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Showing posts from September, 2018

Leh

Gateway to Buddhism and Tibetan lifestyle (Trip - SEP-18) Ladakh is totally different and unique part of India. Leh can be believed to be serving as center for Ladakh region. Marathon runners from Mumbai exercising atop Shanti Stupa Shanti Stupa Places to visit around Leh are: Leh Palace Shanti Stupa Leh Market  where traditional programs are held on Saturdays Villagers from around Leh brings traditional items to sell on Sundays Atop Leh Palace To visit distant and near distant places, bus services are started in Leh recently and Hitchhiking is another adventurous option available. Bus time table are showcased below. Apart from below, there are Mini buses to different places as well. Visit new bus station and obtain information about it. Specially note , bus for Nubra Valley starts from DC office in the morning and not from main bus stop. Also note , even though you have taken ILP (inner line permit) online, still one needs to ...

The economy of Ladakh

(Trip - SEP-18) Majority of residents of Leh and many in Ladakh seem to be in Middle class category. Although expenses for residents also seems high. There are multiple income sources I got to learn ladakhis have which are as follows: Tourism A Major source of income for the region. From Hotel, home stays, restaurants, travel agency, transport companies all are beneficiaries. Military The Military contributes a lot to the region in many ways including joining the army. I was informed 40% of youngsters aspired to join the army and serve the nation with high patriotism and makes their earning as well. The Milk economy Villagers from around Leh, sells Milk to local buyers (may be hotels) at INR. 50 / liter which if sold to government buyers may get around 36 to 37 INR. Still a handsome amount. Consider the scenario where 3 or more cow are there and each produce 15 liter Milk per day approximately. Which turns out to be about 2000+ INR. The economy of Donkey (that...

Amritsar and Ladakh experience

A Solo trip without solitude Khardung La, Ladakh Highlighting Places explored I visited Amritsar which is quite a Hot place yet with welcoming people just for a day and for rest of the days of my trip i  went to one of the most hospitable Ladakh with sober Buddhist population. Near Jallianwala baugh, Amritsar The journey spanned from 30-Aug-18 Thursday to 17-Sep-18 Monday. (18 nights, of which 4 days were heavy on intercity travel via trains or flights) Trying to be environment conscious, yet I produced more waste then my last bicycle trip. 5 plastic bottles for water (I lost my cycling water bottle as well :( ) Thermocol and plastic spoon when I consumed maggi at Pangong Couple of plastic wrappers where i consumed ready made fast food I covered following Places during my visit: Amritsar city  -  Leh (ATM - yes, Mobile Phone Network - Yes) Diskit (ATM - yes, Mobile Phone Network - Yes) Turtuk (ATM - No, Mobile Phone Network...

Train Journey Sep 2018

An ever improving Indian Railways I enjoy train journeys and feel comfortable while travelling as well. Indian trains over time have become faster and punctual as well as cleaner. Earlier, toilets in trains used to be very very dirty. There used to spitting marks inside railway coaches as well as garbage of all sort including beer bottle lying all around. Recently, private companies have been given contracts to take care of cleanliness of coaches as well as toilets. Now Indian railway scores much higher on cleanliness. Not only things have improved, complaining is also just a tweet away. If you are not satisfied with any service, or you feel certain service is required, just tweet and within few minutes swift actions are taken. One thing that is missing most is the availability of variety of Food available at different platform. Live cooking also seems to have been stopped. I suspect certain security reasons behind this, which may be because of train blasts that may have o...

Hall of Fame - War Heros

A tribute to Martyrs as well as braves serving the nation. (Trip - SEP-18) The Hall of fame has history narrated about War that India fought during different times. 1948 (47-48) - Pakistan : India Gives up Kashmir, now known as POK  1962 - China : India loses Aksai Chin to China (Qin) 1965 - Pakistan : Heavy exchange of fire and casualities 1971 - Bangladesh creation : India captures POK yet under UN pressure congress gov. gives up. 1999 - Kargil war

Pure Vegetarian restaurants in Leh

Vegetarian Food (Trip - SEP-18) Ahuja Lassi - Amritsar (MUST TRY : Best) I believe in Vegetarian Diet up to an extent not to consume food in Non vegetarian restaurant as economically my profit share goes into expansion of Non veg food. That's my contribution to non-violence. There are very few pure vegetarian restaurants in Leh but in Amritsar delicious Veg food is available. For me Brothers Dhaba in Amritsar is overrated. Some other food point should be tried. To experience food in Golden temple is good, apart from that, explore amazing food available in and around Amritsar. Listed below are the once I was able to find with lots of walking in and around Leh. Wish it helps someone, someday. Neha Refreshment in Main Market (Leh - 3.5stars on 5) Punjab Tadka restaurant (Leh - 4 stars on 5 ) Best Pure Veg Food possible near Main market (Leh) Tsomori near Main Market on Fort Road (Leh - Not tried) Radhu's in Main market (Leh - Not t...

