Day 4

Day started with the excitements of reaching Leh today. We started from Kargil at 7 AM after having the tea in guest house. Just after Kargil there was a change in atmosphere. Lands were barren and Buddhism was everywhere. We could feel the Buddhism in air. We drove for an hour and then had the breakfast in a Dhaba. Pranthas, tea and Pickle, all were awesome. I liked the pickle so much that I had the entire bowl of it.

Roads in this stretch were the best of our entire journey. We crossed two passes Namika La and Fotu La in between. We also took a several breaks to enjoy and capture the beauty of barren mountains in our cameras. Before Leh the major point of attraction was Magnetic Hill. When we reached Magnetic Hill, there were a good number of visitors clicking the photos and changing the position of their vehicles so it could be pulled by the Magnetic hill. We also did the same; clicked some photos and changed the position of our Bikes and Xylo car so they can be pulled by the Magnetic Hill. We tried it several time but vehicles were not moved even for a inch. We gave it up and headed towards Leh. We reached Leh in the afternoon. After almost 150 KMs, we saw some trees, otherwise the entire region was barren and not even a small piece of grass was there. Leh town is surrounded by barren mountains from all directions but there is a lot of greenery inside it. One can see it as a green spot in barren region from 20 KMs before Leh.

First thing we did after reaching Leh is visited the DC office to get the inner line permits to visit various places in Ladakh region. These permits were necessary to visit certain places in Ladakh region. It took almost an hour to get the permits and then went to the place where we had the arrangements for our accommodation in Leh. Our accommodation arrangements were at an Army Camp near the main Leh Chowk. It was arranged by Amit’s brother who is in Army and was posted at Leh. We got three very well furnished tents and the facility of Army mess. Took some rest and then roamed around the Leh market in evening. We enjoyed our first evening in Leh with full Royal Army hospitality.

Distance Traveled on Day 4:

Kargil to Leh: 210KMs

Agenda for tomorrow is to visit Khardung La Pass and Nubra Valley. Distance to Nubra Valley from Leh is 120 KMs.