A Pillion’s Leh Travelogue: Day F5ve ‘Karu to Leh’

6 April 2011 149 views No Comment Author: Sharninder

Today was an easy breezy rest day. The total distance we had to travel was 45 km, from Karu to Leh, and just about an hour of driving time. We rode along the Indus, appreciating the smooth road, the sun and the cool breeze. Enjoying ever last bit.

We reached our destination. It’s an uneasy feeling, for months you are planning a trip, preparing for it and in the last couple of days you are struggling towards it. But when the final destination is just an hr away – you don’t want it to end.

Many people rush through this route completing it in 2 days, which is a crime. Manali-Leh should be done leisurely. The real fun is in the journey and not the destination. Although if the destination is Leh you are still in for a lot more experiences.

Leh is India’s bond with the striking past, when long caravans plied the ancient Silk Route and lingered long in Leh to rest, to buy, to plan, or just to visit. Leh is situated at the summit of a triangular plateau formed by the Indus at an altitude of 3368m. Ladakh is the most remote region of India; a barren cold desert. Ladakh beckons for more than one reason. The defiance of its barren landscape is its unique flora and fauna, its culture, it’s clear blue skies and clean air, the land where things are done differently.

There are so many things to do in and around Leh that you need another week to get around it all. I’m going to need a couple of other posts to cover all of them. Right now, it is my day of rest.

(c) Photographs by Ritika Sabharwal, Sharninder Khera and Nitin Joshi

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