Hemis Monastery

A 400 year old Legacy (Trip - SEP-18) Hemis monastery history and philosophy dates back to more then 400 years and museum that it comprise explains lot of stuff about Buddhism. Naropa (guru or mahasidh) according to some source is an individual with interesting storyline. He held north gate of Nalanda university during his times. Both, Nalanda University and Naropa has amazing stories and both are symbol of knowledge. I would love to study both in more details as time permits. Philosophy, knowledge, debate and discussion were dominant in that era and Naropa was considered highly knowledgeable man. He was informed of Tilopa (more knowledgeable man) and decided to leave his post in Nalanda University as North gate keeper (high post) and meet Tilopa.  Quest to meet and ultimately learn on the way were through 12 minor hardships and after he became disciple of Tilopa, underwent 12 major hardship to get enlightenment. Information is superficial in nature,...

Shayok River and Indus water treaty

Dariya-e-Shayok as it is called (Trip - SEP-18) Length is around 500+ km Shayok river runs from Diskit and through to POK via Turtuk.  Under Indus water treaty which was signed in 1960, water of Shayok river can not be used by Indian industries and nor a dam can be constructed on it. Though it is used for farming. Though I heard, Shayok means death. I am not sure about it. What to do? Though after 1960, India and Pakistan has fought 3 wars still treaty is intact. Atleast, dam should be created and as soon as there is more provocation, water should be stopped to pass on to enemy territory.

Ladakh and global warming

Denial or Ignorance (Trip - SEP-18) Ladakh is a full of barren mountains. Variety in Patterns of mountains is beautiful as well. Compact granular sand mountains Solid Rock mountains Whitish sand mountains It does not rain much in Ladakh region. Yet, Ladakhi does farming and believes in organic farming. Farming is dependent on River water.  Women work very hard in entire Ladakh, women are strong here Farming in Turtuk The rivers in Ladakh region gets water from Snow melting. Many mountain tops have snow for entire year. But with global warming, formation of Ice has reduced as well as meltdown of ice has increased. The Faster meltdown of ice and increased temperature results in less availability of water. Crops die and does not yield as much as it used to before. Local population in unanimously confirmed global warming has made drastic changes in environment and has adverse effect on their economy. What needs to be done to rectify global ...

Turtuk - Where peace prevails

Lost and found Balti Land in 1971 (TRIP - SEP-18) Pakistan has captured Gilgit and Baltistan from India and the land is called Pakistan Occupied Kashmir - POK. In 1971 during Indo-Pak war, not only Bangladesh was liberated but POK was regained by Indian army as well. Under UN pressure, POK was returned but Turtuk became part of India. Shayok River nourishes the land and it provides sufficient water for farming. Trek to Masjid located uphill provides beautiful views. View point is another place on slightly lower height and provides peaceful place to sit even to local population. View Point - Turtuk Monastery is another peaceful place to enjoy peace and talks with your friends. I enjoyed my visit to Turtuk with South Korean friends. Balti Kitchen There are some good food joints. Balti kitchen ranks one and Friends Cafe with amazing view for River takes second spot. Friends Cafe Although Turtuk is still not hot tourist destination, visit of few to...

Golden temple

A peaceful encounter with self, despite huge crowd (TRIP - SEP-18) History: Sikh are determined to save their motherland and are integral part of Hindustan. All citizen of Hindustan must be grateful to all the sacrifice done by Sikh to protect this land since centuries. Although usually gold and valuables were donated to Golden temple, during war crisis, the community asked for Swards and weapons and unity and strength from followers and that is where Sikh gained momentum. Who is Sikh : I initiated a discussion with an elderly inside the premises to learn more about the religion and the place. Sikh means to learn. Whoever is a learner is a Sikh. And teacher holds high place for a learner or student and thus Guru Gobind Singh Ji and many are worshiped with lot of faith. Akal Takht : Takht is writings. Akal (Akaal) means something that is beyond boundaries of time. The imperishable writings are placed at Akal Takht. Langar: The devotion of temple trust and...