I was on an epic journey by road from Tamilnadu to Kolkata. And so odisha was on also on my list of that journey.
I took a bus from Vishakapatnam(AP) to reach Bhubaneshwar(OD). And it was my very first in this state. Though i’m from Bengal(Kolkata) which means Puri the 2nd home for all bengalis but i was not that lucky to roam with my families during my childhood.
Anyway i reached BBSR and my plan was to mainly explore the hidden destinations of India & to promote it for tourism. I was in Bermunda Bus Stn in BBSR & came to know that there is only two buses which plies to Daringbadi daily. So booked my ticket instantly which costs me Rs-250 the ticket conductor told me to come at 20:00hrs sharp. I nodded.
I checked my mobile and it was just 10:30hrs so i boarded a local bus and reached Puri. Puri is one of the most sacred & religious place in India. It is also one of the Char Dham Of India.
Puri is famous for its pristine beaches & Jagannath Temple. I some how managed the long queue and entered the temple premises and did the darshan quickly and then walked to the beach which is just of 1min & enjoyed the local odisha thali(meal) and sat for some time.
Around 15:00hrs i boarded a bus & back to BBSR around almost 18:00hrs as its stops everywhere to take passengers.
Now i’m excited & ready to board my bus which will take me to the only hill station of Odisha – Daringbadi. The bus left BBSR at 20:00hrs & due to the whole day tiredness i slept within no time.
It was 04:30-05:00hrs when i woke up and it was cold outside suddenly i realised. The road looks amazing as it was covered with big trees both the sides. Around 06:00hrs it reached the last stop & how chilly morning it was i still remember.
I asked the bus driver if they can assist me with budget stay option and he shown me a guest house but it was locked at this point of time. So the bus driver along with the conductor told me to come with him as he knocked that guest house person by his name & and thats gives an amazing feeling for a travellers know😊.
The guest house person shown me a room and i generally dnt bother much about any room so it was ok for me. When asked for the room tariff he told me to relax first and dnt worry about the fare🙄. I thanked the bus driver and asked him the time for the BBSR bus for today evening and he told me at 18:30hrs.
Daringbadi – The Kashmir of Odisha is the one & only hill stn surround by lush green sal forests. It is located with an altitude of 950mtrs. Also i came to know that during peak winter time this place receives snowfall & thats why the name of Kashmir came here. This area is full of Kandh Tribal population.
The owner asked me for a tea and yes i was also looking for that. During our conversation i asked him what are the places to see here and he told he will arrange a auto for the same.
The place will give a feeling of a predominant tribal feeling where snacks in near by shops was serving in leaves and no plastics or plates. The hot jalebis & samosas are just mouthwatering or may be that leaves which is actually adding flavours to it but it was all together awesome.
Here one can feel that time was stopped and it was 11:00hrs when my auto came for my sightseeing. So the places in & around Daringbadi is :-
1.Hill View Park – There is a watch tower from where one can enjoy the view of endless hills & beautiful valleys & the pine forests from its cradle. The fountain & the garden add colour to it. I spent my afternoon here.
2.Coffee Garden – This is an another main attraction of Daringbadi. One can see coffee seeds plantations as well with the help of local persons there.
3.Dadubada – Also known as Lovers’s Point. A little far from the main town but one can met many local tribals over there also i tried a couple of local hand made spirit there. There are a few natural cave formations in its vicinity. The place is surrounded with dense green forests & the river flows with a gush over rocks.
4.EMU Farm – It is a private farm with a big flock of Emu birds
5.Mdiubanda Waterfall – It is located deep inside the forest with breath taking splendor on the way toBamunigam.
And my trip was over & paid Rs-300 to that Auto driver and he was happy with it. He dropped me to my guest house. Before that i went to the bus stn and booked my seat for BBSR.
I stayed at Badachandra Nivas (Near the bus stn) at Rs-300/-.
I boarded my bus to BBSR and bids adieu to this unexplored destination of Odisha. Really i was amazed with the hospitality of tribal peoples here and wish to go back to this place soon😊.
