Chapter 4: Other awesome stuff
After seeing Kargil, the POK border, and the nature’s heaven that is Turtuk; one might wonder, what else is there to see?
Oh boy, do I have a list for you:
1) If you have seen 3 idiots, you can’t miss the rancho school and you can’t miss the last shot of Pangong Lake where Amir Khan was acting to fly a fake remote-controlled plane (which you can’t actually do without military consent). I visited Pangong Lake; that cold cold place but what place it was. As if nature has sprayed the canvas with various colors. The blue of the lake is always getting a shade darker with the sun’s intensity. The white of the snowy mountains and brown of the soil and bare mountains in the background. When a cloud cast its shadow on the mountain, it looked like a CGI effect. This beauty somehow made you bear the cold (Even in the scorching sun, you can’t stop shivering as there is a constant stream of cold air flowing from the Himalayan ranges into the valley). The lake is a saltwater lake with extremely cold water. Even for photos when we tried to put our hands in the water, no “Puneri” could bear it. The lake’s water is saline water spanning over 134 km of which about 40% is within the Indian border. The rest of the boundaries of the lake are shared with China and Tibet.
This lake is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes or swamps, permanent or seasonal, that equilibrate through evaporation. During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water (wiki)
On the edge of this lake, there are these self-torcher chambers called tents. 
well, they are good and comfortable but by god, the cold wind of the mountain drops the temperature to near zero. It’s surreal to live even a night there. The adventure of the Leh and Ladakh trip begins right here. The wind was blowing so hard that the entire tent was moving about. Hardly we could sleep an hour. But the view was heavenly. And if you are down a peg or two, well the food quality won’t matter much!
2) Khardung La Pass – on the way to Turtuk, we visited Khardung La Pass -which is the highest motorable road in the world. At such height, we celebrated 15th Aug 21 with our soldiers, chanting Jai Hind and Bharat Mata ki Jai. We also played on ice and got our hands frozen successfully. And then we read the warning which was already shared with us by our tour advisor. “don’t stay there for more than 20 mins.” At 18K feet, the oxygen is so low that mortals get a super headache which I experienced first-hand. Which was the mildest symptom as others were put on an oxygen cylinder.
3) Chang La pass- while coming from Pangong Lake to Leh we visited the Chang La pass, again the height of which is 17K feet.
We also saw the Himalayan Marmot, a furry little creature who plays hide and seek when you try to observe it.
4) other awesome places in and around Leh such as Leh palace, monasteries, and Sindhu or Indus ghat.
5) how could I forget the impossible camel ride? Yeah! At one end you can see and feel the Icey cold mountains of the Himalayan ranges and on the other end, there are Sand dunes created due to dust from the bare mountains and sand from the river bed. We were told, this place was one of the few places, in the world where you get to see camels with 2 humps.
I thought sitting between 2 humps on the camel was going to be tough. Then a man shouted to put your weight back, back as the creature decided to get up. I thought many times, this is it, I would fall and be buried in the sand anytime now. But I survived. The camel was up and I was still on it. I thought well, now I get to enjoy the ride until I realized that my entire balance was only on the grip of my hand as my legs were as predicted, useless. As the creature started swaying its way through the sand dunes, I understood what was tough. Staying on the camel is challenging for a handicapped person. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. Something I thought I could never do myself. I was able to do this due to…. Well, the real reason was – peer pressure
As I look back on the experiences on the trip, a lot of things come to my mind. The breathtaking views, the mountains, and the sheer grit of the folks who live in such a condition. But one thing I remember vividly is their windows. I will always remember how they made their windows. Wherever we went, we saw houses, hotels, and guest houses having windows, windows which were open, without any grills or bars on them. An adult can walk easily through it. while we traveled, we saw men and women who peeked out of their windows to smile at the strangers on the roads as they sipped their Kava tea. No matter if the window was on the ground floor or on the top floor, the window never had any grills.
I think it somehow symbolizes the openness these people have.
They trust everyone and their faith in people is strong so no grills; doesn’t matter if you’re on the ground floor or top floor. They don’t believe in boundaries or restrictions when they are helping someone, I guess that’s why they hate restrictions even on their windows. Just like their windows, these people’s hearts are always open, and welcoming. If you peek through these open windows, you won’t see a comfortable sofa, or big LED TV, or anything luxurious at all. You’ll see a rugged family, huddled together having their meal. Their clothes might not be clean but their consciousness is. Their hands and faces might be bruised by doing a hard day’s labor but their hearts are always content. Their lives are open book for anyone who cares to read it.
Everything was open, open to new possibilities, open to the new future. Just like their windows.
Unlike in cities, where we like to close ourselves to any new experience, we doubt everything under the name of security. Everything is suspicious and we need to question everything to be sure.
Are we even living or have we created the most comfortable zoo for ourselves? A thought to ponder.
Chapter 5- the conclusion
Well, this trip was more than just a memorable experience for many reasons. But more importantly, it was my first trip for sightseeing in India. Being in a wheelchair, I faced many challenges and I learned many many things.
First and foremost, I learned that age is indeed just a number. In my tour group, if you remove 3 young folks, the 59-year-old was the youngest member. The men who were in their 60ies and 70ies enjoyed themselves. They sang, danced, and lived a life. Some of them had unbelievable drinking capacity too. I wish to age as gracefully and with joy in my heart, as these men.
The other important thing I learned was to own your disability and enjoy it. I didn’t shy away from crawling my way into the hotels or on the bus. I didn’t see myself from the eyes of strangers but I saw myself from the eyes of my family. I didn’t depend exclusively on help. If there were steps, I walked on it with my hands. I didn’t push ever-so-generous helpers with tasks that I could do myself. I pushed my wheelchair on my own whenever I could. I said my “thank you”s to everyone who helped me. And I didn’t shy away from asking for help. I didn’t let my disability be a limitation. I decided what I wanted to see and what I didn’t want to see. I didn’t let climbing decide it for me. When the terrain got difficult and I had not given up on my willpower, God met me in various forms. Such as the men I met at the village of Thang or the tour organizer, Amit Kulkarni who didn’t hesitate for a moment to take a disabled person on an adventure tour or be it the boys at various hotels.
I couldn’t help but thank my little brother/friend I had contracted for help called Stanzin. He was sure was a divine help; whose undivided attention made a lot of things possible for me. We ate together, we rode together we saw places together. He was a family member away from my family. I long to see his innocent smile one more time.
Maybe another time when I visit Leh.
And maybe next time, I wish to see more handicaps in the travel group, enjoying themselves without shying away. Maybe tour companies start “touring with a wheelchair” as a service to encourage others to see the wonders of Leh and Ladhak.