Murudeshwara – Nethrani Island

I bit the mouth piece of snorkeling apparatus tight and consciously breathed through my mouth. It dint take long to have it on comfortably. I tilted my body to face the sea. What I just then saw was the hollow sea bed with rocks dispersed around. There weren't any living thing prominently visible at that moment of time. My mind was occupied in learning the skills to stay afloat. I failed to relish what was around until I saw a few tiny fishes swim below me.

A quick image of Finding Nemo flashed and then I saw beyond those moving figures, a picture beyond imagination, beyond any description was below me. It was picture perfect. To an extent the light rays penetrated its trunk revealing those never-seen oceanic colors. I let my body drift to the rhythm of the waves and after a short while I saw two divers one above the other diving close to the sea bed. One of them pumped out foam of bubbles which grew in size as it rose to the surface. I played bursting them like a kid. I loved being there. Just when I thought what I missed all these years, the whole story of how I finally made up to try this adventure was getting relayed inside my mind.

 On one of my previous trips to St Mary's Island I remember having a wonderful experience of floating over the water surface and hearing to the calm of the sea underneath. I laid on the bed of water for a long time sensing her on my ears and feeling her movements on my back. It was so pleasant & quiet that it still resounds on my eardrums at times. But contrary to this, there is this incident which happened couple of months back, which shook me badly. It gives me light tremors every time I think of it. I almost drowned and was saved by a friend. He teases me even today recollecting it. Even as a kid I used to panic every time I got into water. It scares me when my feet cannot touch the bed below and when I am floating I imagine creatures swallowing me into it. It sounds a lil dramatic, but its still the same dreadful imagination I have when I am in water. With this recent incident, it has become even worse. Having known that I am hydrophobic, I knew what I was missing. I could not brush aside this any more. I suggested the idea of diving to Suhas & we planned to dive in Nethrani Island near Murudeshwara.

Photo Courtesy: Harsha

Things quickly got freezed & a  big bunch 27 people got our train tickets booked way ahead of time. The world around me, knew that I was diving even before I even packed my bags. Thanks to umpteen check-ins & updates our fellow travelers made on FB. Train journeys are always fun especially when we are a good crowd of mad gang. We played games, recited stories from tinkle, screamed through dark tunnels, clicked crazy pictures, sang songs, danced with joy & not to forget we paid to eunuchs :P. It was noon when we got down at the murudeshwara station and reached the market road. Mid-day sun forced us to quickly reach our hotels facing the sea. With stomachs craving for food, we entertained ourselves to choose hotels and barged in some food into our tummy.

It was still hot sun to roam anywhere out so for a while we choose to fresh up and relax back in our rooms. With evening setting, the sun getting milder we planned to play Lagori on the sea shore. A gang of about 25 people running helter-skelter, throwing the ball far away across the sea shore and helluva screaming. We played till our muscles ached.

We freshened to visit the temple almost close to its closing time. We wanted to watch the tall statue of shive illuminated with lights of the night. The statue with its back to the sea was lit from the shore. The shadow of it thus falling on the sea in the form of long rays of light portraying shiva's grace spreading over the vast ocean. Suhas made some last minute announcement before we dispersed for dinner. A visitor around us seemed to assume Suhas to be a tourist guide and listened to him for couple of mins. LOL :P May be he dint understand a word of it and he left. We dinned at Naveen's hotel which is built over the sea water with the waves constantly lashing its pillars below us. Our aching body deserved some good sleep.

Photo Courtesy : Hazil

I always dream of doing yoga on beach side with the sun throwing at us its first few rays of energy. Few of us woke up for some warm up and yoga on the shore. I decided to carry a mat for my further beach treks to do some full fledged asanas which is otherwise not a great feeling on a not-so-clean shores like this one. Back in our rooms, boys were out having their first round of beverages. Not having much time to spare we cleaned ourselves and took seats in a hotel for breakfast followed by Avomine to avoid sea-sickness. We signed an agreement and packed for the dive. The instructor spoke as the boat made way on the waves towards the island. The tablet quickly had its effects on me and I don't remember a single word that was uttered during the journey. After reaching the island, the boats were anchored close to the island bank, while every one grabbed a snorkeling kit and dived into the ocean water with the life jackets on. As always my heart pumped hard due to the stress. After having every one calling me to join them, I remember I was the last one to jump.