Spiti the land of moon, high terrains & barren lands!! Also known as the “Middle land of India”. Before my trip i was in a dillemma that how i can cover whole Spiti valley as the tour & travel agencies provided me the costs of 35- 50k depending on number of days. And then i contacted one of my friends who works with Himachal Parivahan Nigam (HRTC public transport) & he told me that i can able to do the entire Spiti circuit by taking HP Public Bus service easily. Julley from the middleland of India #Spiti
Note– I covered my Spiti trip mostly based on Hitch–hike for 11 days starting from Shimla & ending at Manali.
But to gather this public transport informations i went to all the near by bus station& few times to the bus conductors/drivers to jot down the timings & fares so that it wud be easy for my other co-nomad travellers to d this trip on a shoe string budget.
Without wasting your valuable time i’ll jot down every possible bus timings along with fares below.
Note– The bus journey over here is not for those who looks for comfortable seats & reaching the destinations on time always.
Suggestion– Its always better to start from Shimla and end at Manali. It helps you body to getproperaccimilization.
Suggestion– So if starting from Shimla then prefer taking a joy full ride of Kalka–ShimlaToyTrain at Rs–50 instead of taking bus from Delhi which will cost u more. One need to reach Kalka Station before 09:00am to catch this train. It takes minimum 6hrs to reach Shimla.
View from Shimla highway
Stay that night at Shimla
Next day start early morning from Shimla to LakkarBazar bus stand which is 5kms and the private bus will take Rs–5.
From LakkarBazar you’ll easily get the bus for Narkanda at Rs–95 & it’ll take 4hrs to reach.
In Narkanda one can trek 10kms to HatuPeak to see the glimpese of Himalayas. Note- No bus plies here!! But you can either trek or hitch-hike & come back by 15:00hrs.
Now from Narkanda board a bus for Rampur at Rs–100 which will take another 3hrs to reach.
Stay that night at Rampur
Note– If you dnt like to trek for HatuPeak then you can skip this and board a direct bus from LakkarBazar for Rampur.
Note– One can also board direct bus from LakkarBazar to ReckongPeo if one wanna skip Sangla & Chitkul also.
So hope i’ve mentioned you all the options to reach Rampur & ReckongPeo the same day who have less time in hand & only keen to explore Spiti only.
Sarahan is little hamlet with apple farms & famous for its BheemkaliTemple.
Start early morning from Rampur bus stand for Sarahan via Raikhada or Jeory. Board a bus till Raikhada or Jeory if Sarahan is not available that time at Rs– 50.
From Raikhada one’ll get sharing taxi for Sarahan at Rs–20. (If you dnt get direct bus from Rampur to Sarahan, then need to break your journey as i mentioned above for reaching quickly).
Aftet visit take a sharing taxi or bus from Sarahan or Raikhada and reach Jeory at Rs–20
Note– Wait for your Sangla or Chitkul bus at Jeory. Try to reach Jeory before 13:00hrs to catch the last bus for Sangla or Chitkul.
Note– Onecanalso try to reach till KharchamWangtooDam from Jeory to save more time. From this dam one will get more option for reaching Sangla & Chitkul.
Board a bus from Jeory till Sangla at Rs– 120. If one dnt get Chitkul bus take Sangla bus as Sangla bus is easily avaliable & it is the main bus & taxi stand for Chitkul.
If you reach Sangla by 17:00hrs then try to reach Chitkulwhich is 40kms by taking share taxi or hitch-hike. If you are lucky then you’ll get the Sangla–Chitkul bus also exceptsunday.
I actually hitch-hiked here by BRO vehicles. But as i enquired the sharing taxi from Sangla to Chitkul costs Rs–50–100/head but the cab need to be full. Or else you have two options either hitch-hike or stay that night at Sangla.
All the Kinnaur–Kailash mountainranges can be seen from here clearly.
Suggestion– Prefer to stay that night at Ricksham (9kms before Chitkul) or at Chitkulvillage only instead of Sangla. As i believe staying at the last Indian village will surely boost up one’s adrenaline😊. Dnt forget to woke up at late night to see zillion of stars💥 in the sky.
