Day 7: Hanle > Tso-Moriri
Hello everyone, welcome to my last blog post of the Ladakh Series. This blog post all about our journey from Hanle to Tso-Moriri on day 7 and Tso-Moriri to Leh on day 8. Hope you enjoy!
I woke up feeling giddy and sick. My headache was so intense that I was hardly able to do anything. I assumed it could be due to the high altitudes and lack of oxygen. I pushed hard to move my butt out of the bed. My lovely friends packed my bag and helped me feel better. I swallowed a headache tablet and looked outside the window. The sun was up with his super bright face on and everyone was already ready. After relaxing for a bit, I felt a bit better. I then quickly changed and we were finally on the road.
The Journey:
We started our journey towards Tso Moriri. We drove for a few kilometres and after soaking in all the fresh mountain air, in an hour I completely got back to my normal self. The journey to Tso-Moriri was extremely serene with beautiful vistas all around us. We were driving along the china border; the terrain appeared really dry. There were fences on either side of the road and army camps for several stretches giving us a different feel of the world altogether. It looked scary yet exciting. It literally gave me goosebumps at a couple of moments to experience the environment.
Lunch at Tso- Moriri:
After driving for about 5 to 6 hours, we reached Tso- Moriri. We stopped by one of the food joints to have lunch. The place was too foggy and cold, and It started pouring in no time. I ordered momos and boiled eggs. Since this place is lesser-known compared to Pangong, the crowd is less too. Tucked away in the remotest part making Tso Moriri a place of peace and tranquillity. We came out after we finished eating and the view of the Tso Moriri lake and camps below was a sight to behold.
Campsite with a lake view:
Our campsite was located at one of the most beautiful locations I had seen. There was a mini stream flowing right infront of our tents, colourful prayer flags at every corner, multiple cute bridges to cross the river, Tso Moriri lake at a distance, Monastery at the top, lush green fields with colourful wildflowers, mini waterfalls and the sound of the flowing water giving us the feeling of being transported to another world.
We quickly changed and headed to the main hall to have our welcome tea, coffee and snacks. There was also an open mic set up for fun to make an announcement or for anyone to sing. We made use of that great opportunity to bring our inner singing talent out and looked like people from all around enjoyed it too. We had fun singing a few of the old Bollywood songs and humming for some Ladakhi music.
Memorable walk to Tso Moriri lake:
We then walked to Tso Moriri lake which was a couple a kilometre away. The weather was extremely cold but the time outside in that incredible location was totally worth it. We reached the lakeshore after half an hour of walk. We then sat on the shore staring at the army base camps on the other side of the lake and the deep blue lake against the backdrop of barren purple-grey mighty mountains.
It started drizzling after a while and we decided to walk back to the campsite. The lush green fields with beautiful wildflowers amidst mountains and rivers offered us some of the best scenic experiences with a complete mind-stirring site. We clicked a zillion pictures on the way and relaxed at the camp hugging the hot water bags that were provided to us to beat the chill on reaching back.
After dinner, we chose to stay warm inside the camp playing cards, and board games. We laughed more than we actually played. I literally live for moments like this. It was so fun. By the time we finished the game, it was already midnight and we went back to sleep.
Day 8: Tso-Moriri > Leh
Few of us woke up early to watch the sunrise. We took the day really slow as it was our last day in Ladakh. We just chilled by the campsite soaking in all the beauty of the place and the fresh mountain air. After breakfast, we got ready taking all the time in the world. And right before leaving, I also got some pictures wearing saree (Indian traditional outfit) and I was more than happy. We started our journey to Leh via Sumdo at around 9.30 AM. The journey looked very red and dry yet beautiful. It felt as though we were on mars.
We stopped at Sumdo for lunch and also to see the natural hot spring. We sat near the hot spring for quite some time and headed to lunch. I ordered a veg thali. We finished our lunch real quick as the place was extremely windy and cold. We loaded some snacks from the shops there and left to Leh.
It was late in the evening when we reached Leh. We checked in at the Eco Residency guesthouse. We relaxed for a bit and packed our bags as we had our flight the next morning. Later in the night, we had dinner at the guesthouse and went out to the Leh main market yet again to take one last stroll and shop some souvenirs. After spending a good time strolling in the Leh market and chilling in a café to enjoy the live concert, we decided to walk back to the hotel. None of us was 100% sure of the route back to the hotel neither did we have any internet to turn the map on. We walked and walked trusting our wild guesses and we jumped out of joy when we finally reached.
Leh to Bangalore:
Next day morning we woke up really early. We bid goodbye to everyone with a heavy heart and headed to the airport to catch my flight to Bangalore. Time went by reasonably quickly, and in the blink of an eye, I was home with nine days of purity added into my soul, with memories of lifetime, body full of tan and a few Kgs less. 😊