Photo Courtesy: Harsha

I was too tired when I got back into the boat after snorkeling, it made me almost fall off. May be I was just too sleepy. I grabbed some bread crumbs and nutella and waited for my turn to dive. This time I made sure I dive early which will otherwise demotivate me. I was loaded with the cylinder and necessary gears before I could say anything, I was thrown into the water.

My first underwater experience is here

Back in the mainland, I stepped down from the boat and could hardly manage to stand. I was still sleepy. We refreshed in our rooms with a cold bath and searched for a hotel before boarding the bus. Gang towards Bangalore had already left and we headed back towards Mysore by an overnight bus.

Dras, an unforgettable day

My earlier posts from Leh trip are here

Day 12 : The Pangong Tso Lake

Day 13 : A ride in snow on Chang La

Day 14 : On the road towards Kargil

We were all sleepy as the cab rode towards Srinagar from Kargil. Somewhere during the journey I just glanced out of the window and saw the Indian flag swaying to the tune of air blowing over the mountain range of Tololing in Dras. Just when I wanted to show this to those dozing off, I realized we were passing in front of the Kargil war memorial. The vehicle was stopped right away and we jumped out of the vehicle. We were in Dras, the coldest inhabited town in India. It was a sunny day. It was difficult for us to imagine this snow-bound land during winter where snow storms are so frequent and the temperature drops to as less as –30 deg. A must see place when you are here is this Kargil war memorial built by Indian Army.

 

The previous day’s Vijay Diwas celebrations were very evident with the floral decorations and the military crowd in the place. It was around 8:30am, the breakfast from the canteen was no good to eat but least we were there for it. Without wasting much time, we started exploring the place. The martyr of the soldiers on the far end of the memorial wrote the story of each soldier on a stone which will stand there as long as the country continues to protect her crown from her two deadly enemies. Perhaps they will remain in each of our hearts forever.

Towards the right is a war gallery which takes you through the facts of Kargil war. The deadly war which has made deep scars to our nation, killing so many lives of our great soldiers. Reading those facts and figures gives goose bumps on your skin. You’ll have tears in your eyes seeing the images of a wife showing her last respects to the dead body of her husband & a father proudly saluting to his son’s sacrifice. The pictures showing the soldiers celebrating their victory brings a sense of accomplishment right there in you. It’s a proud moment for every Indian standing on the Vijay path (Path of Victory)

Few amongst us had the privilege to click their picture with those soldiers. They all stood proud posing at us. I took the charge to click few more pictures of the Indian flag and just when I retire to get back towards the vehicle parked outside I see a tilak on one of the soldier’s forehead and look back to the face as it seemed so familiar. Without a second thought I realized who it was. I see his name on his uniform and my heart leaps with unbound amount of joy. It was a long lost friend of mine whom I loved, adored and respected so much. I could not digest this sudden rush of mixed emotions running through my veins & I dint know how to celebrate this moment. The childhood love came alive and in no time I could recollect all those sweet memories I had cherished for more than a decade now. I went to him and introduced myself as he hardly knew my existence. I had to tell him hundred and one things from the past to help him recollect who I could be. A decade is too long to keep people in memory so I wasn’t too disappointed about the fact that he could not remember anything about me. More than anything I was way too happy to see him, for my prayers were answered the best way possible. We took each other through a quick recap of our lives. He listened to me like he was listening to a child reciting a crammed poem. He was amazed of how I could know and still remember so many things about him. I had no answer to this. I could only smile at my child like love I had for him.

