Nubra Valley - visit india's Silk Route

The heaven on the other side of Khardung La is called Nubra valley.. a beautiful V shaped valley where one can spend 3-4 days relaxing & still wont get bored.

  The total distance from Leh to Diskit which is the main village in Nubra is 118 Kms. & you can go 7 more kms. To visit hunder which is famous for white sand dunes.

 
   The river flowing through Nubra valley is amazing & the landscapes are really beautiful. This is actually a desert & you will witness sand filled planes all over on your way to Hunder. But the roads built by BRO are in very good conditions.

 
  There is only a Gompa to see in Diskit, but Hunder is worth spending some time.. Small village near famous white sand dunes gives you best relaxation.. One can stay in Habib guest house, which is a small house
but people are very nice especially the owner himself. You can spend great time playing in sand dunes or watching sunset. If you want to take break from your normal life full of tensions, this is the place. People

also come here for bird watching & photography.

   One more attraction of Nubra is double Humped camel.. Yes they have two humps on their back.. In ancient times this was the silk route, & most of the trades with middle Asian countries were through this road..
The camels I mentioned above are also from middle east asia.

  The road ahead of Hunder goes to Siachen but civilians are not allowed after certain point..

 

   If you are in Nubra valley, try local breakfast called Khambir.. It tastes amazing with honey & butter.. Its kind of local bread but when served hot.. Its amazing.

   If you are planning to visit pangong tso directly from here, no need to go till khardung la once again, there is an alternative route through Wari La using which you can avaoid going to Khardung La again. So if you are planning trip to Leh, dont miss Nubra valley, in fact I would suggest keep 2 days separately for visiting this beautiful place.

Khardung La - world's highest motorable Road

Khardung la pass is every rider's dream.. Yes its highest Motorable point in the world. At 18,380 ft above sea level you really touch the sky at Khardung La.

  This pass is near Leh town, you have to travel only 40 Kms to reach this top. Road to the top is very good & if you are travelling to Leh this is must visit.

  Not only because its beautiful but it's the highest point you can travel in vehicle, if you are civilian.


  For visiting Khardung La one has to take inner line permits from District commissioner leh. You can get them through agents also.

  If you are travelling on bike, you will reach the top in an hour. On the way, you have to show your permits at South Pullu.

  You can also have maggy or tea here, as you need to reach North Pullu or come back here for your next meal.



  From north Pullu, Khardung La is just about 15 kms.

  Its not difficult pass at all, If your bike gives combustion problem, remove the filter & it will go smoothly.

  Just 2-3 kms before Khardung la pass, you will see a point called India gate, people stop here for taking pictures.. even we did, but couldn't understand how to enter India from this gate?



  Just 2-3 kms more & you are there... On the top of the world, Nobody can go higher than you, at least not in vehicle.

  There is a signboard indicating this is the highest motorable point in the world.

  The pass is always crowded as whoever comes to Leh usually visits Khardung La. But its not advisable to be here for more than 20-30 minutes.

  The Indian Army men stay here for entire year though.

 

  After visiting Khardung La, you can either come down on same route to leh town, but if you have time going ahead is must..

  After Khardung La you are descending, so don't worry if you are feeling giddy it wont last for long time..by the time you reach north Pullu you will be alright.



  So whether you are on bike or in car, don't miss this chance to be on the top of the world & if possible visit Nubra valley too & post your experiences so that more & more people get to visit these beautiful places.

Living root bridge - Bio-engineering at its best

Cherrapunji as you all know is famous for highest rainfalls in the world...

But if you are visiting cherrapunji, there is much more to it than rainfall & waterfalls.

Today I will be taking you to a fabulous example of bio-engineering...
 
On Shillong cherrapunjee highway, keep moving towards Mawsmai caves...
Just 3 kms before mawsmai caves you enter a village where new road starts to your right.

The important landmark you can notice on left hand side is restaurant called HIlbari.
 
You will see the signboard showing cherrapunjee holiday resort..

Its 15 kms away from this junction. 15 kms is bit tough travel due to bad roads but the hoardings painted on the road will keep you moving till you reach the resort.

After crossing this distance, you will see a bunglow. This is the resort... a fantastic place to spend time. For visiting living root bridge, you have to take stop here.

The owner of this resort Mr Rayen is very interesting person. He and his wife run this resort & all people serving you here are from nearby villages.

Mr. Rayen is originally from Tamilnadu & his wife is from this village where the resort is nestled. Mr. rayen was working with nationalize bank & after taking retirement he has started this small but beautiful place.
You will feel very homely after reaching here..

They serve good food, you can enjoy campfire & evening  music program performed by local artists.
 

Next morning resort can arrange guide for you or if you are regular trekker you can go on your own.. but I guess the advantage of taking guide is you can ask him about local people, villages around & other
things which you wont come to know otherwise.

 
One has to descend 2000 steps to reach our attraction, living root bridge.

This is a single decker living root bridge.. used by locals to cross the river.

Now, what's so special about this bridge? Its built without using any artificial construction material, fabulous example of bnio-engineering..

Here locals plant two trees with elastic roots, one on each side of river. Then they put bamboo, or wooden plank over the river with its end touching roots of both trees on both banks.

The roots are then trained to grow on this bamboo or plank. Roots of both the trees grow over the plank till they meet each other & even further till they reach opposite side.

Once roots of both the trees are grown... your bridge is ready to use.

The binding of these roots is so strong that people can easily use this bridge for their daily commute.


After this single decker bridge you have to come back till junction where steps start for going up(not trek starting point) & take right route.. You have to walk for another 40 minutes & you can see Double
decker living rot bridge. On your way, you will realize that the bridge is not any artwork or experience but this is the way they used to built bridges for their commute & hence there are ample of such bridges, some of them extending over 100 feet.

 
Due to elastic nature of roots they are able to take huge load for years.

Tired after walking so long? Don't worry walk 10 more minutes ahead of double decker bridge & you will reach the place called natural swimming pool.

It's amazing & your tiredness is gone away. Due to limestone, the water reflects the blue sky & as there is no pollution here, its very clean calmly flowing water..

Enjoy swimming here, have your meal(Which you have to carry from resort), & get ready to climb back al those 2000 steps & 2 kms of walk..


It will take another 3-3.5 hours to come back.. end of the day you will be tired but happy that you have seen something very different & unusual..

So enjoy the hospitality of Mr. Dennis rayen & also the trek.. If you are visiting Cherrapunjee dont miss it..