Leh Ladakh Tour – My Travel Journey (8)

Many fellow travel companies publish on their websites or advertisements that ‘Guaranteed Fun’ or ‘Adventure Guaranteed’ on so and so trip or tour or vacation. We at Cosmovision Tours Services Pvt. Ltd. strictly don’t use the term ‘Guarantee’ in reference to an adventure or fun on the trip. The travellers who are always looking for guarantees, consciously, unconsciously; they are waiting for certain signs that truth should be certified. “Then we can go into any adventure” but one has to understand it is NO more adventure if it is guaranteed. We just went few meters ahead on our path to Leh Ladakh towards Manali a member of the Australian group insisted others to go in for river rafting. The route from Kullu to Manali is full of river rafting clubs on both sides of the roads. Though, it is always suggested to bargain a bit as rates vary too much for the same set of rafting services. There are 2-3 options of river rafting as per the timings varying from 20 minutes to an hour or more downstream rafting in Beas River. The rafting itself is very fascinating experience altogether, the scenic beauty on the both sides of the river is second to none. Post river rafting soon we entered Manali, it is situated at the height of 2050m and the last major town on the way to Leh Ladakh. Some of the major attraction in Manali are Beas Kund, Hadimba Temple, Maa Sharvari Temple, Kalath Hot Water Springs, Vashist Hot Water Springs and Temple, Jogini Falls, Solang Valley, Jagatsukh, Rahala waterfalls, Buddhist Monasteries, Old Manali, Gauri Shankar Temple at DASHAL village, Naggar, Krishna Temple at Thava and Zana Falls etc. Once you enter Manali you could easily feel the essence of Buddhism with certain monasteries and monks roaming around could easily be spotted. I personally have been following certain books on Buddhism as religion so it augmented my interest. We had plans to stay there for a day visiting few of above said tourist places in Manali before moving further to Leh Ladakh.

Meanwhile if you wish you can surf through these links for best travel deals to Northern India, Himachal holidays, Kullu Manali Tour Packages, Car Rental Deals, Discounts and Tour Packages on Leh Ladakh –

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Leh Ladakh Tour – My Travel Journey (7)

Next day early morning we started our journey toward Leh Ladakh via Manali. The route between Kullu and Manali is picturesque with river on one side of the road and plush green hills on the other side. Though road was under repair work at certain junctures which slowed us down to a bit but overall it was magnificent experience. Suddenly near Biasar our car’s rear tyre got flat, luckily it was near a riverside cafe. Though it was small but the view from the cafe was mesmerizing in true sense. The cafe owner placed certain tables and chairs just into the water on the riverbed so that tourist can enjoy sipping hot coffee while their feet in the icy cold water of the river. Meanwhile the driver was changing the tyres, I went to see if he requires any help with the same.

Unlike us there were few of other tourists who seem to be taking an intentional break from the journey by parking their respective cars at this cafe to enjoy the view of the river. A cute small child was asking his mother sitting on their car’s bonnet just next to us, “Mom why is that all white colour cars always overtake us, tell dad to buy white colour car instead of red”. His mother replied politely, “Son it is not the ‘colour’ which takes the car faster rather it is the engine that matters”. Same time a thought struck in my mind that this same concept applies on all of us too. As humans it is all about one’s body’s inner energy or soul (as mentioned in certain spiritual books or followings), that is the aspect which takes us to the new heights or speed in life. As I possess no athletic or adventurer body type but still my enthusiasm or self motivation pushes me to explore the most remote destinations in India including some of the highly difficult tracks or places in the Himalayas. Soon the driver changed the tyre and we were back on the track to Manali which was only few hours of drive ahead.