 

I could not ask for more time from my friends as we had a long way to go. We said bye to him after clicking pictures and sharing our contacts. I left the place physically but for the rest of the trip I could never bring myself back from Dras, for that matter even today. The rest of the journey was undoubtedly the best part. It gave me all time to go back in time and re-live every day and every moment of life that belonged to him. An undying smile and tears due to the overwhelming emotions kept me graved for a very long time. I could not understand if I were happy to be in that state but I was little worried to stay like this for a long time. I still don’t really know that feeling.

 

While the rest of the team slept, I still gazed outside the windows at those tall mountains on the zojila pass. I just could not sleep for even a single second. We stopped for lunch at a local dhaba where again we found time to pick up few kashmiri salwar kameez materials and strolls available for sale at cheap rates. We would reach Srinagar by evening so the team was busy planning for the stay and some shopping that they would want to do after reaching the place.

Imtiaz bhai by now had become a good friend of Raja after his previous visit to Jammu Kashmir, he met us in Srinagar. We checked into a boat house at Dal lake with a good deal of Rs1600/- per head incl dinner, breakfast and Shikara ride in the lake. Imtiaz bhai took us around the city which was almost shut for Roza for the day. We visited Chashme Shahi gardens and Shalimar Bhag before it got too dark. Local shopping for few bags, dry fruits and dresses near the Dal lake got us to the end of the day. Back in the hotel, the owner of the boat dint spare us from another round of shopping. We hunted for the last notes in our wallets.

On a lighter note, according to the local dialect the meaning of Dras is “Hell”, so I met a long lost friend in “Hell”…. Ha ha… Well…. it was Heavenly!! I slept thinking of this day of my life which was one of the best days so far. The cozy bed of the boat made it feel even more lovelier.

On the road towards Kargil

My earlier posts from Leh trip are here

Day 10, 11 : Around Leh

Day 12 : The Pangong Tso Lake

Day 13 : A ride in snow on Chang La

Our host served us hot yummy porridge as a complimentary breakfast on our last day in Leh. Dried apple & honey added to the rich taste. We shared our contacts, facebook IDs with them before we bid bye to Vishnu & Boxer Bhaiyya (he was a national level boxing player). We loaded our bags onto the vehicle and started towards Kargil. As we passed by Hall of fame, we noticed that the tankers and the military battalions were all lined up, we could sense the celebrations in the air around the place but we hardly knew the date to realize it was Vijay Diwas.

The driver refused to cross 60kmph on those wonderful roads. We threw looks at each other expressing our frustration. We could not help but to bear with the monotony of his driving. We started small talk with him & realized he dint know the way to any of the monasteries we intended to visit on our way. This irritated us little more. But finding a place in & around Leh is never an issue. Thanks to the direction boards & also the people around directed us rightly to reach Likir Monastery. This one is about 50kms from Leh.

The view outside this monastery was captivating. The inside too had a colorful prayer hall. It was filled with study tables, books and manuscripts. The wall was covered with glass showcases with huge statues of Buddha and an endless collection of manuscripts.

I was attracted to an artistic prayer bell near the Buddha idol.       

There is a huge statue of golden color Buddha outside the monastery. It looked all the more wonderful against the dark mountains & deep blue sky in the backdrop.

From here we next stopped at Khalsi town for lunch. Mike, a solo traveler from Seattle had been in Leh and was on his way to Kargil. We agreed to offer him a ride with us till Lamayuru. Post lunch we headed towards Lamayuru monastery.

We occupied ourselves in an endless conversation with Mike while he shared his travel experiences in India & Nepal. By now we were cutting through barren mountains which resembled moon land. Hence this place is as well famous as Moonland. At a distance, the moonscape revealed the Lamayuru monastery on a small mountain.

The view from this monastery was spectacular. We spent sometime wandering around this gompa and we got back into our vehicle. We left behind innumerable mountains as we approached Kargil. It was evening when we made it to Kargil. Hundreds of war stories quiet naturally will occupy your thoughts from the very name of this place. We halted in a hotel which charged a high tariff and served an expensive bouquet. The month of roza does not encourage too many people on the streets, there was hardly anything we could see functioning here. We sat back and relaxed for the day to end as there was nothing interesting to see in Kargil.

