Day of the switch – June 17

[Himyatra – 2018 This is part III of the series. You can read the first part here.]

View of Leh from the palace. Stok Kangri at the far end.

[You can click on most photos to see a larger image]

As you are aware, eight different guest teams joined the Himyatra over a eight week period. A little bit about how the logistics worked. The switches were scheduled to happen every Sunday. The new team was expected to arrive before Sunday, and meet the earlier team. And the earlier team left for home either on the same day, or on Monday. The day was also used to restock the supplies, get any other essentials etc. Today was our day of the switch.

Our earlier team consisted of Raju Phadke , and Jayraj Salgaonkar. Raju is a faculty member in Mumbai’s Poddar College. He is an avid trekker and has participated in many Himalayan expeditions in the past. Jayraj Salgaokar is the Co-founder, Editor, Publisher & the Managing Director at Kalnirnay. A trained mountaineer, Jayraj participated in the successful “Tata Everest Indian 98” expedition from Tibet to Mount Everest. Jayraj had to leave Himyatra midway through the week due to health problems. So Raju was the only remaining member of their team.

Today, we were to meet with Balya and Raju at Kartok hotel in Saboo village, about 10 km from Leh. This hotel is the base of Isha Tours, brainchild  of Mr. Atmaram Parab. He gave up a secure government job and started Isha tours to fulfill his dual passions of travelling and photography. He is a very accomplished photographer and has had many a exhibitions. He is also a big fan of Balya, and had invited Himyatra to make Hotel Kartok its base.

The Ladakhi Crow – This bird is ubiquitous in Ladakh

We were to reach Kartok around 3 PM, also we didn’t intend doing any sightseeing in and around Leh. And hence we really had a very leisurely day ahead of us. The checkout time at Jigmet is 9 AM. However, Jigmet was pretty relaxed about it, probably because he had no guests booked for our room. We went down for an early breakfast, around 7.30. After a good breakfast, we had good hot water baths, and packed our luggage. Ajit still had not finished his work, and luckily, the internet connection thru the hotel wi-fi was holding up pretty well. So he decided to complete his work, and I went out for a walk and some shopping in the Leh town.

Gompa behind the Leh Palace

Balya had asked me to pick a detailed map of the region we were planning to drive. Leh has a couple of big book shops that have a good collection of guide books, maps and general literature. After pouring over the maps, I selected one that seemed to fit the bill.
I returned to the hotel around noon. We had our lunch at Jigment around 1.30. The lunch was simple, but very tasty, and served with great love by Raja, the cook. Raja was an amazing character. He hails from Bihar, is just 21, and spends half his year in Ladakh and half in Goa, and if there is any time left, he would spend at home. He makes friends everywhere he goes. In fact, at Jigmet, there was a group of Russian girls, whom he had befriended in Goa, and they were in Ladakh on his recommendation.

After Lunch, we settled the hotel bill, and Jigmet booked us a cab to the Saboo village. We passed through the Gateway To Leh and took the exit to Leh-Manali Highway and soon there was a left turn, with an arch welcoming us to the “Model Village Saboo”.

The village is an oasis. It has a water stream flowing through it with a cement bund. A lot of water conservation, plantation work is done around the stream. We entered the village and lost our way. We tried calling the hotel, but could not get through. One standard problem in Ladakh is that only BSNL post-paid mobile is guaranteed to work everywhere. No other connections work. The cab driver had a BSNL connection, but even then, we couldn’t get through to the hotel. However, the local villagers were very helpful, and they directed us to the Kartok Hotel. On the way, we saw that there were well marked signs for the hotel, but we had missed them. The hotel is on a gentle slope with a lot of greenery surrounding it.

Kartok Hotel

The main hotel is a small ground plus one structure. Next to it is a small building that houses the kitchen and dining area. There are also two big, self contend tents nearby, that can accommodate about 10 people each.

Tent accommodation at Kartok

As we entered the hotel, we saw Girija, which had already travelled for last six weeks, and was to be our mount for the next week.

We were greeted by Balya and were introduced to Raju Phadke and  Amit Shelar, our sarathi, the charioteer. After greetings and a quick, mandatory cup of tea, we sat down to plan for the next week. Since most of the Ladakh region is very close to the international border with Pakistan and China, all the visitors need to get permits to cross various check points in the region. The wheels for getting these permits had already been set in motion by Balya and the team at High Places. However, we needed to physically collect our permits for the next week. We also needed to buy some supplies that we had run out of.  Also, there was a small glitch with Girija. Some part in the back had become lose and was making rattling noises. It was nothing serious, but any strange noise from a vehicle is always bothersome, particularly for the driver. Fixing that part needed a special tool called “Allen Key”, which we didn’t have.

All this meant a visit to Leh was in order, and so Ajit and I set out with Amit to Leh.
In Leh, we met with Skarma Norboo, who had arranged our permits. He is a very sincere and helpful guy. He had all our paperwork ready with adequate number of copies of the permits. He quickly went over the whole route that we were going to take and pointed out various places on the route where we will need to show the permits. Amit asked him about the place where we could get the Allen Keys. He told us a possible place, but also indicated that it might be closed as it was a Sunday. This place was on the route back to Saboo. So we decided to pick them up on the way back. He also offered to help book return bus tickets from Manali to Delhi for Ajit and me for next Sunday. So Amit and I stepped out to buy the groceries, while Ajit stayed back with Karma for booking the bus tickets. Soon we had picked up the groceries and maps and were back at Skarma’s office. We looked for Allen Keys on the way back, but as Skarma had feared, the place was closed.

View from the Kartok Terrace

We reached the hotel in time to witness a great sunset. The terrace is open and offers fantastic views. The ubiquitous stok kangri peak is prominently visible.

Sunset from the Kartok Hotel

After sunset, we retired to our rooms. Balya, Raju and Amit described their exploits during the previous week. What a great week they seemed to have had!!! They had visited the war memorial at Kargil,  gone within shouting distance from the Pakistan border at Thang and had crossed over the world’s highest motorable road at Khardung La. I was hoping that we would also have an equally exciting week.

Mr. Achyut Palav, the well-known calligrapher, was also staying at Kartok Hotel with his family. He graced our evening by visiting us in Balya’s room and chatting up with us. He shared with us anecdotes about his interaction with all time greats like Gulzar, and the lessons he learnt from those interactions.

Before we knew, it was time for dinner. After a hearty dinner, we went to sleep, looking forward to the journey tomorrow.