I had registered for the Ladakh Marathon 2013 which was held on 8th Sept 2013. I was accompanied by my friend Amit. Plan was travel to Hazrat Nizamuddin by Garib Rath 29th Aug (fare ~890/-per head). We stayed in Delhi, went to Gaziabad by the Metro (to Vaishali) to visit a friend. It was a pleasure meeting his family, we had a sumptuous lunch and boarded the pre-booked HPTDC Volvo AC Bus (fare ~1220/- per head) Delhi - Manali on 31st Aug evening from Mandi House.
It was a comfortable overnight trip to Manali. We checked in at Hotel New Adarsh, adj to Mall Road (fare ~800/- per room) on 1st Sept. We rested for the day, the accommodation was very good for the price we paid. We were served by Shakti at the Hotel, a nice local chap. Next day we decided to go the Solang Valley and took an early morning bus at 8am from the Bus stand. The bus was packed with locals mainly labourers, the 15kms (fare ~20/- per head) journey was comfortable. We were just in time for breakfast up there with very few tourists at such early hour. Paragliding, Ropeway & Zorbing were the only activities that were available. Since the first two did not look to compelling we settled for Zorbing which was fun (150/- per head), though the distance we covered was less than 200mts downhill.
We then decided to walk back to Manali while I kept jogging the distance to warm up and prepare for the high altitude race. The walk/jog was very interesting as we took a Kachha path that led to the Beas river banks. There was some construction activity being undertaken. On finding out it turned out that there was concrete bridge across the river which was washed away by the floods last year. They had since built a make shift bridge made of metal sheets heading to a tunnel. The friends there took us into the tunnel and showed us a water canal which is built under the aegis of Hydroelectricity Power Generation Project across the mountains surrounding the valley. After a few pictures and soaking in the scenic beauty of that place we moved forward. We stopped at lady weaver's house, who showed us how she used the age old wooden weaving machine. Few kms later we stopped by the blacksmith who was busy moulding the knives and other sharp equipment on the red hot mud furnace. On the way we also came across the Snow and Avalanche Study Centre, DRDO where we unsuccessfully tried to request entry. Amit took some downhill detours along the curvaceous roads while I kept jogging down making it more fun. As we entered Manali the 3 hour long walk/jog was nearing end.
On 3rd Sept we decided to visit local places of tourist interest, like Hadimba Temple in Old Manali. It was good walk up the road and we found the temple environs very quiet and spiritually uplifting. Beautiful Deodhar forests made the temple picturesque. The temple architecture we later learnt was a very old monument details of which were explained by the audio guide we took at the Museum just outside the temple. The museum took us back in time as the articles preserved there were at least a century old. Before the Hadimba experience we had visited the Vashisht Temple where we put our foot in the hot water springs and took pic with the Angoora Rabbits whose wool is used for making beautiful Angoora Woolen Shawls. We made friends with a Belgian visitor.
Early next morning we were excitedly waiting for our HPDTC Deluxe Bus from Manali - Leh (fare ~2200/- per head) aparently the last bus of the season. This was probably the most breathtaking tour of my life and most interesting as well, because of the friends I was gifted. The bus was to leave at 9am, however it was delayed as there were a group boys who were on the bus from Delhi which reached late that morning. In the meanwhile we made friends with Janosh and Joanna (Joe) from Berlin, Germany and Daniel & Angela from Hong Kong. Aparently Joe and Angela are real sisters. The journey began, we ascended from Manali (2050mts) to reach Keylong (3340mts) via Rohtang La (3979mts). The stop at Rohtang La was picturesque with snow clad mountains while the drive up was brilliant. We stopped overnight at Keylong at the HPDTC tents and camping facility, dinner and breakfast was complementary with the trip. It was a thoughfull strategy I believe as it gave us a night to acclamitize. We start very early next morning at 4.30am. The journey was absolutely breathtaking with everchanging contours & colours of the mountain ranges. At times we drove along rivers & streams and other times along desert & barren landscape and yet another time a mix of all terrains you can think of. We ascended to Baralacha La (4891mts), then to Pang (4500mts), Tanglang La (5328mts) which is the worlds second highest mountain pass in Ladakh region. High altitude marathon meant we had to acclamatize well enough to even attempt the race. This bus trip was kind of ideal for us as we descended to Leh (3524 mts) after a 32 hrs journey on the 5th Sept evening. By the end of it we had made many more friends Rashmi (Bangalore), Rohit (Mumbai), Kulvinder (Chandigarh) and others; email id and numbers were exchanged before we dispersed.
We stayed at Hotel K'Sar (fare ~800/- per room), Fort Road, Leh. The next morning as we began breakfast at a nearby joint, we saw a familiar face walk up to us and it was Rashmi a brave girl who was travelling by herself. We spent the day reccee-ing the full marathon race route, thanks to Rimo Expeditions who recommended a taxi driver Stanzin Lhodan (+919622964043). He was resonable (~Rs.20/km) and nice, enthusiastic young local boy. The reccee turned out to be deceptive instead of decisive as a drive does not necessarily indicate the actual gradient while you run. We had a interesting evening though as we climbed up the Leh Palace from the Main Market end walking through the bylanes. Though we were in danger of the falling off the loose soil & stones that make up the climb, we did a fabulous job of 'conquering' the palace. Special mention to the girl among us Rashmi who made it to the top not only without any support from us but wearing a sandal having absolutely zero-grip flat under-sole. We celebrated our antics with a fantastic dinner. By then Rashmi had planned a trek trip starting 8th and wanted to join us for river rafting the next day.