Mike at Lamayuru Monastery

A ride in snow on Chang La

My earlier posts of Leh trip are here

Day 9 : A hard day on the wheels

Day 10, 11 : Around Leh

Day 12 : The Pangong Tso Lake

After enjoying Aloo parata for breakfast, we checked out of our room and headed back towards Chang La. The weather as predicted had worsened compared to the previous day. The ride was fast as long as there were good roads.

We stopped at a tea point and a huge troop who rode on their bikes from Maharashtra joined us. Back on the road now there were enough bikers for company but soon it started snowing as we reached the peak. Heavy snowfall on the peak has spread open a thick white blanket everywhere around. The place which was brown just a day before had turned completely white.   

Horrible roads almost broke my back. Few meters before the peak, I got off the bike and started walking. Pavan, seeing Raja coming alone on the bike got shocked thinking I had fallen off somewhere on the way :P. We made our way to a Army canteen which served free snacks for all and played some really good Hindi songs. That was too nice of them.

I badly needed some rest for my back. The weather dint appear to improve. We had to start before it got even horrible. We rode at almost 5kmph from here and the same circus of getting off at worst patches of road and walking for some distance. We took several pit stops in between & finally managed to reach Leh only by evening. Pavan had reached couple of hours before to us.

 

Back in the home stay, we were only 5 of us. We returned our bikes to stanzin, I was glad that the bike rides were over. We strolled around in the Leh market, picked up few antique items, some hippie clothes. Our hunger for Kashmiri shawls & strolls never leave us before getting a hole drilled in our pockets. The cab to go to Srinagar was booked for tomorrow. So quickly our journey in Leh was over and tomorrow we had to pack our bags and bid bye to this wonderful place.

The Pangong Tso Lake

My earlier posts of Leh trip are here

Day 8: Turtuk – The penultimate village!

Day 9: A hard day on the wheels

Day 10, 11 : Around Leh 

It was a cold morning when we started towards Chang La Pass. It was only me and Raja, after dropping Suma to airport, riding towards Karu after filling fuel to our desert storm. We were to join the rest of the group by noon at Pangong lake. Manu and Manju would have started their return journey towards Manali.

After having breakfast at the Punjabi dhaba and getting our permit copies done at Karu, we took a left diversion towards Pangong Lake road. The ride was boring and monotonous as there was not a single creature other than us for almost all the way till Chang La peak. The army trucks are too few in this route. It was chilling when we reached the peak. We stopped for tea at the canteen. The road was as always bad and we could not go beyond 10kmph. After climbing down on the other side of the Pass, it was again a barren land with no human existence. We stopped at an army check post to get our permits checked, the officer in charge sent us without even looking at them and we continued cursing for wasting paper on unnecessary copies.

  After a while we were passing by a village and noticed few bikes racing from the other side. We were initially happy to see some visitors, later we almost jumped with joy to meet the rest of our group. It was Manoj and Manju who were on their way to Manali. Behind them followed Pavan on his bike and after a while Suhas & Vidya too joined. We stopped near a teahouse for a tea & hear from them. These guys were to stay for another day along with us but they had changed their plans and were on their way to Leh. This was not a happy development for us. The thought of just the two of us visiting the lake seemed totally boring. We were dead bored by this very journey from morning till now and it looked pointless to continue like this any further. Fortunately after pleading and discoursing Pavan agreed upon joining us to the lake.

For the rest of our journey we raced on the two bikes. The milieu also seemed getting better. We found meadows and streams along. Beautifully blossomed tiny flowers sprinkled on the green patches between the streams. On careful observation we could locate few Marmots peeping out of their burrows.

A couple of km before on the Pangong Lake road we caught the first glimpse of this lake like a small triangular patch of blue between the mountains. After clearing our way through these mountains we saw an endless area covered with deep blue water. The pitch dark roads cutting U on the brown land with the view of the lake at the back was stunning. We had finally arrived at the highest salt water lake in the world.

