Leh Trip

Photos: picasaweb

It was long…

It was tiring…

It was a spectacular journey…

Let’s start from Day 1: (28^th May)

All 4 of us met in Jammu. Sanchit and Naman came from Delhi via bus, while Pratyush and Neeraj came by Malwa Express from Indore. The weather was bad. A day before it had rained and now dusty sand storm prevailed. Even at 4pm sky got dark and dangerous. Took an auto and managed to get a descent hotel in jewel chowk. Next day, we had plans to leave early morning for Srinagar. But at night it rained a lot. We talked to locals and at Srinagar tourist center and got to know that in last 2 days it had rained heavily. Usually, May end is supposed to be hot and rains was a bad surprise. Travel agents said Srinagar-Kargil road will not be open and therefore there was no point in going to Srinagar. After talking at numerous places, we concluded that reaching Leh was out of reach. Therefore, we started thinking of 4-5 day treks in and around Srinagar. After discussing a lot, we planned to visit Vaishno Devi in next 2 days and see if roads get open later.

Day 2 (29^th May)

Got ready by 7 and headed towards taxi stand. While bargaining for taxi, Neeraj fumbled saying what the rates for Srinagar are, and hence added to the chaos. After bargaining for half an hour and finalizing the destination, we kicked off for Srinagar. Jammu-Srinagar distance is 300kms and 8-10hr drive. Journey started with a handful of monkeys along the road till Udhampur. After that, Ghats started and began ascent till highest point on the way Patnitop(2500m). It began to rain thereafter and weather got cooler, a relief from Jammu’s hot weather. Along the way we ate lot of cherries, kubani and strawberries. After that we passed through Jawahar tunnel and finally reached Srinagar by 5. We wanted to stay close to the Dal Lake and finally bargained a house boat. It had rained a day before and weather was just awesome. After quickly occupying the house boat, we set out for 3 hr shikara ride. First went to floating garden and had hot yummy pakodas. Sight was just spectacular. On one side, you can see ice caped gulmarg with shades of sunset, on other side mountains with dark clouds hovering and in between Dal main road market. For me it was one of the most beautiful lakes ever seen. Later while shikara, we bought pashmina shawls and kesar. 3 hr boat ride felt too short for such a beautiful lake, but finally went off to sleep in our house boat.

Day 3 (30^th May)

Got ready by 6 and off the house boat. After lot of bargaining on taxis, we set out of for Kargil. It is 220kms and an 8 hr drive. Roads had just opened and we drove off on a high note. Around 11 we reached Sonamarg. Throughout the way to Sonamarg, Sindh River coursed beside us. Because of recent rains, we saw fresh glaciers. Small village settlements amidst mountains and mountain sheep along the way added to the delight. We had our lunch at Sonamarg. Road from Sonamarg to Drass is one way and opens around 12-1. We waited till 2.30 when we finally got a clearance. Just we would have travelled for half an hour, all cars had to halt again at Zojila pass. Military men told, because of rains land slide had occurred. Got stuck there for another 2 hrs and finally resumed around 6. Luckily we carried some chocolates and chips as there was nothing to eat. Sunsets around 8, so we still could see the view around. Soon we passed Amarnath base camp, and Captain Mode. Captain Mode is one of the most dangerous and breathtaking road I had ever seen. With snow on both sides, it is definitely ‘A must watch’. It got pretty cold and darker. We were passing through 10m high snow walls on both sides which reminded us of song ‘Ye ishq hai’ from Jab We Met. We wanted to stop and play with snow, but it was very late and we had to move on. Finally, reached Kargil at 12:30 in night. It turned out to be a hectic 18 hour journey. An uncle was travelling with us in our shared taxi. Luckily, he had a guesthouse already booked and helped us get a room there. Exhausted we all went to sleep without having any dinner.

