Ladakh-absolute Nirvana

Day 1: We're told not to walk fast, sleep, take rest, drink lots of water. In the evening, we go for a stroll in the local Leh Bazaar, I seem to be fine. We see many prayer wheels in and around Leh. We see the local market, catch turnips on sale, apricot packets of all varieties. Evening comes and as I walk to the dining hall, I get dizzy.

Day 2: Early morning we go the monastery for morning prayers. Little children serve butter tea and barley mix to the monks who keep praying, eating and drinking. We head to Leh Palace and then Shey Palace. The Palaces are converted now to tourist attractions. We do a detour and have a glimpse of the Dalai Lama's house at Leh. It's simple and neat, in the middle of poplar trees.

Day 3: We're all set to go to Chang La Pass. We're very excited. My sis is not feeling well, still we cant miss out on Pangong Lake so we're brave. We have breakfast on the way. Then, I fall sick, cant step out of the car. So I just watch the beautiful scenery on the way. We come across the first snow. It's beautiful. I discover I have altitude sickness, so do many in our gang. And then we catch our first breathtaking view of the lake after travelling for 5 hours. It's clear blue. No doubt about it. Tucked in neatly between the mountains, the view is absolutely amazing. We carry on. Two-thirds of the lake is in China, we learn.. so we spend some time near the lake and then we head for the hotel. We get armed with tablets and all.

Day 4: We skip on the morning trip to the monastery. We sleep well and recuperate. We then head to Alchi Monastery in the afternoon. On the way, we're introduced to Magnetic Hill, catch on the route of the Indus River. This hill attracts planes and aircraft usually choose to fly at a safe distance in this region.

We head to the riverside, near the resort. I collected shiny, smooth pebbles and one big smooth, lovely stone. We get good pics. We also spot a German Bakery where you get cinnamon cookies and cake. In the evening, we just relax, listen to the birds and I try to mimic them.

Day 5: We go to the monastery in the morning. There are big idols inside and colourful walls. We proceed to the Likiri monastery and spend some time there. We stop by the riverside for lunch. After that we move to the Gurudwara and then the Hall of Fame. It's wonderful. We get to eat Maida ka halwa. It's lovely. We then proceed to the hotel.

Day 6: We proceed for the experience of rafting. We're prepared, all set for an exciting time ahead. And it was wonderful. My arms were paining for 2 days aferwards. We rafted for 2 hours, took a break in between. The view was fantastic.

Day 7: We go to the awesome Khardung La pass. We're ready this time around. The trip was shorter. So it was wonderful.

We caught some mountainous animals on the way. In the evening we left for the Shanti Stupa. We spent a long time there. The spectacular views we got there cannot be compared.

Day 8: We did some shopping in the evening so we could have souvenirs to take back home. Then, we had a cultural evening, traditional Ladakhi dances were held. The nomadic dance, the bird dance and the serving of tea dance were memorable. Our stay was soon over.