After reaching the lake we hungrily searched for a good canteen. There were endless hotels temporarily built of asbestos sheets with weird names “3 Idiots hotel” was also one of them. It started raining lightly by the time we parked our bikes and took shelter in a canteen. They served us endless hot Phulkas, dal and Rajma. The very famous 3 Idiots spot was already crowded with people capturing pictures in several poses. We preferred to travel further to reach the tents before the weather further worsened. The next village Spangmik is filled with tents and few permanent accommodations facing the lake. We checked into one of those permanent accommodations which were slightly costlier than the tents. Just when we reached our room it started pouring heavily. The doors refused to shut against the strong winds.

Not spending much time in the room, we took our bikes and rode along the lake side till as long as the roads got really slushy. After this, lot of slippery mud seemed risky to ride. We stopped here to take pictures and sat watching the small waves hitting the shore. The bank at several places had beautiful stones arranged like a pillar. The player flags tied randomly to these stones blow hard with the wind. While you are engrossed in your solitude watching the blue waters the bar-headed geese fly across the scene touching the water superficially and lands on the shore. Watching these birds I recollect the famous song from a Hindi movie Refugee beautifully sung by Alka Yagnik , “panchi nadiya pawan ke jhonke … koi sarhad na inhe roke”. I love this song so much that I have tears listening to it.      

Inspite of the heavy wind blowing across your face, you would want to sit here till the lake disappears in the dark. The clouds played a spoil sport without giving us even a glimpse of the moon. We walked back to our rooms and got into the warm bed after a delicious dinner.

Around Leh

My earlier posts of Leh trip are here

Day 7: Nubra Valley – An odyssey

Day 8: Turtuk – The penultimate village!

Day 9: A hard day on the wheels

The body demanded some rest so the group decided to stay back for a day to relax and visit places around Leh. There were several surprises which led to changes in our plan. Kanthanna had to fly back the next day due to some personal emergency following that was Suma who would fly back to Bangalore.

Amidst all the surprises and vague decisions we enjoyed a hot bath and some nice sleep, watching TV in the lobby with some delicious parathas and thick curd. By evening we got ready to visit Hemis, Thikshey Monasteries. The very thought of riding on bike was so painful. But the monasteries were just 45kms from Leh and promised good roads.

Hemis Monastery is around 10kms from Karu. We reached Karu and approached a army truck for the route who were selling souvenirs. We found one of them speaking in Kannada and the other fellow in Tamil. It’s easy to guess what followed after this. We bid bye to them while they instructed us to take a right to go to Hemis monastery.

After this right, the road starts climbing a mountain and there is rich greenery everywhere around which is very evident. The sky contrast which we saw here was second to none. The monastery is in Tibetan architecture which is so very colorful to add to the beauty of the nature around. Any man made structure is seldom an enriching factor for the nature but these monasteries really are. The rich colors of the Gompa, prayer flags added a great variety to the surroundings. The Gompa has a huge courtyard sided with verandahs which exhibited colorful paintings of Buddha. Below this courtyard is a museum with a rich collection of Buddha statues and several ancient remnants.

There were shops selling calendars, post cards and books about Leh, Buddhism which tempted most of us to grab some specially the calendars. On our way back we saw a huge army store and naturally guys wanted to stop there. They opened the shop just for us and hurried to buy whatever we wanted quickly. After grabbing some really cool stuff we rode towards Thikshey monastery which falls in between Leh and Karu. It was late evening when we reached here. This one too is on a hill which gave a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. The moon was glittering bright against the deep blue evening sky. We stopped here clicking pictures while few of us went venturing into the monastery.

 

It was dark by the time we made it back to Leh. We strolled around the market and gathered at Monalisa for dinner. Next day’s plan was in drop Kanthanna to airport and then start towards Pangong Lake but since Suma had to stay alone for another day in the homestay, Me & Raja agreed to stay back in Leh for another day.

