A few more minutes and the descent commenced. A brown plateau, interspaced with white patches of snow, appeared through the clouds. Houses, metalled roads, military installations indicated that we were hovering above Leh town. At the exit, I was bracing myself for a "cold shock". But the captain announced that it was -3 C and bright and sunny and the cold outside didn’t hurt. Swarms of gun toting army men, with faces covered stood on the edges of the air strip. The helicopters, army transport planes that hung around the Leh airport indicated a very busy military life. It always intrigues me, how India's mountains and military are closely intertwined with each other. After I walked out of the airport, rolling over the photos which I had captured, I got an Omni and as it fired up revving through the streets...
Leh, with its remoteness enhanced by the scores of mountains, and its harshness amplified by the fierce, winter cold looked like a foreign land vastly different from the rest of India. I had read about stories of one of the most remotest and fiercest corners of India - Turkestan La, Indira Col, Sia Kangri - and Leh seemed to be the gateway to that rare, rare piece of this world. It hit me the very first time I landed there. It created a positive impression, a heartwarming effect. You instantly start liking it. You have read about it so much, its welcome raised the bar. It is no more the secret, hidden land that it was once, being one of the highly documented and photographed lands of India. But it’s frozen streams, barren poplar trees, deserted streets, moving shadows of the clouds, inky blue skies, gargantuan mountains and closed hotels are probably remnants of a frenetic, crazy, carnival like summer, which I can only visualize for now.
Leh, with its remoteness enhanced by the scores of mountains, and its harshness amplified by the fierce, winter cold looked like a foreign land vastly different from the rest of India. I had read about stories of one of the most remotest and fiercest corners of India - Turkestan La, Indira Col, Sia Kangri - and Leh seemed to be the gateway to that rare, rare piece of this world. It hit me the very first time I landed there. It created a positive impression, a heartwarming effect. You instantly start liking it. You have read about it so much, its welcome raised the bar. It is no more the secret, hidden land that it was once, being one of the highly documented and photographed lands of India. But it’s frozen streams, barren poplar trees, deserted streets, moving shadows of the clouds, inky blue skies, gargantuan mountains and closed hotels are probably remnants of a frenetic, crazy, carnival like summer, which I can only visualize for now.
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