As per last night stay destination (Sangla/Ricksham/Chitkul) start early morning for Chitkul Border. From Chitkulvillage to border is 4kms. So you can walk also in the early motning. The last border between India- Tibet (China). Meet the ITBP soldiers and start from Chitkul for Sanglabusstand by taking share taxi or Public bus at Rs– 50–100.
Board your bus from Sangla till ReckongPeo at Rs–65. It’ll take 3hrs to reach.
Suggestion– One can also break the journey to see the confluence of RiverBaspa & RiverSatluj at KharchamWangtooDam. Take any bus from Sangla that goes to ReckongPeo & get down at KharchamDam at Rs– 31
Now wait at KharchamDam to get your bus for ReckongPeo which is easily available. It will take another 1.30hrs to reach R.Peo. The cost of the bus from K.Dam to R.Peo is Rs– 34.
Note– One can also get direct bus from K.Dam till Kalpa vai R.Peo but dnt take ticket till Kalpa as the bus will halt for an hout at R.Peo bus stand which will waste yout travel time.
After reaching R.Peo came out of the bus stand & board a private bus for Kalpa at Rs–15.
Note- There are not many hotels at Kalpa and the rates are also very expensive unless you are in group of 2-3 persons depending on budget.
Suggestion– There are 2-3 home stays too if possible stay that night at Kalpa or came back to R.Peo & stay here.
All the Kinnaur–Kailashmountainranges can be seem from here. Kalpa is situated uphill from R.Peo so betterviews of the himalayas will get from Kalpa only.
Stay anywhere depending on your budget at Kalpa or R.Peo that night.
Next day catch the 09:00am bus from R.Peo to Nako. Do the priorbooking of this bus from the R.Peo bus stand by 08:30am at Rs–168. It’ll take 7-8hrs to reach, also be ready for roadblock as BRO is making doublelane on this road after you cross Spillow till Pooh.
Note– Indiantravellers need to show their cab/bikepermits & foreigners need to show their permit & Passport at Akpacheckpost while travelling on this way.
Note– After you cross Pooh & Dumling focus on your left hand side to see the small board meantion” Youaretravellingontheworld‘smosttreacherousroad” & just after that you’ll reach Khabbridge where you’ll be able to see the confluence of RiverSpiti for the 1st time & RiverSatluj.
This board says it all!!
Suggestion– If you reach this Dumlingbridge by afternoon then you can get down here to take selfie with this board & to see the confluence of this two rivers. But you have then only two options to reach Nakoeither hitch-hike or wait for the last bus that departs from R.Peo the same day at 11:00hrs.
Stay that night at Nako
One can also stay for more than one night here to rest a little bit. Its a beautiful place to make it as a buffer day. ThefirstSpitiancivilizationisherethoughNakoisinKinnaur region but still the peoples over here lead a Spitianlife.
Suggestion– Nako is famous for its Lake & Monastery. Also the trans–himalayanranges can be seen clearly from here. Dnt miss the sunset here and one can see zillions of stars in the sky. Also one can walk2kms to see the MallingMonastery from the main road towards Sumdohighway.
View of Tabo Village
Note– If some one wants to go back to R.Peo then need to catch the 08:00am bus from Nako. It departs early morning from Tabo.Note– For going forward towards Geu & Tabo one need to catch the bus around afternoon. As the same bus departs from R.Peo at 09:00am by which one came to Nako last day.
Note-The distance between Nako to Tabo is 70kms. There is two option to start from Nako either by hitch-hike till Chango/ Sumdo (Border of Kinnaur & Spiti)/ Geu/ Tabo or wait till aftetnoon to catch the bus for Tabo via Geu.
I started around 08:00am from Nako & hitch-hiked and reached Geu around 11:00hrs via Chango & Sumdo.
So board your bus from Nako to GeuNalla at Rs– Below100 & once cross Sumdo (The border check post of Kinnaur & Spiti) head more 5–6kms and drop down at GeuNalla. There is a buddhist structure gate at GeuNalla and from there one need to go to GeuMonastery & famous GeuMummy.