As the group departed to Pangong Tso lake, we did nothing useful other than enjoying another round of hot bath and some good food in the homestay. By evening we planned to visit Leh Palace & Shanti Stupa. The Palace, though seemed close by was quiet interior. We took small, dusty roads which dint look like belonging to Leh mainly for the sort of crowd that we saw on our way. The Palace is on a small hill and stands like and emblem for the city of Leh. It is an old structure without much of an attention given to the maintenance. Rooms are dark and windows right away into the space around. The paintings hung negligently on the wall showing the history of this place and several sketches of Buddha which does not hold your attention because of the bad ambience. Nevertheless the view of the city from the palace is something remarkable. The brown mountains spread against the blue sky and the snow mountains at far distance forms a natural collage of the beautiful city.

 

From here we made our way to Shanti Stupa. A circular structure beautifully lit up in the dark. A meditation hall welcomes you into the calm of the place. The moon looked almost full spilling its light all around the city. A small café in the premises of this Stupa served one of the best maggies I have ever had. After a round of hot tea we sat out watching the game of dragon formed out of clouds galloping the moon into itself setting darkness all around and after a while the moon wins over it again to celebrates its win with all the more light and the game continued for rest of the night.

A hard day on the wheels

My earlier posts of Leh trip are here

Day 7: Nubra Valley – An odyssey

Day 8: Turtuk – The penultimate village!

The clouds on the mountains towards Khardung La Pass were quiet discouraging but we could not stay back & wait for the weather to clear up. Our host inspected the mountains and evinced possibility of snowfall on the peak. The group had finished a quick round of bread butter and jam for breakfast accompanied with Ravichandran hit songs on our phones. The bread went in smoothly but the news on weather outside was not so welcoming.

Without further delay we packed our bags. Manu, Manja & Pavan rode back to Hunder to enjoy a ride on the double-humped camels while the rest of us were set on our way to Leh. We hoped weather to improve as the day sets in while we knew it is difficult to predict weather in such altitudes. We hurried without too many stops and as expected with growing altitude the weather got colder and it started raining, by the time we reached North Pullu we were wet and shivering with cold. We threw our bikes as soon as the canteen appeared at our sight. Hot Maggie and some hot tea was a real life saver. The roads from here got bad making the ride slow and more difficult. Close to the peak it started snowing and on reaching Khardung La peak we were drenched again. We did not stop on the peak and continued in the snow.

The gloves we wore dint suffice to withstand the snow and cold. Our fingers were totally numb. It was the most difficult part of the roads after crossing the peak and we rode at almost 5kmph to avoid potholes which would otherwise kill my back. We covered ourselves completely which made it difficult to talk to each other. I had to show thumbs up to the rider every 15mins to indicate all is well and I haven’t fallen off :P

 

Ahead of us was a biker whom we followed as the visibility was really bad. We slowed as he did at the curves and for the first time I felt having someone ridding along is so much of a strength. It’s a force that keeps you going ahead just the way you need someone’s being in your life to keep you not just alive but also to make you feel you are living. There was a sudden rush of mixed emotions running through my body. It was an unknown fear running across my hands and limbs as it felt weak while at the same time there was a sense of amiable gaiety that just made me to carry on.

The ride was tiring and seemed endless. The weather gods though spared us after sometime, it was the reckless roads which made it all the more difficult. I preferred getting down from the bike and walked across few patches of really bad roads. The onward journey which seemed fun and exciting was now almost killing my back due to continuous journey on the bike.

It was early evening when we saw the city of Leh at a far distance. It was such a relief that I fail to word my feeling. I breathed some happy air into my lungs when the roads got better again. The traffic on the opposite side was stopped due to bad weather which left for us the entire road. After turning all the curves down to the hill we saw Kanthanna & Suma waiting for us. We stopped with them for a while and then rode towards the city. Back in our rooms, we all seemed as if we had made it back in one piece after going through a pleasurable trauma.