Nandi Hills!!!

Finally, after months since I have been here... I was in Nandi Hills:) Thanks to Marteen, Gaya and Maria. With their initiative, we had a very nice sunday. To be honest after Himalayas it was a bit strange:P

Well, it was very crowded as it is very close to Bangalore. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

The Great Journey!

Episode 4: Stucked at the snow!!!

On the way back, something happened that I couldnt beleive happened in India:) We were stucked on the way to "Kardang La". It was snowing and it was foggy. Military didnt let us go and we had to spend a few hours in the military base. The road was full of snow and ice... actually, I had a lot of fun:) Again, some pictures:

The Great Journey!

Episode 3: Nubru Valley

The next day, we started our Journey and reached to the "Highest Motorable Pass In the World-Kardang La". We were at 5600mts and we were surrounded by snow:) Walked and played some snow ball:)
We arrived in Diskit and spent the first night there. We were very remote from the life that we are used to. No mobile reception, no internet... The next day, we found that we could find a place more remote: Panamik. This is the last point... After this point, military does not let you go futrher.

There is a buffer zone till the border with China and this is the highest battle ground in the world!

In Panamik, there was only one restaurant and we didnt have any choice... The owner was from Tibet and he was very nice to us. At night, there was no electricity... We were able to see all the stars. It had been a while since I handnt seen so many stars... Very nice... Here are two pictures from Nubru Valley:

The Great Journey!

Episode 2: Leh

After crowded Manali, Leh was very nice. Still, in the old fashion and not so crowded... It is very easy to feel in the city that Ladakhies live as if they were living hundreds of years ago. The Leh Palace and the Gompa are on the hills and two highest points of Leh... We went to both of the places on our first day and walking at 3500mt was a bit difficult for the first day:) But being 0n the highest point of Leh was a very good feeling:) One half of the city is just like a desert, no green; but, oppositely other half is very green and full of trees...Here is a picture of Leh...

Meanwhile, we found the cheapest hotel in Leh, actually it found us:) Hotel Tsomuri (i hope i remember right:) was ok but very cheap... Just 150 rupees per double room! 150rps= around 4$:)

The next day we went to some palaces and gompas around Leh and booked our car to go to Nubru Valley. Nubru Valley is the northest point that a foreigner can go in India...

The Great Travel!

Episode 1: Manali, Manali-Leh by Bus!!!

Yes, it has been some time after I came back to Bangalore. To eb honest, after amazing Himalayas, it was a bit difficult to get used to the life in the city:(

First day in Delhi... Meeting with one of the cousins... After Bangalore, Delhi was very hot and it was full of tourists. After spending the day in Delhi, in the evening we started our journey to Manali. On the way, something very interesting happened; I got a call from Dubai and was offered a job:) It was a bir surprise... As I extended my contract with SATYAM I refused their proposal. The road to Manali was ok; but, I should say that bus drivers in North are more crazy:)

Then we met with two other cousins in Manali... We were all very happy as we hadnt seen each other for some time:) The next day we took a day hike, walked about 20kms. The best part was when we arrived to waterfall... It was very nice and relaxing.

The next day, we started our road trip to Leh. To be honest, bus was in a worse shape then I expected. On the one side there were three seats next to each other and on the other two. There was nowhere to put our heads. We knew thatm, journey takes 2 days with an overnight stay.

The first day was ok. We didnt go so high and we "just" drove for 7 hours; but, guess how many kms we made? Only 150kms... The hard part was the second day... We started 5 in the morning! For me, it was very difficult to sleep on the bus. Actually, the view was so beautiful that i didnt want to sleep at all... Second day took 16 hours!!! And we were passing high altitude road passes. Going up to 5000mt and then come back to 3500... Very tiring. Luckly, i just had a small headache and nothing else on the road. We were all creeps... here are some views from our bus journey: