Travel Diary: May 23 - 27

Day 16 - Saturday - May 23
Leh

Woke at 9.45 A.M. Had breakfast at Gesmo today - Aloo Paratha (Rs.20) and a coffee (Rs. 20).

Spent the morning on the internet. One and a half hour offline and one hour online (Rs.130).

Met P, who lent me one of his books - Mark Tully's India in slow motion. T was sick today, so P and I went for lunch ourselves, to Gesmo again, where we both had yak cheese chicken sandwiches. I took a photo this time around. P tells me they really should be called nak cheese sandwiches, to denote the female of a yak, which is really where the cheese comes from.

We spoke to another guy who organises treks to the Markha valley, who told us it's Rs. 3,500 per person for 3 nights from Spituk to Stok. The other guy recommended to me was closed today so we couldn't talk to him to compare prices. At this point, we're just looking for ways to kill time for the next few days while we wait for the highway to Manali to open so we can be on our way.

I went for a walk with P. We hit a couple of army surplus stores in the market. They stock army boots, caps, hats, balaclavas, etc. I was looking for a cap, but the ones there were of an inferior make.

We walked through three 'Tibetan Refugee' markets, though not all the sales vendors there are Tibetan.or refugees.

I went back to the hotel and read for a while, before going for dinner with the guys at 8.30. We went to a new place again, and I tried a chicken Schnitzel (around Rs.100). It's supposed to be Israeli.

Day 17 - Sunday - May 24
Leh

Went to Kangla Chen restaurant for breakfast. Had the French toast. Found it oily and hard.

Met P on the street outside, and we went back to Kangla Chen so he could have breakfast there. These guys start their days later than I do.

Went to an internet place on Fort Rd next. I had planned to spend the rest of the morning there, but went back to my hotel to rest after I started feeling a bit sick - dizzy and low on energy - not sure why. T was sick yesterday, and I'm sick today.

I skipped lunch and slept the whole afternoon. Met the guys in the night for dinner. We went to Happy World restaurant where I had a sweet chicken corn soup. It made me feel a lot better, and I ordered a chilly chicken to follow.

We decided to put off our plans for a trek. It's too cold to trek anyway, and we're not feeling up to it.

Day 18 - Monday - May 25
Leh/Shakti

Went back to Happy World restaurant for breakfast today, where I had a mushroom omlette (Rs. 35).

Then went back to the hotel to decide to do something more productive today as compared to the last two days.

I decided to visit Shakti village in the Chemrey valley, south of Leh, much more south than Thiksey but along the same route more or less. I walked to the bus station, around 10-15 minutes away, but had to wait an hour for the bus to leave, it being 12.30 by the time it did.

I reached my destination at 2.00 P.M, after a long but scenic bus ride that took me through Shakti village and terminated at a point soon after. I confirmed with the bus conductor that the last bus out of the village and back to Leh was only two hours away, and then began my walk back through the village.

I've not had a chance to see a lot of greenery in Ladakh, most of it being in Leh, and that too just restricted to small farms, but Shakti had full blown pastures, something I haven't seen here so far. Naturally, I had to take a lot of pics.

I caught a bus back to Leh on my walk out of the village. Another one and a half hour bus ride. I notice how well people adjust in buses here. There are absolutely no arguments or fights breaking out, despite the buses being crowded. Also, women seem to be treated with a lot more respect here, or rather, it would be more accurate to say that they're treated more like equals here than in many other places I've been to. There's absolutely no hesitation or fear from them as they share close confined spaces and seats with male strangers in crowded buses.

It's something I've noticed a lot here. Young Ladakhi women (all of them really beautiful, don't know how they do it) seem to lead more confident and liberal lives here as compared to other places I've been to in India. They have no reason to feel uncomfortable in or fear public or crowded areas. And Ladakhi men in turn seem to be really respectful, in the sense that they never seem to do anything to make a woman, either local or an outsider, feel uncomfortable, like stare at her or anything.

Ladakhi women also tend to play larger roles in the community, many of them in charge of operating shops and restaurants, unlike other parts of India where managing an establishment would be left to the men only. And the men seem to take this freedom that women have for granted. The liberal lives that women in Ladakh seem to lead just seems to be a part of the Ladkhi culture, ingrained in them, and not something their women have had to struggle or fight for.

I don't mean to paint a picture of a Utopian society where women are treated as complete equals. Gender discrimination no doubt still exists in Ladakhi society. A woman wouldn't be encouraged to take up a career in mountaineering or single handedly leading trekking expeditions, etc. Close knit traditional societies like the ones that exist here simply cannot change overnight.

But the liberal lives I'm referring to are more to do with how women seem to hold themselves over here. They do so with a lot more confidence than anywhere else in India that I've been to. In Mumbai for example, women tend to avert their eyes in public, looking down as they walk. Also, they wouldn't be very confident or willing to converse with a male stranger. Women don't have a reason to behave this way in Ladakh.

Anyway, it was around 6 by the time I reached my hotel. I ate a small packet of dry fruits since I missed lunch. P dropped by to give me news I'd been expecting - the road to Manali opened yesterday or today and the first batch of people have come in today. I thought I saw more people on the streets today. But of course, that could just mean that the tourist season is taking off.

