Tag: Chilling

Ladakh in Winter – Journey towards Chilling

by Kaushik

Day 1:

So many times we have read the advice and even advised others to make sure that he/she doesn’t land up in Leh on Sunday and Govt Holidays as permit won’t be available to travel. Somehow in such a hurry we missed that point, it was a long weekend and we understood DC office would be closed for next 3 days. Even Regzin was not hoping much on that situation, but suddenly I thought of opening the Leh website to see if I could get any contact. Landlines / Office no. won’t work as it was holiday, only hope was mobile, first few either gone unanswered or switched off. Finally got hold of PA to DC and explained her about our situation and in winter ladakh when you have a fixed date of departure, have even fewer days of good weather, loosing a day is significant and loosing 3 days mean loosing the whole trip almost. She was kind, listen to us and spoken to ADC on our behalf and even shared ADC’s personal mobile with us. We called and pleaded him for the permits, finally it was decided that though it was a holiday, we would submit our documents to Chowkidar of DC Office and ADC would come sometime on next day conveniently and got those signed and then Chowkidar would stamp those from office before handing over to us. We did exactly the same and as Sanjay mentioned luckily got the permits on time even without paying the wild life conservation fees (Which is significantly increased this year) as the office was actually closed. So the trip surely started with good luck.

We started our day by submitting our documents to the Chowkidar and started our journey towards Chilling where road ends and trek starts for Chadar. The beauty of Ladakh in winter is simply can not be expressed in words, better we stick to snaps.

Stok Kangri from Leh in a winter Morning:

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Freezing yet flowing Indus:

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Winter Ladakh, so fascinating:

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Magnetic Hill on Leh – Kargil Road:

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Road from Sangam towards Chilling (Zanskar is frozen in left):

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Magical Zanskar frozen completely:

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The Road Continues by the side of Zanskar:

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Zanskar river magical water through a fish like opening from the Chadar:

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Chadar is formed hard and strong:

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Magical Zanskar River:

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So clear the water, you can the stones in river bed even after it’s flowing so powerfully:

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Standing on Chadar is always a dream:

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Chadar was so thick here, we couldn’t even put a dent by throwing big stones from top:

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Chadar is being formed here, see still the bluish water is visible below the ice layer:

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Sangam from Zanskar side (Indus coming from Right)

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We returned to Leh in afternoon and first thing we did was visiting the Chowkidar in DC Office and fortunately we got our signed permit ready. So now we are ready to explore some more interesting areas.

Previous: Ladakh In Winter – Few More Magic Moments

Next: Ladakh In Winter – Across Chang La to Picturesque Pangong Part-1

Ladakh in Winter – Time Frozen in a Perfect White Out – Introduction

by Kaushik

What is the best time to visit Ladakh, the answer even 3 years back was July to September. But it kept changing with time, 2 years back it was May to October, a year back even between April to December. So we thought why shouldn’t we extend it little further, how the Pangong Tso ‘s perfect blue would be, how the remote Changthang would be, how the passes like Chang La would be, how mighty Indus would look like in winter. Only one thing could answer, a trip in winter but how is it possible to make a trip in winter that too in Ladakh? Day’s maximum and minimum temperature both would be in minus, very few hotels would be operational, the place is completely landlocked and depends on aerial connection for long 5/6 months. But then to get all the answers, we have to go there.

We thought of doing Chadar this year and booked air tickets for Jan end to Leh sometimes last year August. Then in December as usual we understood our other commitments won’t allow us to take off during that time and finally we cancelled the trek. But hoping on hope, that some miracles might happen, we didn’t cancel the flights. First time in my life miracle happened and 3 of us took a decision to go for a Ladakh trip in winter in almost 24 hours notice.

What happened next would be best described by snaps, let’s roll it on:

Aerial View:

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Semi Frozen Indus:

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Indus and Zanskar meets at Nimmu:

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Chadar formed on Zanskar River:

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Golden Sunrise:

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On the way to Chang La:

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Near Chang La Top:

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Frozen Water body towards Tangtse:

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Completely Frozen Pangong Tso – A Dream Comes True:

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See the strength of frozen ice, you can easily drive your Scorpio on the Lake:

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Shakti in evening:

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Painting on a white Canvas – A Cloudy day in Leh:

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Nimmu during snowfall:

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Scorpio on Kargil – Leh Road : Almost zero visibility but whatever you see is White except the Car:

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Magical Indus managing its flow even in harshest winter:

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The breath taking views:

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Near Khaltse:

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Snow scape:

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Entering Dha:

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Locals of Dha:

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Next: Ladakh In Winter – Few More Magic Moments