We were lucky to book the Chiling to Sangam (28kms), Zanskar river rafting by Luna Adventures for as little as 800/head again recommended by Rimo Expeditions. At 8.30 am we found ourselves in company of Mihir, Rashmi, Chaitana, Nathan (UK), a German and two guys from Poland at the Luna office. We started at 9.30 am in a Trax vehicle with 12 including the driver with the raft tied overhead. It was a two hour dive to Chilling with unbelievably beautiful, rugid at times along the river Zanskar. The view of the rapids from the road got us terrified, but not Amit as he grew more excited as we reached the start point. Being in Naval NCC Amit had a sailing history as well from Mumbai to Mangalore. We wore our water sport suits and were ready with the rowing paddles. The guides gave us lessons on how to paddle and other instructons. River rafting in the ice cold waters was one of my most memorable experiences; rapids were great and so were the magnificiently chiseled mountains on both sides. The girls Rashmi & Chintana took turns to sit along side two of us at the front with cold water slap & drench them and crisp cold breeze hit their face. After about 10 rapids and covering 25kms we came to a calm stretch where the guide invited us to jump into the water. Amit dived in like a scubadiver, backwards head-down position as soon as he got a green signal. The 'chilling' water was getting to him after about 3-4 mins of fun in water, we then rescued him back on the raft. Looking at him I took the plunge too, surprisingly Mihir who looked rather too calm to be adventurous jumped in the river. He swam a good distance before we pulled him by his life-jacket back onto the raft. Contrasting were the foreigner friends who decided to be stuck on the raft, none of them ventured into the river. Sangam in the confluence of the Zanskar River (stretching into Pakistan) and the Indus River, the waters of the two (green & blue respectively) could be easily distinguised. While we were rafting and taking on the icy waters and cold breeze, the sun was generous with its warmth. After we finished and got to the banks of the Sangam, we spent about 30 mins drying up in the heat. Later we returned having lunch along the way.
It was eve of 8th Sept, race day, we were conciously carbo-loading for the race all this while and ate boiled potatoes for dinner. After an early breakfast (Bread, Jam & Bananas) we found ourselves at the start line of the Ladakh Marathon 2013 at 5.30am. It was the turn of FM to take off first followed by the HM & 10K runners in that order. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Chief had just flagged off the race. I started slow and after about 10kms of running through a rough uphill patch found myself gasping for breath. I came to realize that 2-3 days were awefully short to get acclamatize in these high altitude. By the 15km I could not nose-breath, I had to inhale with the my mouth as well, which I'd never done during all my training. Paces had gone for a toss by the 20th km and then it was run-walk-run. All the talk about enjoying the scenic beauty during the run meant nothing to me as the only thing that I wanted to achieve now was a FINISH. Around the 25kms mark I caught up with a girl who had taken an early lead. Her name was Jignet who I discovered was amoung the top 3 runners in the opening edition of the race. She was sponsored by Rimo Expeditions to run the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2013. She was happy to see a Mumbai runner by her side. She had falterred this time around with inadequate training. She had just fininshed 12th STD and had been active in sports. Soon one of the buses came along picking up the runners who had given up, and she too went with them. At 28kms I had enough strength in my legs but just could not run long enough. I was now staring at the toughest 10kms to the end of the race as it had desert like terrain on either side and the heat on my head was getting unbearable. For about 3-4kms I could not find anyone except me running in the heat. When the '5kms more...' sign board came along I saw a fellow runner I met at the start line Mohit from Rajasthan but studying in IIM Ahmedabad running his first full marathon. He was trailing two girls in the distance. Catching them was the much needed motivation after almost 5 official buses/vans calling me to give up. Giving up was the worst I could think of, after all I'd sacrificed to travel up here. I finally did catch up with Mohit but that was a short stretch, he was soon gone. The heat was getting worst by the minute and my eyes searching for non-existing sign board... Then I saw Amit waving at me at a distance and I started sprinting to the finish line. The Ladakh Marathon was done and dusted in 06:04:32 hrs.
I appreciate the spirit of my friend of over 20yrs Amit who decided to give me company at the drop of the hat. He was at home the day I booked my train ticket, he had aspired to visit Ladakh and came the opportunity, he took it! He had been a great friend in the entire trip encouraging me and making my objectives his. He even decided to run the 10K after we did the reccee. Apprehensive about his smoking history he still decided to take on the road on race day. He was not disappointed by the effort, he had finished in 01:29 hrs. This was great timing for a first timer! The marathon bug had bitten the rookee....
Rohit friend from Jammu based in Mumbai, offered us to join him to Pangong Lake (Tso) (fare ~6400/- round trip). The deal was to share the travel expense, live in India Army Officers Mess and we didn't want to mess with this God given opportunity. We had one of the most unreal experiences as we were both passionate & aspiring to join the Defence after a successful NCC stint back in graduation. We met Maj. Vipul Narayan, Capt. Abhishek Nepalsingh, Lt. Rajit Pillai and had the rare honour of meeting the Vir Chakra Awardee then Capt. & now Col. Sachin Annarao Nimbalkar who won us the Tiger Hill in 1999 Kargil War. This was it, we had reached the pinnacle of our incredible trip to Leh, Ladakh.
We descended from Leh - Delhi via flight (fare ~17869/- for 2) and returned from Delhi in the same train Garib Rath back home.