Saturday, February 24, 2018

Ice,Ice B'aby! Ladakh's Chadar Walk: Third Post

I got the yellow Ambassador taxi at Dumdum airport after an epic struggle - still don't use a smart phone and life taught me a difficult lesson this time around. Taxiwallah again got confused between Lake Town and Lake Gardens and after 12 hours of leaving Leh I was in no mood to argue.

The end of the trip is near. And the pace of the return is invariably faster. That 'pace' also, finds its way into this post.

While returning we got to know Padma, a porter cum guide in the team, a lot more closer. He was a 17 year old sweet chap who was ferrying those half quintal loads. Keeps to himself most of the time but is very efficient. We faced quite a challenge in the transportation back from Shingri Yokma to Leh and he spent his own money to buy Maggi, tea etc. because all our rations had finished by then. Entire day had passed, tents were all folded and transported in a different vehicle and our fears of spending the night in the only available kitchen tent was about to come true, when Padma ensured a vehicle.

I didn't miss maggi because we had two consecutive maggi lunches in the subsequent days. 2 bowls of maggi and tea to be precise. Milk wasn't available so black tea all the time.

Nights were spent star gazing. Ladakh - so pristine and so beautiful. I remember seeing a half moon in the afternoon sky and it brought back memories of my childhood. Nowadays the afternoons are hazy with the sun being barely visible in the dust. In the city, vision is so restricted by tall buildings that you can't even know how wide the horizon is.

Reached home to a warm hug. And the next thing before taking a bath was to order Biryani from my favourite counter.

Thats all for now. Next holidays are uncertain and unknown.
Any questions and replies are welcome!



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