Leh Ladakh India - The Dream Destination

"Holiday, Vacation, Travel", how romantic these words sound! The traveller in you could sense the beauty of these words. Taking an unknown road, exploring the unexplored, discovering the new path and riding along with your loved one is magic. The world is filled with destinations and dream, if someone points me and ask mine, without any hesitation I will utter the word "Leh-Ladakh".

As I pronounce the name of my dream destination, my brain starts to think of the journey and my heart gets lost in the travel. As much as I love my hometown (Chennai), when it comes to travel I plan to explore places that I don't get to see every other day. And Leh-Ladakh is my ideal travel destination.

Note: So here I am sketching my plan to visit my favourite place. 

As I pack the bags with dresses and essentials for my travel, I shall let my partner book the tickets to Srinagar. Trains bring back a lot of memory and travelling in Indian Railways is always fun; as we board the train to New Delhi, the one day journey instills conversation and I start to capture every single moment of memory in my camera. Once the train reaches the destination we hurry to the airport to fly to our destination in Domestic Airlines. Seeing the floating cotton candies and snow capped mountains the level of excitement becomes unlimited. As the pilot pulls off a smooth landing, my heart slips for a moment and cuddles Srinagar as close as possible.

To enjoy the fresh blow of air and to pace through the curvy roads scanning the beauty of Kashmir, the best way of transport is on-road on a bike. We kick-start and raise the gear to travel a distance of 434 KMs (approx.) on the Srinagar-Leh highway (NH-1D). With the Indus river taking the same route we journey, we reach the first stop "Sonmarg". It's tough to not have a glimpse of Zojila Pass and Gangabal Lake, after enjoying the blissful locale we set back on the road towards Leh.

Picture Courtesy - Wikimedia

As the bike passes Kargil, it's the perfect place for an overnight halt so we get the time to experience the exotic landscape of Kargil. Waking up with the sun that's hiding behind the snow capped mountains, we put our jackets on and set our eyes on the road hearing the birds chirping. The on-route to Leh holds beautiful monasteries, gurudwaras and charismatic hills. As the milestone reads "0 KM" to Leh, I try to calm my senses and give myself a moment to capture the beauty through my vision and hold them close to heart forever.

Relaxing for the rest of the day, the next day it's time to journey to the highest point, Nubra Valley. On road via Khardongla Pass,  the Nubra Valley is situated at a height of 18360 feet. A day shall not be much but I can't board a flight back to Chennai without seeing the place were "Phunsukh Wangdu and Pia" (3 Idiots) exchanged their first kiss ;-). So a day at the Pangong Tso Lake that holds the crystal clear blue lake across the border of India and China. Known as the Hollow Lake, the brackish water produce different light effects playing with the sunlight. As I sit along the bank of the lake, I wish for the time to freeze. And the final visit to Tsomoriri Lake, at an altitude of 15,075 feet it's the largest lake at Ladakh. Bidding adieu to the beautiful flora and fauna that dances on this mystical land and trying to sing along with the birds that ring in your ears, we board the flight from Leh with moments frozen via our camera lens and the brain runs through the memory made along the journey. And I return back with joy and smile that shall be cherished forever!

Picture Courtesy - Tripoto (Pangong Tso Lake)

A yatra is just not a journey to an unseen location it's an experience that nurtures you with memories and happiness that shall never part from you.

It's now time to book tickets for my ideal yatra.

P.S. Leh-Ladakh is a destination I dream to visit so this is how I would plan to visit my favourite place in India. I am yet to visit the place. The post is fictional.