A Trip To Ladakh, Kargil& Kashmir
by Shreyashi Kukreti - Class 8th, CJM (Convent of Jesus and Mary), Dehra Dun for http://www.hillsguide.com
“Ladakh is a country with peculiar charms, utterly destitute of the verdant beauty of Kashmir, yet its lofty sandy plains and rugged granite ridges have beauties which all who have once been there can appreciate”
-Dr. Neve
There are some places which once visited by any person always remains in his or her memory. One of which visited by me is Leh.
Leh is the capital of Ladakh. Ladakh has always been a place of attraction for tourists. Red bear, snow leopard, marmot etc. are found here. Ladakh is also a place for scientific and political vacationers.
I very clearly remember, me and my family and some of my close relatives planned to visit Leh, Ladakh. It was for the first time that I had heard of such a place in India. According to the name Leh, I had expected the place to be green with trees, tall buildings etc. But to my great surprise, the place was neither filled with greenery nor did it have tall buildings. It has always been a great fun to visit a place with your cousins as they add to the thrill. While I was in my flight to Leh, I just overlooked the view from the window. It was then that I realized that why I was told that this place would be completely different from the other places.
At one moment, I could see a valley of mountains, completely covered with snow and the other moment I could see a barren land. I just couldn’t visualize the place after seeing different locations from the window of my seat. It was quite exciting to see such a look, so I was compelled by my father to capture the view even though it wasn’t allowed in the flight. Then came the much awaited moment, the flight landed, and we reached Leh. We were told that temperature outside was 9degree c. It was damn cold outside and what a bad luck of mine it was that I was only wearing a half sleeve top and that too with shorts!! But after witnessing the first site of the place all my shivering had gone away. If I had to describe the place in one word I would simply say it was ‘Fantastic’.
We got the opportunity to witness Leh because of my ‘Phuphaji’, Colonel Pasbola as he had been posted there. When we reached the army camp, we were made to eat medicines and we had to eat them daily, God alone knows why we were made to eat those medicines. We also had a medical checkup to test our oxygen level and thank God everyone tested fine. So, it meant we could start our journey of visiting the places in leh from the next day.
The first place that we visited in leh was Hemis Gompa. It was a kind of monastery. From the experience of visiting a few of these kind of Gompas or rather monasteries, I noticed that the main religion of the people of leh is Buddhism. They worship their ‘guru’ Dalai Lama. Next we went to the main market of leh. There was hardly anything to buy but there were many jewellery shops and the jewellery was quite expensive. The main jewellery sold there was pearls. The market place was quite crowded with tourists from all over the world. We returned quite early as the next day we had to visit another place in leh. The next place visited by us was the leh and the sheh palace. I genuinely loved the leh palace. It was quite cool in there and we saw many scriptures of the past kept there. Visiting sheh palace was a very exciting experience though it was again that there was simply a statue of Lord Buddha kept there. That day we were told that the kids would get a chance to go for firing. Thus, we were taken to a place where three targets were set up for us to shoot. There we met an officer who introduced us to the other kids who were there for the same thing. I was a bit nervous, as I had never done such a thing before, but my cousins supported me well but I knew they were themselves very scared. It was a great experience to shoot for the first time. Everything went off very well and we then started off back for our place. But the best was yet to come!! We went to Khardung la, the highest motor able road in the world. We were at a height of about 18000 ft. no vehicle in the world could be driven beyond that point. It was freezing out there, as the temperature was below minus. My lips soon turned into blue due to the cold and insufficiency of the oxygen. It was all covered with snow there and it was very thrilling for me as it was for the first time I had seen snow in my life. Next we went to the Pangon lake. It was a very nice experience to visit this lake as 70% of it was with India and 30% with China. And that’s to disputed. The next day was a very special one as we had to start our journey for Kashmir. On our way to Kashmir we visited many historical landmarks such as Drass and Kargil which is famous for the Kargil war, which took place way back in 1999. I heard a lot about the Kargil war and seen movies based on it. We visited Vijay path Memorial which was a tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in operation Vijay. It was very enthralling to see and hear about the operation. We were also shown tiger hill from the Drass sector. It is the hill situated at the top and is very special because India re-captured this hill during war. The Hrithik Roshan film Lakshya is based on this subject. We stayed that night in Kargil ,in a hotel. We were told that before the Kargil war, the terrorists started to reside in Kargil as its residents and no one came to know about it. It was approximately around the war that army discovered about it. But trust me it’s a place of one of its only kind. Very different, and hardly people living there. It was a nice experience to visit such a place. Next day, we started off for Kashmir.
“Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere;
With its roses the brightest that the earth ever gave,
Its temples, and grottos, and mountains as clear,
And the love lighted eyes that hang over their wave.”
- Moore.
Someone said very correct, that if there is anywhere heaven on earth, it is Kashmir, Kashmir & kashmir.
Anyone will madly fall in love with the place, if visited once. However, now tourists hardly dare to visit the place as it is one of the most tension areas of India. You need to have both, luck and chance to visit this area. Kashmir is described as ‘an emerald set in pearls’ , ‘that opens sublime the Vale of Bliss to the world’’ and defined by eminent writers as ‘one of the finest places upon which the sun shines’, ‘a dream of loveliness’. Kashmir is also said to be Switzerland of India.
We reached Kashmir by the evening and it wasn’t dark there, though the time was about 6pm. We first entered a place called Sonmarg which is a very prominent place in Kashmir. It’s a must for people who come to Kashmir to visit this place. This was the most beautiful sight I had ever witnessed in my life. The weather was very cool, gentle breeze was blowing, I could see mountain peaks covered with snow. It was all lush green. We stopped at a shop to have tea and snacks. That moment it began to rain heavily. When we were heading towards the army area what a sight I could see! The houses out there were so beautiful. No place in the world, be it London or America can be compared to the natural beauty of Kashmir. After some time when it became dark, the city shined with lights from all over. It was then I was shown the most famous place of Kashmir, the Dal Lake. What a beauty it was. I was very elated when we were told that next day we would visit the Dal Lake.
The Dal Lake was a very electrifying experience. We sat in the Shikara houseboat; I was very impatient to sit on this boat as I had heard a lot about it. We witnessed the whole of the Dal Lake because of the shikara. There are many films shot in the Dal Lake. The most famous of which is Mission Kashmir, in recent times. We also did water skiing there. Our next destination was the Shankaracharya Temple. It is dedicated to lord Shiva. The famous song “Jai Jai Shiva Shankar ” was shot here. We had to climb too many stairs to reach the actual temple where the sculpture of lord shiva was kept. It was very crowded there. Next we started off for Gulmarg which is a very famous place in Kashmir. The actual beauty lied in this place. It was so cold there, and when we sat in the cable cars, I could see a lovely sight. It was very cloudy and it seemed to me as if the clouds were touching me and going. My father liked the place so much that he wanted to build a house there and live there. We were given boots, knee length coats, and gloves as we had to go to a very great height through cable car. I could see the peak where we had to go. It was fog all over and there was heavy snowfall up there. So we had to cancel our plans to go up there. It was a bit disappointing, but my heart rejoiced seeing that site, up there. I didn’t want to leave the place as it was so very beautiful. The snow covered mountains, the gentle breeze, the cool climate every thing was so beautiful out there. Someone very correctly said “In no country in the world are there such magnicent masses of snow covered mountains as represented here; the giants of Alps would look like dwarfs”. So the next day, after visiting so delightful places we had to start for Leh again. On our way to leh the most exciting site we saw was the Moonland. It was a group of mountains together and one couldn’t just make out whether they were mountains. They were made of mud. They were round shaped and they were just as the color of the moon. That is why it was called the moonland. It was the best location according to me that we had witnessed so far. The next day we had to leave for Delhi. I just didn’t want to come back.
In the flight to Delhi, I was just wondering will I ever get a chance again in my lifetime to visit such a place. People want to visit foreign countries but ever have they thought that the beauty that lies within their country cannot be found anywhere the world. After visiting Leh Kargil and Kashmir I think the only country that has such a natural beauty and such a charm is India. Finally, one should visit this place atleast once in their life time, it is heaven.