Meanwhile if you wish you can surf through these links for best travel deals to Northern India, Himachal holidays, Kullu Manali Tour Packages, Car Rental Deals, Discounts and Tour Packages on Leh Ladakh –

www.indiagoldentours.com/north-india-tours/himachal-tour.html
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www.northindiatravelservices.com/india-tour-packages/golden-triangle-north-india.html

 

Leh Ladakh Tour – My Travel Journey (5)

We reached Chandigarh soon, meanwhile I explained to them (Australian touring group) that though Leh Ladakh is no less than any other town in terms of technological resources but credit card functionality and ATMs are still bit problematic aspects. Actually there are very limited ATMs for cash withdrawal catering huge population, resulting in long queues often and credit card acceptance is also limited to fewer shops only so it is advisable to carry cash and do the necessary shopping beforehand in Chandigarh or Manali itself in order to save oneself from credit card acceptance ordeal in Leh Ladakh. Using ATM or credit card in Leh Ladakh should to be the last option.

We planned to take halt in this city for night stay, meanwhile we had some time but Chandigarh had lot to offer like Government Museum and Art Gallery, Shanti Kunj, Garden of Fragrance, International Dolls Museum, Sukhna Lake, Nek Chand’s Rock Garden, The Rose Garden of Chandigarh, Butterfly Park and Leisure valley etc. but we planned to visit only 1-2 destinations in Chandigarh, our priority was Government Museum and Art Gallery. We had our lunch in car itself to save the time to reach Government Museum and Art Gallery on time as it closes down at 4.30 P.M. in the evening. It is the only place where one can see some of the rare collection of art including painting and sculpture of Pahari, Rajasthan and Gandharan. Most of these collections were brought from Lahore in 1948 post partition of India. The Museum has four major parts i.e. the art gallery, the national history museum, the national gallery of portraits and the Chandigarh architecture museum.

Then we spent later part of the evening near Sukhna Lake which is 3 KM long manmade lake originated from Sukhna Choe stream. Though we were bit late for the water sporting activities like boating, water skiing and yachting etc. but overall it was soothing to have a slow walk nearside. Then after a little shopping trip from sector 17 market we all landed in our respective rooms to start our journey afresh tomorrow morning to Leh Ladakh.

Meanwhile if you wish you can surf through these links for best car rental deals, discounts and tour packages on Leh Ladakh –

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Leh Ladakh Tour – My Travel Journey (3)

As I mentioned that have already visited Leh Ladakh couple of times earlier as well so I am quiet acquainted with the place. Nubra Valley, Lamayuru Monastery, Pangong Lake, Zanskar Valley and Shanti Stupa are some of the tourist places to visit part form it Leh Ladakh has lot more to offer depending upon the person’s stay. Usually tour groups or travellers come to India with a very tight travelling schedule so they left with very less days to explore the beauty, spirituality and mysteries of the place Leh Ladakh. But this time things were little different as the Australian touring group mentioned their long stay with a special demand to visit all possible transit destination’s tourist attraction. So this time things would definitely be different in terms of our explorations.

I have this habit of digging into the history and geographical details of that place well before actual journey starts through various books and online resources. So as Leh Ladakh was concerned I already had a fairly good amount of knowledge about the same during my previous visits, historically Leh was a transit hub or town for all trading activities to India through Kashmir, Tibet and China as it had the tactical advantage falling on the so called trade route or main passage. Also during the times of Dard colonizers, Leh Ladakh was a significant stopover of Tibetan nomads and traders. Basically the place is dominated by two distinct cultures comprising of Buddhist monasteries and architectural monuments on one hand which has a sheer dominance due to their presence since 2nd century and the mughal architecture i.e. monuments and mosques of 16th century.

Just a day before our journey was going to start as the Australian group have already arrived in Delhi, India. Tomorrow morning we will start our road trip to Leh Ladakh via Delhi – Chandigarh – Manali – Leh route. I have had this unusual habit to lock myself into my reading room for few hours a day before any journey. In those hours I analyse everything from travel plans to budgets to route maps to other important instructions or facts about the place, it is not that I do this intentionally but with times I have developed this habit of assessing all this.

Meanwhile if you wish you can surf through these links for best travel deals, discounts and tour packages on Leh Ladakh –

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www.cosmovisiontours.com

 

Leh Ladakh Tour – My Travel Journey (2)

For the readers the region of Ladakh lies connecting the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, this region is among the most scarcely inhabited regions in the state. Due to the difficult terrain and the height of 3505 meters from the sea level Leh Ladakh it stand almost isolated for years wasn’t properly connected to other parts of the country but since last few decades after the road and airport infrastructure development it emerged as a popular tourist destination. Climate wise Leh district in Ladakh has a typical arctic desert climate it can go up to minus 40 degrees in winters which is generally from November to March and other months of the year it’s around 25-30 degrees with clear skies. This region of Leh Ladakh is commonly known as “roof top of the world”. It is one of its kind places on the earth which can give you sunburn and a frost bite at the same instance.

Though as in the travel company we personally make sure to advise the tourist for the clothing or bag pack essentials for the destination like Leh Ladakh. So the same instructions I followed given to me in ‘CC’ mail with all other travellers (Australian group) by our company’s tour coordinator. Usually we need to carry as much woollen as possible as Leh Ladakh climate is so unpredictable and can go to extremely cold within minutes. We always suggest all our tour groups travelling to Leh Ladakh to carry as much stuff as possible as that will equip us for the difficult terrain and unexpected climate situations. High-quality heavy shoes, jackets, caps and goggles as sunrays are quiet strong at that altitude. Small medical kit including sunscreen and other basic medicines for head ach, upset stomach and pain killers etc. A high quality camera with extra batteries or portable charger as being ornithologists we need to keep an extra camera as well in case of any trouble with primary camera unit also a set of binoculars. Though everything is nowadays available in Leh Ladakh still some tins of packed food wouldn’t add much to our baggage with lots of chewing gum and other candies.

Meanwhile if you wish you can surf through these links for best travel deals, discounts and tour packages on Leh Ladakh –

www.northindiatravelservices.com/india-tour-packages/leh-ladakh-tour.html
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www.indiagoldentours.com/ladakh-tour-packages/index.html
www.ladakh-leh-tours.com/ladakh-tour-packages/bird-watching-tour-of-ladakh.html
www.cosmovisiontours.com/tour.html

 

Leh Ladakh Tour – My Travel Journey (1)

It is always said sharing the same platform of your passion and profession brings in lots of unexpected opportunities in life. Similarly around a year back I got an opportunity which made a significant positivity towards fulfilling my travel obsession as well as my work of travel. Being the CEO of India’s Premiere Travel and Tour Company Cosmovision Tours Services Pvt. Ltd. (www.cosmovisiontours.com) we conduct so many tours every year whether adventure tour packages, spiritual tour packages, honeymoon tour packages, custom or tailor made tour packages to all famous or not so famous or specialized destination across India.

An Australian group of 3 friends approached us, most of them amateur ornithologists (bird watchers) for the specialized trip to Leh which is the capital of Ladakh situated in state of Jammu and Kashmir of India. Since their first communication with our touring company their main emphasis was to arrange a specialized tour to the Leh and nearby places for the sole purpose of bird watching. Their sole purpose was to catch the glimpse of Black Necked Crane and Brown Headed Gull in their natural habitat. Though the Leh or Ladakh as in whole blessed with many varieties of birds including The Raven, Red-billed Chough, Tibetan Snowcock and Chukar, The Lammergeier and the Golden Eagle etc. The travel group finalized the dates of the first week of April which was an ideal time for such an excursion to Leh Ladakh. They specifically asked for a guide or personnel who could accompany them or travel with them as they wanted to explore even the smallest destinations on the way or transit travel destination.

Usually such sort of touring requirements are fulfilled by either Mr. Gupta or Ajay but my luck was awesome that Mr.Gupta was on leave and Ajay was already travelling south with Japanese clients. So with my permissions our company’s executive confirmed them that I will personally accompany them in their whole touring trip to Leh Ladakh. Though it was bit difficult to leave all my travel company’s operation but somehow my staff assured me and convinced me to go to fulfil my passion. Although I have had already visited Leh Ladakh couple of years back (… to be continued.)

Meanwhile if you wish you can surf through these links for best travel deals, discounts and tour packages on Leh Ladakh –

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www.cosmovisiontours.com/tour.html