who got sacrificed for the motherland at the age of 24, were displayed. The war of Rezang La was fought at 16000ft and above wherein 109 Indian soldiers defeated the army of 1600 chinese to protect the eastern frontiers of Ladakh. The documentary concluded with the 14 Corps of the Frozen Frontiers, bordering adversaries on the toughest and highest battlefield on earth.

"Quartered in snow, silent to remain,

When the bugle calls, they shall rise and march again,

Brave-heart Soldiers of Siachen"

We were so thunderstruck and overwhelmed after watching the documentary that our eyes were wide open and throat was choked. We left the Hall of Fame at 08:30pm and got back to Hotel Kanishka for dinner. We were briefed on tomorrow's timings. We did applause for our group for having successfully completed the tour; with smiling faces and enthusiasm and staying healthy throughout the nine days of exploring Ladakh and having unlimited fun. We completed packing our luggage and slept.

Day Ten: 28.07.2018

Today we got up at 03:30am and got down with our luggage at the receptions at 04:30am. We got our breakfast pack: consisted of a sandwich, banana and tetra pack juice. As the vehicles came in, luggage was loaded in those and we left for the airport at 5am. It was still dark and moon was in the sky. We queued in for the initial security check wherein all the bags were tagged. Then we moved to check in our luggage and getting the boarding pass. Another security check was done and we got the security check stamped on boarding pass and bag tags. We then sat in the waiting area, busy taking contact numbers. My mind was thinking that now all the fun is ending and I will be back to the mundane life in Mumbai. After the boarding announcement, we got into a mini bus and reached our plane. We got into the plane, as usual the safety instructions were given and we left the land of Leh at 07:10am. We landed at the Srinagar Airport at 8am, this was the best landing I ever had. We didn't even realize when the wheels of the plane touched the ground; such an efficient pilot. The plane waited for half an hour, passengers got down and got in. Cabin bags were checked and we flew from Srinagar at 08:30am. Everyone dozed off on the journey. We landed at 11am, 20 minutes before the scheduled time, in Mumbai. Such an transformation in the view, from mountains to skyscraper. We alighted from the flight, took our luggage from the moving baggage counter, hugged the newly found friends and promised to meet on more such trips. With loads of memories and a very heavy heart, I left the airport. Charulata and me took an auto rickshaw and boarded the Virar train at Andheri. On the way, I started sending friend requests to all trip members. Now it was time to reveal the trip to all my friends who would be guessing where am I; and start penning down the beautiful memories of Leh. Co-travelers do put in your experience on the whole tour in comments below.