Note–GeuMummy is a naturally preserved mummy. It is 550yrs old found by ITBPrescueteam during 1975Spitiearthquake. Surprisingly it still has hair, teeth & nails.Geu Mummy
Suggestion-No buses plies for Geu so only option is to trek next 10kms or hitch-hike till the GeuMonastery & Mummy.
Once done come back to the same place GeuNalla from where you started & wait for your bus for Tabo. Its more 35kms so can hitch-hike also.
At around 15:00hrs you’ll get one bus from GeuNalla to Tabo. Board it at Rs– Below100.
Suggestion–Tabo is famous for its most ancientmonastery almost 1020yrs old. Also known as the Ajanta of Himalayas. Opposite the main highway road there are some naturalcaves which are worth watching. Also one can go near by the Spitiriverbank from the Tabohelipadtrailroad & can chill there.
Tabovlog– https://youtu.be/RvN3_hr_yf4
Bus to Schichiling (DhankarWelcomeGate) reach Tabo at around 16:00hrs. So you have the full day time to explore Tabo and near by places as i mentioned. Wait near the mainhighway near the welcomegate of Tabo and board yout bus at 16:00hrs from Tabo to Schichiling (DhankarWelcomeGate) at Rs– Below100.
From Schichiling you have two options either hitch-hike or walk 12kms uphill for DhankarMonastery. View of Dhankar Village
Stay that night at Dhankar
Note-Once Dhankar was the capital of Spiti. It is famous for it DhankarLake, OldMonastery & Fort. Also one can see zillion of stars in the sky at mid-night.
Suggestion– Trek early morning 4kms from DhankarNewMonastery for DhankarLake.
After exploring Dhankar need to come back to Schichilinghighway by hith-hike or walk.
Now from here you have twooptions either take bus till Attargu (15kms) – the gateway for Pin Valley for exploring PinValley (MudhVillage) or reach Kaza (25kms).
Note– You can also take afternoon bus at 16:00hrs from Kazabusstand for reaching MudhVillage which departs from Mudh for Kaza the next day at 07:00hrs everyday which cost Rs-84/ way.
Note– The distance from Schichiling to Kaza is 25kms & Attargu is 15kms. From Attargu to MudhVillage is another 34kms.
Once you decided your destination for the day board your bus from Schichiling & reach. The cost of the bus to both this destination is Rs– Below100.
I will prefer reaching Kaza first due to availability of only one bus to MudhVillage. So here i’ll talk about Kaza first. Board your bus from Schichiling at around 16:30hrs for Kaza.
Stay that night at Kaza or Langza or Key or Kibber
Suggestion– Except KazaMonastery & Market there is nothing much in Kaza. Dnt miss the KazaPetrolPump which is WorldHighest. Very much commercialised so try to stay either at Key, Kibber or Langza, Komic.
View of Langza Village
Note-In every travelogues related to Spiti i saw that everyone suggest travellers to stay at Kaza for 2 nights for exploring Kaza. And for that reason many travellers have to skip PinValley‘sMudhVillage.
Note- Kaza is the capital of Spiti & also the only main hub where one’ll get every possible things. So keep that in mind.Spiti River at Kaza
Note- One can complete Kaza in one day also by hiring a small cab @ Rs– 2500 from Kazataxistand. Also one can rent a scooty/bike from KazaMarket @ Rs– 800–1200.
Placestocover– KazaMonastery– KeyMonastery is 12kms & KeyMonastery to Kibber & Chicham (Last Village) is 4kms. This two places is on the same route & will take 2–3hrs max to cover.Come back towards KazaMonastery after covering Key, Kibber & Chicham. Just before2kms of KazaMonastery there is uphillroad with a welcomegate for Langza which is 15kms, then Hikkim which is 10kms from Langza & last Komic which is 5kms from Hikkim. This 3 places is on the same route & will take 3–4hrs max to cover. So if you start early morning with one rented bike/scooty or cab you’ll finish it before 15:00hrs, So that you can catch the 16:00hrs bus for MudhVillage in PinValley.
Note–Key is famous for its ancientMonastery. Kibber & Chicham is the lastvillage of that area situated in a highaltitude.Beware of SnowLeopard. Langza is famous for its giantstatue of GautamBuddha touching the sky also one can stay one night here for stargazing. Hikkim is famous for its World‘sHighestPostOffice & Komic is famous for its ancientMonastery & World‘sHighestVillage.