Day 4 (31^st May)

Beside our guesthouse muddy Suru River flowed. We had negotiated with the same taxi for our Kargil-Leh Trip with same uncle accompanying us. He had travelled a lot in this region and briefed us throughout the way. Trip was again a distance of 230kms and an 8-10hr drive. With some local bread and tea we kicked off our journey. Soon terrain changed from green ice capped mountains to brown Rocky Mountains. Sindh River flowed along with us creating a small lush green patch on both of its side. Wheat and Sarson were the main crops of the region. It seemed like a running oasis besides us, amid a lifeless dessert. All of us couldn’t stop praising the greatest architect ‘The God’ for such a striking contrast of varied colored Rocky Mountains, river with a hint of greenery and snow atop. It seemed God had taken brown, orange, red, green and black colors in a palette and mixed it to produce all shades of mountains. I called it ‘The Barren Beauty’. We passed through Namkeen (because of salt like white deposits) and Swarana (truly golden in color) mountains and ‘Fatula Top’ (13479 FT) the highest point in Srinagar Leh road. Towards end, we entered an enormous plateaus region and roads became just fantastic. By 5 we reached Leh. We felt a sense of victory (but for me journey was still unfinished, which were still eying on Pangong Lake). We got a very nice homely guest house named Siala in old fort road. Guest house owners were really very hospitable and gave us every bit of information about the city.

Even being in remote location, Leh seemed to be highly commercialized place with almost everything available in market. In evening we had a nice dinner in hotel Lamayuru and explored the city.

Day 5 (1^st June)

Next day, we went for local sightseeing to Leh palace. Trying a shortcut, we went through local streets and finally managed to reach the entrance. It was 8 and palace usually opens around 10. We managed to find the person in charge and asked him to open the doors. He escorted us to the main temple room. It was beautiful and we sat there for a while. Rest of the palace was mostly dilapidated. We went till the top and had an awesome view of the Leh city. We could hear soothing Tibetan music being played in city market monastery and a cricket match played in distant small stadium. Even at 10am we could see the moon visible. Surrounded by Rocky Mountains with a tinge of snow on them, sun and moon overhead, view of the whole Leh city was a pleasure. While returning, saw some cute furry dogs and donkeys. I must say, Leh dogs are the most adorable and at the same time laziest. Few of them woke up from one side and lay down on other side of road under the sun.

Next, we hired 2 bikes Thunderbird and Avenger and did booking for Pangong Lake next day. With tanks filled, we roared off for the monasteries. First, we went to Shey. Climbing few stairs, we talked a bit about Buddhist rituals from the priest and explored around. We could see lot of beautiful stupas along the way. Next, we went to Thiksey. Presiding over a small hill, this monastery is really picturesque (looks similar to what we see in Hollywood movies or imagine Lhasa). There are lot of temples and paintings inside. We spent a quite a time relaxing there. Then we went to a restaurant nearby and had native Tibetans soups and main course. Suddenly the weather became rainy and we sped to our last destination Hemis monastery. Driving the ascent, through magical terrain was one of a lifetime experience. We went through small villages and saw mountain goats and Yak for the first time. Finally, browsing through the terrain, we got hold of Hemis monastery at a distance. It is really a beautiful tranquil settlement. Inside, we saw group of monks dancing to the hymns. There is a large museum inside, containing priceless possessions from Buddhist culture. I was flattered to see a book containing sacred text written fully in gold. Even the constitution and amendments were written in gold on silk cloth. Some of the artifacts were from 3 AD and is definitely a must watch. Finally, we returned to Leh city and explored more of Tibetan food for dinner.

Day 6 (2^nd June)

Finally, my dream was going to be true. Yes I was going to Pangong Lake.

It is 150kms and roughly a 5 hr drive. On the way, we stopped at ‘Chang LA’, the world’s third highest pass at a height of 17,586 FT. Our hopes of running and playing in snow were finally fulfilled, which we missed out in Srinagar-Kargil road. With 30kms away, Sanchit got first glimpses of the Lake - A patch of blue like snake. Finally when we reached, I could only say ‘Wow’. Different shades of peacock blue color and seagulls’ swimming around were something to die for. 40% of the 160km lake is in India and rest in China. We went up till last point ‘Spangmik’ were civilians are allowed. This is where concluding part of ‘3 Idiots’ was shot. I called it ‘Phunsuk Wangdu’ point. Finally yay, my mission became complete. I put my fingers in the lake, only to realization that my fingers went numb. We could not stay there for long as we had to return back same day. Lake is supposed to change color as the day passes. I could see the change in color from dark blue to lighter shade by the time we started off. Had a lunch by lake side, and returned to Leh by 7. While returning we saw a rare animal of this region, ‘The Himalayan Marmot Phiya’. They were damn cute and looked like bear cubs. We went to sleep early, as some of us felt symptoms of AMS and exhausted.

Day 7 - 8(3^rd – 4^th June)

We had planned to leave from Leh on 4^th to Manali. But luck was little bad and roads to Manali had not opened. Also taxis to Srinagar started at 4pm instead of morning. So, we decided to leave the same day. 3-4 hrs to leave, we explored Tibetan and main market and did some handicraft and souvenir shopping.

