Day 1 : Julley Leh… The journey begins….

Year long discussion, months of planning and a long break will always bring you to the best of a place under the sun. One such amazing place in India is LEH. A must see for every lazy bug like me. So pack your bags and prepare some wonderful coffee as you travel with me to this beautiful place in our own country.

As always we had the list of places to visit, a route map for the same and the rest kept as open points. Rooms were to be looked for after reaching the place. We checked with cab drivers if they were free to give us a ride but nothing was booked. It was not really necessary to book anything in advance other than the train or flights. After having discussed with friends who had previously visited Leh, we had umpteen contacts and all the required information.

                                    Map of the places visited and stayed on our way

The group was big with 9 people having varied interests. Putting across each of our interests, we finally had 2 blueprints to execute the trip. It was like this, all 9 would travel to Manali by bus from Delhi. From here, 7 out of 9 will ride in a cab (Innova) to Leh while the rest 2 will ride bikes right from Manali. Reaching Leh, 4 out of 7 will hire bikes & rest 3 (we girls) will ride as pillions. After going around Leh, the same 7 will continue to reach Srinagar via Kargil in a cab; the other 2 bikers will drive back to Manali from Leh. Quiet a circus, don’t bother to read again if you dint get it. These different plans initially created a lot of friction in the group but were later accommodated.  

Guys got prepared with their riding gears for the road conditions were told to be terrible at few stretches. Like previous trips the last minute shopping was unavoidable and my 0-shopping idea went for a toss. Never mind it is better to be over-prepared than going under-prepared.

So it was Me, Pavan, Kanthanna travelling the length of this vast country by train from Bangalore to Delhi in Sampark kranthi express which will take its sweet 48 hours to reach the capital. We mostly ate, slept and chit-chat with the each other, otherwise plug to some music. Kanthanna and Pavan had brought some really delicious home food which thrived easily for 2 days, keeping our tummies happy. The train journey is very boring for few people especially for those who are new to this mode of transport. So, Pavan who had hardly traveled before on wheels for long had a very tough time. We made all efforts to kill time. Kanthanna would get down at every station and would get back to train only when it departed the platform. On his way he would bring us eatables sold on the platforms at different cities the train had stopped on its way. We probably never felt that the train was in full speed, it would stop at every other city more generously.

Fortunately, all the way from Bangalore till almost Delhi it was raining outside giving us the best views on the other side of the window. When I travel by train I feel like I really have seen this country in full and close. You see the deserted lands where except thorn-tipped plants nothing seems to grow, old dams, cacophony bridges which screams like ghosts when the trains run over them, mountains, homes of poor on the banks of the bridges, mind-blowing views of the rivers below you, the true country of yours unfolds right outside your window. All you asked to do is to embrace it. Isn't this a treat worth experiencing? A nice book in hand will definitely help when your eyes refuses to see anything outside. Music inside your heart never pauses. Also, for me, train journey is so much fun for this is the only time I get to sleep for long hours. There is absolutely no network to call anyone and I love this part more than anything else. It’s just you and your thoughts. If I am not thinking, I am mostly sleeping  :P

                                           Thanks to Pavan for this wonderful collage!!

Two days later, Suhas, Raja, Manoj, Manja, Suma, Vidya flew to Delhi and we finally became 9 at Mandi house, Delhi. The bus from Delhi to Manali was from this place at 6:30pm. This was my second time through this journey.