Komic- The world’s highest village
Suggestion– So according to your travel time & all you decide whether to stay at Kaza for one night or two.
Now after exploring Kaza & its surrounding places do come to the Kazabusstand by 15:30hrs & book your bus ticket for MudhVillage (PinValley). It is 45kms road and the cost of the ticket is Rs–80. The busdeparts at 16:00hrs & reach by 18:00hrs.
Note– MudhGaon is the lastvillageof that valley is getting traffic of travellers now a days as the valley with a snow covered mountains can be seen from here very closely. Also one can get to see the glaciers here. The temparature remain more negative here. Its a gateway for two trek a) BawaPass & b) PinPass. One can go down to the bank of RiverPin & chill😊.
Mudh Village- The last village of Pin Valley
Suggestion– One can stay here for couple of days before starting for Losar or Battal / Chandratal.
Note– There is only one bus that departs from Mudh at 07:00am for Kaza. If you miss that bus then keep that in mind that its not easy to see other cab there for hitch–hitch.( I walked 19kms and then i got a hitch that dropped me at Kaza). So hitchhike is notsoeasy there.
After reaching Kaza you have two option either stay that night at Kaza which i’ll not suggest as you already explored Kaza so its better board 16:30hrs bus from Kaza bus stand & reach Losar (50kms) @ Rs- 90. I bet you wil love this journey as you’ll be able to see mesmerizing views. Its a small hamlet surrounded by trans himalayas.
On the way from Kaza to Losar
Stay that night @ Losar
Also one can do stargazing at mid night.
Woke up by 05:00am as you need to catch the “Kaza–Manalibus” to reach Battal. The ticket costs Rs–46. This bus departs at 03:30am from Kaza & reach Losar at 05:00am.
And you will reach Battal (30kms from Losar) with in next 2hrs via KunjomLaTop. The bus stop here at KunjomLa for 10mins to pay visit to the “KunjomMataMandir” which remains covered under heavy snow glaciers for long 08months. The road here is very narrow & one of the worldsmostdangerouspass you’ll be crossing (not for faint hearted) but very adventurous.
Respect & Salute to all those braveheartedHRTCdrivers🤗.
HRTC Drivers!! Respect!! Salute!!
After reaching Battal do meet the famous ” ChachaChachi ” at their dhaba. They have saved many lifes & also received many bravery award. One can see the documentaries made on them in Youtube. Also one can have some food from there at reasonable rate & also they have a dormitory staying facility at Rs–100/bed.
Famous Chacha Chachi @ Battal
Now you need to start for Chandratal which is 12kms from Battal. No bus plies there so either take sharing cab/reserve cab which will cost Rs–500 minimum as i asked few there or simply start to trek & hitchhike.
Chandratal– The MoonLake is situated in a highaltitude so keep yourself hydrated & warm.
Once reaching the Chandratalbasecamp (4kms before the lake) one can be able to see different camps for night stay.
Note– The most cheapestcamp is TenzingCamp. Tenzing is the son of famous Chacha Chachi of Battal. The cost is Rs– 700–1000 with all meals.
Note– If you have an own tent then one can camp there also but not near by the lake as per rules.
Sunrise at Chandratal Lake
Stay that night @ Chandratal / Battal
Note– To save money you can also stay at Battal at Rs–100/bed & can visit Chandratal during the daytime.
Note-The bus for Manali is only one time a day and it reaches Battal at 08:30am but it halts there for 45mins for break so ultimately you have time till 10:00am to catch this bus or else you need to spend one more night at Battal.
Note-There is 99.9% nochance of getting a seat from Battal for Manali in that bus.
So prepare yourself with this mindset & board the bus for Manali at Rs– 171. The bus will halts at Gramphu for food & will reach Manali by 18:00hrs.
Note– Those who like to reach Kaza from Kullu (Origin of the bus) or Manali need to catch this bus from Kullu/Manali at 03:30am & 05:00am respectively. One have to do the priorbooking for this bus to get the bus. The cost from Manali to Kazais Rs– 299.
