Leh Trip- Day 1

( Pic taken from AN-32 on the way to Leh)

15 May 07

We were all excited as we were going to ‘Leh’. We woke up early and after quick bath were all ready to leave for the airport, we had our flight at 0630 and the flying time from Delhi to Leh was about two and a half hour. AN-32 aircraft took off at about 0700 hrs with half an hour delay due to congestion at Delhi Airport and soon we crossed Shimla/Manali. Behold, I have no words to express my feeling when I looked out, it was snow and ice as far as I could see glaciers and frozen rivers, mountains high and low all snow clad. It continued till we entered the valley. Landing too is a difficult job at Leh Airfield as the aircraft has to maneuver between high mountains to land on a short runway. The aircraft land and take off from only one side as the other approach will be from the Chinese territory. It was indeed a pleasant day and we were neither feeling cold nor breathless, although there were snow clad mountains all around. I think it was all because of the excitement.

We were told to just relax and take it easy on the first day there, as one has to get acclimatized due to oxygen being about 30% less. We spent the whole day sitting in the Mess just enjoying the view from a distance. We were told that Ladakh is called the Hermit Kingdom due to its remoteness and in accessibility. Ladakh is connected to the main land through two roads namely Leh-Srinagar highway and Leh-Manali road. These two roads remain open only during summer months. During the winter, it remains closed for more than 7 months due to closure of the passes (Zojila, Rotang Pass, Baralacha, Changla). Leh District is connected to the Block Headquarter by roads, through a network of roads. The average distance of the block headquarter from Leh is 180 Kms. Bus services and other means of communication is very poor. Border roads organization maintains most of the high way connecting the block head quarter and PWD maintains a road length of 1060 Kms. As some of the roads to the block head quarter passes through the world highest motorable roads, it is frequently closed due to avalanches and snowfall in the passes. Durbuk Block and Nubra Block remains closed in winter months due to closure of Khardongla and the Changla Pass ...

This ended our first day at Leh...