Journey to Srinagar is a 16hr cannon ball run. Left around 6, we first went to Magnetic hill. Got down and evaluated the optical illusion behind it. Later, we reached Drass at 2 in the morning. Drass-Sonamarg one way opens around 4 in the morning. Suddenly around 6am, we were in zojila pass near Amarnath base camp when a tragic thing happened – fuel over. Amid cloud and rain, we were freezing inside, when driver left us in agony for fuel in passing taxi. After one and half hours, he finally came back with 10 liters of petrol. At 11, finally we reached Srinagar. Weather was rainy and delightful. In the evening, we went to Lal Chowk and bought variety of dry fruits.

Day 9 (5 June)

We started off for Jammu from Lal Chowk around 9am. Tired we slept most of our way reaching Jammu around 7. We went straight to railway station and had some food. Boarded our train to Delhi around 9pm.

Day 10 (6 June)

Explored South Delhi and Noida after a long time.

Day 11 (7 June)

Flew back to Bangalore, with fantabulous memories of Leh trip.

Conclusion: Trip gives you a lifetime experience. You get a combined experience of Venice (Srinagar), Switzerland (Srinagar-Kargil),Grand Canyon (Kargil-Leh) and much more. Truly worth going!

To trust or not to trust

Pramod Khandelwal, 24 years, boasts of having multiple businesses running at the same time. He never leaves a chance of showing off his assets, wealth to others. He is a self proclaimed poor guy who is a millionaire and more. The facts stand that he belonged to a lower middle class as most of us few years back (may be 8 years). He has four elder sisters and a single earning from his father which showed him bitterness of a middle class life. Apart from all this, he is a childhood friend of mine. We went to same school for a year, used to play cricket and other road side games for 7-8 years, after which I left the city for my college studies. This article is about Pramod and his business cunningness to cash our friendship for one lakh. Actually it is also about how people make bread and butter by posing a princely identity which is nothing but all hollow inside.

Whenever I was at my home in Jaipur, Pramod and I used to spend time while roaming around or going for dinner with other friends. He occasionally asked money from me for his business. Pramod's proposal was mostly giving some amount to him and take a little extra in return. I had been refusing him for an year or two. But when I was in Jaipur last time, he showed me his various businesses, took me to his business partners. The idea was to get me in confidence so that I can invest (or be a partner) in one of his businesses. He actually spend hours with me roaming around, boasting his business plans and finally giving me assurance that we are friends since ages and there is nothing that can go wrong. I finally melted and got curious to try him out. Since we needed to start with something to build up trust, he asked me some money (60,000) as loan which he will repay in 20 days with an interest of 5,000. He gave me all the assurances such as it his liability to return and he even gave me a postdated cheque of 65,000. Fine, I played with his rules, gave him the amount and bang! he called me on the right date and I got my money.

After few days 25th Jan, 2010 he asked me 75,000 (+ 25,000 in 2nd installment) to be returned on 25th Feb with an interest of 8,000. I have not received the amount yet, but what is interesting is how he toys with his tongue.

25th feb, Pramod: I have the money in another account and it will take 2 - 3 days if he transfers them to my account.

02nd Mar - 5th Mar: Everyday Pramod told the same thing that I will get my money tonight. Yesterday didnt happen for some or the other issue due to bank problem like transaction is taking lot of time. But his assurances were so fluid and smooth that I forced myself to believe that he was not lying and may be there was a genuine issue.

6th - 7th Mar: Pramod's grandmom died in Ajmer and he couldnt talk or follow up.

8th Mar: After I called him 5 times, he asked my bank account no and told that he had deposited in my account and it should get updated in no time. I called him at night that I don't receive any updates and he asked me to wait as it might take 1-2 days since transfer is across cities.

9th Mar: I called him in morning and told that I haven't received it yet and may be he should enquire in bank. In noon he told me that he is in bank and waiting for his token. It took him 2 hours to get his turn to talk to bank officer. There he came to know that yesterday he forgot to mention my bank account's branch address while depositing money and hence this branch didn't proceed it. It sounds fishy because account number has all the information and there is no such requirement. Still Pramod was able to convince me that he has completed formalities and money will be transferred today. He also told that the bank officer called him after some time and told that he has started the process of depositing money in my account. I didnt receive any money late night and I asked him the phone number of bank officer who called him up. Pramod very promptly gave me the number and I decided to call him next day early morning.