Hope you have liked my above blog which will assist you to plan for Spititrip on publictransports accordingly. Still if you have any query or doubts then please feel free to comments below.
Spiti the land of moon. We all wants to do the Spiti trip once in our lifetime, but the budget travelers like me always worry about this trip due to high cost budget for staying there while Spiti. So this blog is only related to the nights stays for Spiti trip.
This blog is for thenomadtravellerswho were planning forSpititrip. I just covered Spiti in the month of June’17. W’ll give you all the detail informations regarding night stays while covering Spiti on a shoe string budget.
This will certainly help travellers like me who wants to cover Spiti like a saint traveller.
Day 1 :- We woke up early in the morning in of the boat house at Dal Lake (Srinagar) and make ourselves ready for one of the most memorable trip of our lifetime.DAY 1
We took a sharing cab from Srinagar Taxi Stand and headed towards Kargil (10 hrs drive) via enchanting Sonmarg and dangerous Zozila Pass (11,575 ft). We started near by 10am from Srinagar and reached Sonmarg by 12:30pm after that started heading towards Leh via Zozila Pass-the mountainous road was very narrow. We reached Drass by 15:30 and ate our drunch (lunch at drass) popular meat & rice and headed towards Kargil War Memorial within next 10min we reached there. It was just next to the Tiger Hill and well maintained by Army after that within next 2hrs we reached Kargil Taxi Stand and we took a hotel for our night halt. The hotel was just near the Taxi Stand facing the Suru River which is flowing towards Pakistan.
Expenditure –
Sharing Taxi for Kargil – 900/person
Hotel at Kargil – 500/ room for 02 persons per night.
Day 2 :- We took a sharing cab from Kargil Taxi Stand for Leh. We started our journey around 10am in the morning from Kargil and reached Futula Pass (13,478 ft). We reached Lamayuru around 13:00am and we requested our cab driver to stop the cab for 30min as we wanted to visit the famous “Lamayuru Monastery”, he asked his other co-passengers and i got really overwhelmed when nobody said NO. We also enjoyed the scenic beauty of “Moonland”. Then we again started towards Leh Via Nimmu (Where Zanskar River meets Indus River and flow towards Pakistan). We came to Magnetic Hill where we feel the magnetic phenomena of gravity how without gear our car rotate its wheels…then we passed by the Gurudwara, Hall of Fame (Army Museum) and Leh Airport and entered Leh Taxi Stand. We took a hotel (Namkha Guest House) just near to the Taxi Stand just opposite to it situated Leh Bus stand.
Note- Leh main market is 20mins walk from this Taxi / Bus Stand. There are many hotels and guest houses at Leh main market also. Even 100rs/bed was also available. So will suggest d’nt book rooms in advance through online or so.
Day 3 :- We took a rented bike for the full day as we planned to visit the near by places at Leh. So as per our plan we started around 10am after having maagi along with Ladaki Chai (Also known as Gur-Gur chai a combination of salt & butter with milk).
We took the Leh-Manali highway for visiting “Shey Monastery”. Within the next 4kms it came “Rancho’s School” (Originally known as Druk Padma School) famous for 3 Idiots movie shooting. It is boarding school so be silent while visiting the school premises also we took pics near that building where Chatur from 3 Idiots did susu..the wall is painted on them now. Next we moved to visit “Thiksey Monastery” which came within the next 08kms. After that we headed towards “Hemis Gompa” which is 15kms away from our present location. So in total from Leh to Hemis Gompa the distance is 50kms on the Leh-Manali Highway the all the major sightseeing places we covered. We covered all those by 05pm in the evening and now we headed towards our Hotel in Leh.
Expenditure-
Rented Bike – 800/day (6am to 8pm as per Ladakh Bike Union Timings). Note- There are several other bikes also which cost around 1,500/day.
Day 4 :- We again took a rented bike for the full day for visiting Leh local sight seeing places as you can’t cover Leh full Sight seeing places in 01 day.
