LEH TO NUBRA VALLEY: DAY 3

Hello all, welcome to another blog post from my Ladakh Dairies. It was day 3 of our trip and the agenda for the day was to drive to Nubra Valley via Kardungla pass. We left Leh after our breakfast for the exciting drive to Nubra valley – a bright, beautiful day with clear blue skies and the mountain views. All that we witnessed on the way to Nubra valley was the long stretch of snow-filled mighty Himalayan ranges. We had our jaws dropped seeing those humongous mountains and below are few pictures to show you the kind of view we witnessed en route Kardung la pass.

Kardung La Pass:

Upon reaching Kardung La Pass, the thrill of being at the very top of the world sure gave us butterflies in our stomach but it was breath-taking, I mean literally! We felt breathless climbing or just generally walking on those mountains. So my advice for anyone who is traveling to such hights is to take it slow. Deliberate small steps. Climbing a single flight of stairs can have you gasping for air. Just in case if you are feeling extremely sick or having difficulty with breathing, there are oxygen rescue centers in here too. Other than that, carry your own oxygen supplies as well to be on the safer side should something go wrong. Because you don’t wanna come back home dead alright; No kidding guys!

Also, there are hardly any public toilets that one can use in any of these places you visit, so be ready to err commune happily with nature. And don’t forget to carry toilet paper and hand sanitizer because darling, you’re gonna need it out of nowhere. 😛

Diskit monastery:

We then continued our journey towards Nubra valley. We stopped by Kardung la restaurant on the way for lunch and feasted on Maggie, momos, and some eggs. The food everywhere here on the hills is quite reasonable and decent. Also, not even once we bought bottled water on our entire journey. None of us did. We all carried our own water bottles and filled it everywhere possible by requesting the hotel staff or the locals for hot drinking water. That way you can contribute at least a bit towards the plastic-free Ladakh isn’t it? Because even the small step towards saving our beautiful planet counts. On top of everything, we all know plastic is horrendous for the environment so please do your bit and avoid plastic as much as you can.

We reached the Diskit monastery at around 3.30 PM. This monastery is nestled on the serene hills overlooking the desert, mountains, and rivers. The giant Buddha statue opposite the monastery was just mesmerizing. We could see a 360-degree view of the surrounding. It was a perfect place to find peace and solace. The place definitely felt very soothing for our soul as we laid down on the floor right in front of the mighty Buddha statue to relax.

After soaking in the beauty of the place to our satisfaction, we continued our journey towards Nubra Valley. The drive to Nubra was just out of the world. We could not resist ourselves from taking several pitstops on the way and we also witnessed one of the dreamiest waterfalls and a lake en route.

Nubra Valley:

We reached our campsite at about teatime. Our campsite was located amidst rugged mountains with immense views. Everyone crashed for a quick nap whilst I went for a walk in the valley. Words can’t fathom how relaxed and blessed I felt within to be there. Fluffy mountain dogs accompanied while I calmly perched myself on the rocks watching the big blue skies, breathing the fresh mountain air around me.

Hunder Sand Dunes:

Later in the evening, everyone woke up. We had our ginger honey lemon tea at the camp and headed to Hunder sand dunes to see the double-humped camels. The dunes are home to these Bactrian Camels. With such stunning landscapes against the backdrop of the snow-clad mountains, the Hunder sand dune looked nothing less than a fairy world. None of us chose to go on a safari on the camels instead, we roamed, jumped, took a million pictures, sang and, danced all over the dunes as the sun went down.

At dusk, we laid down flat on the tiny bridge over the stream with our feet dipped in the water staring at the stary sky and the surrounding mountains. Everything started casting a magic spell on us making us want to freeze that very moment.

With a heavy heart, we headed to our camp for dinner. We cleaned our sand-filled shoes, bags, and clothes and freshened up for dinner. Dinner was simple yet delicious. By the time we were done, the bonfire was set; The music, the warm nightwears, the best company, and the big bear spectacular starry sky to spend the night – what more could we ask! We chilled by the bonfire and also tried our hand at some night sky photography as the sky here was one of the beautiful skies I had seen in my life. 🙂

We all went back to sleeping really late although we had to be up really early in the morning to drive to Pangong Lake. The day and night at Nubra valley were just beautiful beyond my imagination. I really hope you enjoyed my blog as much as I loved documenting it here. Keep exploring this space for the next blog post in a few days. Love Love!