To view Pictures visit http://hillsguide.com/
by Shreyashi Kukreti - Class 8th, CJM (Convent of Jesus and Mary), Dehra Dun for http://www.hillsguide.com
“Ladakh is a country with peculiar charms, utterly destitute of the verdant beauty of Kashmir, yet its lofty sandy plains and rugged granite ridges have beauties which all who have once been there can appreciate”
-Dr. Neve
There are some places which once visited by any person always remains in his or her memory. One of which visited by me is Leh.
Leh is the capital of Ladakh. Ladakh has always been a place of attraction for tourists. Red bear, snow leopard, marmot etc. are found here. Ladakh is also a place for scientific and political vacationers.
I very clearly remember, me and my family and some of my close relatives planned to visit Leh, Ladakh. It was for the first time that I had heard of such a place in India. According to the name Leh, I had expected the place to be green with trees, tall buildings etc. But to my great surprise, the place was neither filled with greenery nor did it have tall buildings. It has always been a great fun to visit a place with your cousins as they add to the thrill. While I was in my flight to Leh, I just overlooked the view from the window. It was then that I realized that why I was told that this place would be completely different from the other places.
At one moment, I could see a valley of mountains, completely covered with snow and the other moment I could see a barren land. I just couldn’t visualize the place after seeing different locations from the window of my seat. It was quite exciting to see such a look, so I was compelled by my father to capture the view even though it wasn’t allowed in the flight. Then came the much awaited moment, the flight landed, and we reached Leh. We were told that temperature outside was 9degree c. It was damn cold outside and what a bad luck of mine it was that I was only wearing a half sleeve top and that too with shorts!! But after witnessing the first site of the place all my shivering had gone away. If I had to describe the place in one word I would simply say it was ‘Fantastic’.
We got the opportunity to witness Leh because of my ‘Phuphaji’, Colonel Pasbola as he had been posted there. When we reached the army camp, we were made to eat medicines and we had to eat them daily, God alone knows why we were made to eat those medicines. We also had a medical checkup to test our oxygen level and thank God everyone tested fine. So, it meant we could start our journey of visiting the places in leh from the next day.
The first place that we visited in leh was Hemis Gompa. It was a kind of monastery. From the experience of visiting a few of these kind of Gompas or rather monasteries, I noticed that the main religion of the people of leh is Buddhism. They worship their ‘guru’ Dalai Lama. Next we went to the main market of leh. There was hardly anything to buy but there were many jewellery shops and the jewellery was quite expensive. The main jewellery sold there was pearls. The market place was quite crowded with tourists from all over the world. We returned quite early as the next day we had to visit another place in leh. The next place visited by us was the leh and the sheh palace. I genuinely loved the leh palace. It was quite cool in there and we saw many scriptures of the past kept there. Visiting sheh palace was a very exciting experience though it was again that there was simply a statue of Lord Buddha kept there. That day we were told that the kids would get a chance to go for firing. Thus, we were taken to a place where three targets were set up for us to shoot. There we met an officer who introduced us to the other kids who were there for the same thing. I was a bit nervous, as I had never done such a thing before, but my cousins supported me well but I knew they were themselves very scared. It was a great experience to shoot for the first time. Everything went off very well and we then started off back for our place. But the best was yet to come!! We went to Khardung la, the highest motor able road in the world. We were at a height of about 18000 ft. no vehicle in the world could be driven beyond that point. It was freezing out there, as the temperature was below minus. My lips soon turned into blue due to the cold and insufficiency of the oxygen. It was all covered with snow there and it was very thrilling for me as it was for the first time I had seen snow in my life. Next we went to the Pangon lake. It was a very nice experience to visit this lake as 70% of it was with India and 30% with China. And that’s to disputed. The next day was a very special one as we had to start our journey for Kashmir. On our way to Kashmir we visited many historical landmarks such as Drass and Kargil which is famous for the Kargil war, which took place way back in 1999. I heard a lot about the Kargil war and seen movies based on it. We visited Vijay path Memorial which was a tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in operation Vijay. It was very enthralling to see and hear about the operation. We were also shown tiger hill from the Drass sector. It is the hill situated at the top and is very special because India re-captured this hill during war. The Hrithik Roshan film Lakshya is based on this subject. We stayed that night in Kargil ,in a hotel. We were told that before the Kargil war, the terrorists started to reside in Kargil as its residents and no one came to know about it. It was approximately around the war that army discovered about it. But trust me it’s a place of one of its only kind. Very different, and hardly people living there. It was a nice experience to visit such a place. Next day, we started off for Kashmir.
“Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere;
With its roses the brightest that the earth ever gave,
Its temples, and grottos, and mountains as clear,
And the love lighted eyes that hang over their wave.”
- Moore.
Someone said very correct, that if there is anywhere heaven on earth, it is Kashmir, Kashmir & kashmir.
Anyone will madly fall in love with the place, if visited once. However, now tourists hardly dare to visit the place as it is one of the most tension areas of India. You need to have both, luck and chance to visit this area. Kashmir is described as ‘an emerald set in pearls’ , ‘that opens sublime the Vale of Bliss to the world’’ and defined by eminent writers as ‘one of the finest places upon which the sun shines’, ‘a dream of loveliness’. Kashmir is also said to be Switzerland of India.
We reached Kashmir by the evening and it wasn’t dark there, though the time was about 6pm. We first entered a place called Sonmarg which is a very prominent place in Kashmir. It’s a must for people who come to Kashmir to visit this place. This was the most beautiful sight I had ever witnessed in my life. The weather was very cool, gentle breeze was blowing, I could see mountain peaks covered with snow. It was all lush green. We stopped at a shop to have tea and snacks. That moment it began to rain heavily. When we were heading towards the army area what a sight I could see! The houses out there were so beautiful. No place in the world, be it London or America can be compared to the natural beauty of Kashmir. After some time when it became dark, the city shined with lights from all over. It was then I was shown the most famous place of Kashmir, the Dal Lake. What a beauty it was. I was very elated when we were told that next day we would visit the Dal Lake.
The Dal Lake was a very electrifying experience. We sat in the Shikara houseboat; I was very impatient to sit on this boat as I had heard a lot about it. We witnessed the whole of the Dal Lake because of the shikara. There are many films shot in the Dal Lake. The most famous of which is Mission Kashmir, in recent times. We also did water skiing there. Our next destination was the Shankaracharya Temple. It is dedicated to lord Shiva. The famous song “Jai Jai Shiva Shankar ” was shot here. We had to climb too many stairs to reach the actual temple where the sculpture of lord shiva was kept. It was very crowded there. Next we started off for Gulmarg which is a very famous place in Kashmir. The actual beauty lied in this place. It was so cold there, and when we sat in the cable cars, I could see a lovely sight. It was very cloudy and it seemed to me as if the clouds were touching me and going. My father liked the place so much that he wanted to build a house there and live there. We were given boots, knee length coats, and gloves as we had to go to a very great height through cable car. I could see the peak where we had to go. It was fog all over and there was heavy snowfall up there. So we had to cancel our plans to go up there. It was a bit disappointing, but my heart rejoiced seeing that site, up there. I didn’t want to leave the place as it was so very beautiful. The snow covered mountains, the gentle breeze, the cool climate every thing was so beautiful out there. Someone very correctly said “In no country in the world are there such magnicent masses of snow covered mountains as represented here; the giants of Alps would look like dwarfs”. So the next day, after visiting so delightful places we had to start for Leh again. On our way to leh the most exciting site we saw was the Moonland. It was a group of mountains together and one couldn’t just make out whether they were mountains. They were made of mud. They were round shaped and they were just as the color of the moon. That is why it was called the moonland. It was the best location according to me that we had witnessed so far. The next day we had to leave for Delhi. I just didn’t want to come back.
In the flight to Delhi, I was just wondering will I ever get a chance again in my lifetime to visit such a place. People want to visit foreign countries but ever have they thought that the beauty that lies within their country cannot be found anywhere the world. After visiting Leh Kargil and Kashmir I think the only country that has such a natural beauty and such a charm is India. Finally, one should visit this place atleast once in their life time, it is heaven.
To view Pictures visit http://hillsguide.com/