This time we took Leh- Kargil -Srinagar Highway for visiting “Hall Of Fame” just after the Leh Airport. It is a defence musuem maintained by Army. After this we visited “Stok Gompa”, from there we headed towards Nimmu for visiting “Gurudwara Pathar Sahib ” and next 08kms for “Magnetic Hill” to feel the phenomena of gravity where i drove my bike without any gear, that’s truly something magic. It was 03pm and we headed back towards Leh for visiting “Leh Palace” ( which resembles (Potola Palace In Tibet) and next to it “Sanchi Stupa”. Again we covered alomost 45kms and we came back to our Hotel in Leh.
Expenditure-
Rented Bike – 800/day
Petrol didn’t required as we took the same bike of Day 1.
Day 5 :- We booked a sharing cab last night from Leh main market area near by “Leh Jama Masjid” for Pangong Lake which is 140kms from Leh. One can also reach Pangong by rental bike.
So we started around morning 8am from Leh for Pangong via Leh-Manali Highway. We reached Changla Pass after 80kms. Changla Pass is the 03rd Highest Motor-able Pass in the World at 17,590 ft. We took some pics and done with our breakfast there at the highest point and again started our journey. We reached Pangong Lake by 13:00pm in the afternoon and we gone straight to the lake which is fully blue in colour due to crystal clear sky reflection above it. We took Yak ride over there. Remember that Yellow Scooter of Kareena Kapoor in the movie 3 Idiots with her Red Helmet. Yes it is there and we took many pics of Pangong. 30% of this lake situated in India rest 70% is in China. There are nothing much to see but one if want can do night halt over there but we came back to our Hotel at Leh on the same day near around 20:00pm.
Expenditure-
Sharing Cab for Pangong – 1700/persons (same day return).
Day 6 :- We booked a sharing cab last night from Leh main market area near by “Leh Jama Masjid” for Nubra Valley which is 150kms from Leh. One can also reach Nubra by rental bike.
Nubra Valley is the name of the region in which the places should cover i:e; Diskit , Hunder, Sumur & Panamik.
Note- One can also take Sharing Local Taxi from Leh Taxi Stand near Leh Polo Ground for Diskit which will cost around 400/persons.
We started around 11am from Leh for Diskit & Hunder.We reached Khardungla Pass after 40kms. Khardungla Pass is the Highest Motor-able Pass in the World at 18,379 ft. We took some memorable pics and did our breakfast with hot tea and maagi there at the highest point and headed towards Diskit first. We reached Diskit near by 16:00pm and visited Diskit Monastery where one can see the giant Gautam Buddha touching his head in the crystal clear sky almost. Then from there we moved to Hunder which is 08kms. Hunder is the Cold Sand Desert of India. We saw and took pics of two humped bacterial camel over there as this camels were used for transporting purpose over the previous Silk Route of India. One can also do camel ride over here. Panamik is next 50kms from here and we are not interested to see the Hot Spring for which Panamik is famous, so we came back to Diskit and took a hotel for our night halt.One can also take camps/tents for night halt at Hunder but it will due to less budget we prefer to stay at hotel in Diskit which is reasonable than Hunder.
Expenditure-
Sharing Taxi for Diskit – 400/persons per way i:e; 800/person both way.
Hotel at Diskit – 600/room for 02 persons per night
Day 7 :- We started early in the morning after our breakfast from Diskit Taxi Stand for Leh and we reached by 14:00pm. As we got some time so we rested for next couple of hours and then visited local souvenirs shops and market, also bought some T-shirts stitched with Ladakh Gompas and many more. We tried out some Ladaki dishes in the evening as our dinner.
Day 8 :- We booked a slot for us for the River Rafting at Zanskar River (The 02nd most dangerous river in India that meets River Indus and flow towards Pakistan).
The cab picked up from our hotel and took to Nimmu-30kms from Leh. They gave us the require gadgets and jackets for rafting and before starting also they briefed us the Do’s & Don’ts. The water was ice cold and very fierce. It was an unforgettable experience doing the same. It was a long raft of 29kms which almost took 04hrs to complete. Will recommend to try this adventure sport while in Ladakh. One can contact ‘Wet & Wild Adventure” near Leh main market to book.
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