10th Mar: The bank officer's number never got connected. Even today it says "this no. is switched off" when I try dialing it. I got furious and asked Pramod if he has any proof that he deposited money. Pramod very promptly messaged me a receipt no. and told that he has deposited it and has this proof for the same. So nothing to worry! I knew there was a rule where you can't deposit more than 50,000 in a bank account. So Pramod told that he gave PAN card of his friend (kishenji) and after that he was able to deposit 82,000 as per norms. By evening, I got furious and arranged branch manager's phone no and enquired her about this issue. She told me that there is no entry for my account and first of all no one can submit more than 50,000 in cash in any bank. I asked Pramod what's happening. He told that he broke the amount in two halves and deposited them separately to overcome this issue. He also gave me the name of bank officer whom he talked a day before (Vinay Sharma). But as per branch manager no one with that name works in her branch! I tried reaching Pramod multiple times and he responded saying that he had killed one guy in road accident and is busy wrapping up the issue. He had to give 22,000 as bribe to come out from the mess.

11th Mar: I asked Pramod to reach branch and talk to manager and solve the issue with her. Pramod very diligently told he will reach at 10am sharp but that came only at 6.30 pm. He took manager's phone no from me and scheduled a meet at 6.30pm. At 8pm poor branch manager called me that my friend has kept her waiting for 2 hours. Pramod called her thrice telling her that he is about to reach her and is standing just outside bank. But he never came in. When I called Pramod he told that he is waiting outside bank for 1 hour and will go in as soon his friend who deposited money for him will come. But alas! that never happened.

12th Mar: It was all messy. Pramod told me that he will any how transfer money in account today w/o fail. In evening he told that he never got money from where he invested (and hence he never deposited any money in bank and never went to bank, it was all a bunch of lies with me and branch's manager). Even till 11.00pm he kept saying that he will anyhow give me my money today itself.

14th Mar: My younger brother who stays in my hometown (Jaipur), met Pramod and asked for money on my behalf. Pramod confidently gave him a cheque of 30,000 and asked him to apply in bank next day. Pramod then sent me sms for the same and I told Pramod that I will see if these cheques get clear or not. Pramod replied that he has ATM card and Charu can confirm how much balance is there in his account. He also told that multiple number of cheques of this amount can be cleared, he has so much money.

16th Mar: Cheques bounced due to insufficient amount in him bank account. I tried calling him, but he didn't pick the phone and after 5 mins his phone was switched off.

Conclusion:

It is a different matter if I get my money or not, but this sequence of fluent lies has really shown me a new dimension of communication. I think I am naive/fool to loan the money, but I will say I wanted to test if friends can bully you and 1 lakh is not a big price to pay for this lesson. While there is another side of coin where I can rely on my close friends, it is unfortunate to say that it is not easy to decide on whom to trust and on whom not to.

Disclaimers:

1 There is no disclaimer, there is no exaggeration in above story. If you want to verify, I have all the messages/sms that Pramod sent me and they describe it all. Feel free to drop me a mail for that : sanchitg AT gmail DOT com

Amway Targets Customers in Malls

Interesting read:

Companies such as Amway that thrive on pyramid business strategy, have recently started targeting audience with a new strategy. Here is a glimpse:

I went to Big bazar and was purchasing normal household goods. Suddenly I saw someone glaring at me. He came near and spoke: "Hi, Do you work in ITPL?"

I: No, I dont

He: Aah, I am sorry. I thought I have seen you before in ITPL

I: Well, I do not.

He: Nevermind, nice meeting to you. I work in ITPL as Senior Manager in xyz company, blah blah company. I hope we can be friends, here is my card.

I: sure, thanks.

He: (after some sweet talks) Ok Sanchit, it was nice talking to u. Can i have your phone no/card also?

I: Yes, here it is. bye

After 15 days, I received a call from the same person:

He: Hi Sanchit, remember we met that day... . I have started a small business and will like to invite you as a partner. This is a great opportunity to be an entrepreneur. (some low risk and low investment crap)

I: ok, let us meet

Now when we met, after beating around the bush, he asked me to subscribe in Amway. I hope you guys know what is Amway business (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-amway.htm ) . You may be interested in the business or not, that is not my concern. My concern is that such companies are giving training to their existing members to use general public bonding and exploit it for professional means. I have experienced the same thing thrice and third time when a guy tried to introduce himself, I directly asked : "are u an Amway member?" He told yes and walked away.