This trekking lark up Stok Kangri is going to be a doddle as we cheated a bit by flying into Leh, which at 3,500m takes your breath away, and is over half way to our peak! Mind you it would have been some trek from KL! We started our trip to the mighty Indian Himalayas by flying with Malaysia Airlines to New Delhi airport, and once there, transferred to the new domestic terminal using their free shuttle service. The layover, before our connection with Kingfisher Airlines, wasn’t long enough to justify getting a hotel room ( or we are too tight! Take your pick). So we found ourselves a quiet spot in which to crash out but of course got virtually zero sleep! You may have heard horror stories about Delhi airport but this new terminal is a vast improvement on the main terminal and not such a bad place to have a leh over!
The flight from New Delhi to Leh was as spectacular as we’d hoped it would be and finally the holiday had started. As we were trundling down the runway for take-off the pilot came over the intercom to describe the route to us. This included a weather report and we weren’t too chuffed to hear: “Keep your seatbelt fastened at all times as it’s likely to be windy. Let’s just hope for the best.”
Luckily, the wind had died down by the time we were going over the mountains. Our ever informative captain kept telling us which side was the best to be looking out of and taking photos. We may have experienced limited turbulence when climbing over the Himalyan foothills but the approach to Leh airport was anything but smooth. This was mainly due to all the twists and turns the approach involved in order to avoid plunging into a mountain. We were skimming over mountain tops and then, suddenly banked in order to be pointing in the right direction for the landing in Leh Valley. This is the widest and flattest part of the terrain for miles around. There are literally mountains everywhere. Considering we landed at 3500m we were actually on one!
Our ever helpful pilot had one last piece of advice for us. He pointed out that we would feel the effects of going from sea level to high altitude in such a short space of time. He advised not doing any running or jumping around for the next couple of days. Strange that he should know those activities were not on our itinerary! Once we disembarked the pilot joined us all on the tarmac. He was a very friendly fellow, who was obviously very proud of this part of India, and told us a little about the area and the peaks we could see.
Someone from Dreamland Guesthouse was at the airport to meet us, but we were so early the room wasn’t ready. They showed us up to their roof-top restaurant and plied us with brews so we were quite happy to wait. We got our first view of Stok Kangri and it looked kind of do-able in a very challenging way! Even though we were on a main road, Leh had a quiet and relaxed feel to it. We were looking forward to exploring but needed a restorative nap first. Once refreshed we wandered around the streets taking in the sights and sounds. Leh is quiet but if you took away the; guesthouses, cafes, bakeries, restaurants, souvenir shops and travel agents, it would be empty! We were of course peckish by this point so retired to another roof-top restaurant. Following weeks of training it was mighty disheartening to find climbing a couple of flights of stairs a real struggle. It was worth the effort to be in a place with panoramic views of the town, valley, a big old palace, temples, mosques, stupas, gompas and of course those fabulous Himalayas.
At 5pm we popped back to the guesthouse, as they’d offered to take us on a free tour of the main tourist sites. Who are we to look a freebie in the eye?! We were even more amazed to find that it was just Steve & I. First the driver dropped us at Leh Palace and made it clear that it was up to us how long we spent there. This is an imposing old building perched on a ridge on the edge of the city. The palace hasn’t been used for a long, long time and has been steadily crumbling. There is some restoration work taking place, but it is basically a maze of empty, dusty rooms. Mind you, there are magnificent views at every turn.
We then moved up the hill to take a look at Tsemo Fort that is again quite dilapidated. To be fair it was knocked up in the 16th Century! A monk hangs around to sell minimally priced tickets for entrance to the top of the complex. Again, views that quite literally take your breath away – we were still getting used to the altitude. The last stop on the trip was to Shanti Stupa, a much more modern addition to the valley and a popular spot for sunset. The sun was actually setting behind the mountain to our backs, but the orange hues that were cast onto the mountain sides were beautiful. The evening sun reflected on the snow-capped peak of Stok Kangri was a magical end to our first day.
So much for a quiet day to acclimatise and rest before the start of the trek! It was a smashing introduction to Leh, and although wandering around was tougher than it should have been; it was good to know our bodies weren’t ready to rebel. We spent most of the afternoon’s trip in awe of our surroundings. In all honesty I haven’t got the power and depth of language to describe how incredible it is to land in a place like Leh. The flight in is an integral part of the adventure and there is something to captivate your attention at every turn. We’ve been to some amazing places and have walked through some incredible mountains but nothing can prepare you for the dramatic beauty of this area. I’m not even going to attempt to find all the adjectives, superlatives and turns of phrase to describe the scenery. It’s up to you to check out the photos, and even then we’re not sure they do the area the justice it deserves.
Following a cracking night’s sleep – bar the dogs howling along with the mosque at 3.45am – we were feeling much more with it and the niggling headaches had gone. Spent the morning exploring more side lanes, and since the weather was still superb, taking umpteen photos. Although we’re still tee-total leading up to the trek that didn’t stop us checking out likely places for our return! In fact the day consisted of wandering for a little while, stopping for a brew, bit more of a wander then a bite to eat. Incredibly we found it very difficult to get any decent Indian food but the Tibetan snacks were tasty. The restaurants pride themselves on their western menus and rightly so. We’ve not eaten such good pizza, burger, apple pie and chocolate cake for yonks. To top it all, the food is predominantly veggie so I was actually spoilt for choice. A thoroughly relaxing day and we were feeling eager to get our 10 days of trekking under way.