It's amazing how much this town has changed since we arrived here 18 days ago. It resembled a ghost town then, half the shops still being closed. And we've slowly seen it transform into a proper international traveller centre, and get somewhat warmer as well.

P told me that T and he have booked jeep tickets for early tomorrow morning, and asked if I'd like to come along since there's going to be place. I told him I'm good to go. So we finally leave for Manali at 3.00 A.M tomorrow.

Day 19 - Tuesday - May 26
Leh/Manali

Left the hotel to meet the guys at 2.30 A.M. It was really dark outside but not as cold as I'd expected. We had booked a taxi the previous evening so we didn't have to walk all the way to Leh bus stop with our heavy backpacks in the dark.

The jeep stand was next to the bus station. We found our vehicle, got into it, and left at 3.00 A.M. It began snowing on or way to the second highest motorable road in the world - Tang Lang La - which we'd have to cross on our way to Manali. Visibility was bad as we climbed up and the convoy we had set off in had to stop at the pass for daylight to arrive before we could continue at around 5.00 A.M. It had drizzled a bit the previous evening and we had seen a lot of dark clouds here for the first time but thought nothing of it as it rarely rains in Leh.

We continued on, stopping at Pang for breakfast - omlette, chapati, and tea (Rs. 40) - which refreshed us. We then stopped a little before to change tires around 12.30 P.M. Most of the trip seems like a real blur since we travelled a long way - 450 kms - in 18 hrs. I remember driving by wide plains in a large flat plateau like area afterwards, and then down the mountain for a long time through the twenty Gata loops and past Sarchu, then through Darcha (where we first began seeing green mountains after almost three weeks of barrenness and where foreigners need to register), Jispa, Keylong and Tandi, then to Khoksar (a small town full of dhabas where most people break immediately before or after attempting to cross the Rohtang pass) and then further uphill to the Rohtang pass itself, during which time night fell, and we drove on in darkness all the way over the Rohtang and down the other side and the 50 kms to Manali.

We arrived in Manali hungry and tired. The whole town seems to consist of only hotels and restaurants, and is very crowded and dirty. None of us liked it from the moment we set eyes on it. Still, we had to spend the night here and so began looking for a cheap hotel. We finally found one that would take all three of us in one room for Rs. 800. It's the tourist season here and everything seems booked up.

We checked in and went looking for dinner. I like the weather here. It's cool without being cold. A relief after Ladakh. We found a restaurant on the main road, crowded, and I had soup (Rs. 65). Then back to the hotel for some well deserved sleep. We simply can't believe that everything that we saw and did today really took place today. It seems more like this morning or afternoon actually happened two weeks ago.

I also notice that I've reached day 19, the halfway mark in my travels.

Day 20 - Wednesday - May 27
Manali/Old Manali

A lot of noise outside woke me at 5.00 A.M today - traffic noise - and again at 7.00, after which I just couldn't go back to sleep. It seems Manali gets up real early.

I had breakfast at the hotel - Aloo Paratha (Rs. 15) - and then walk with P to Old Manali to find a new place to stay while T slept in. I can't imagine why anyone would want to stay in Manali. Old Manali was supposed to be a better place, according to the LP guidebook, and it took us a about a half hour to cover the 2.5 kms there.

I liked Old Manali immediately. It's small, friendly, and full of international travellers and backpackers, which means most of the people here are more or less my age, and there aren't any noisy children or traffic problems around. The town is really close to the roaring Beas river, and we found the main guesthouse-restaurant area after an initial wrong turn. These seem to be built along a slope with a narrow road running uphill through the town, which seems to be used mostly by Indian tourists in their hired vehicles from Manali coming to visit Manu temple at the top of the hill and end of the road.

Indian tourists bug me. They roam about with their large families, take a lot of pictures, make a lot of noise, leave plastic about, and then leave in their noisy vehicles. They don't ever dwell on any of the places they've visited, inquisitive about its history or significance. They only seem to want to have some kind of pictorial record of a place that they can tick off their list and brag about visiting later to their friends.

One thing I noticed in Old Manali is the number of international tourists, or rather, the lack of Indian tourists living here. A lot of Indian tourists pass by the town in their vehicles to Manu temple and then go back to their hotels in Manali or elsewhere. But none of them actually stay in Old Manali. I'm trying to figure out why. Maybe a place gets a certain type of reputation after a while, and Indian families don't want to be associated with that kind of reputation.

Also, Indian families like to stay in hotels - the more expensive the better. Probably because they mostly travel as part of a tour group, that prebooks hotel rooms for them. Foreigners, not bound by this constraint, are free and in fact prefer to stay at cheap quiet guesthouses with gardens and cafes and like-minded company where they can relax and do their own thing and not be disturbed, like reading a book on a balcony taking in the scenery, as opposed to living in a characterless hotel room with all its typical depressing features that lean towards anonymousness.

Furthermore, foreigners want to live in a place they feel comfortable in, not a place where they'd be conspicuous or made to feel self conscious, and the only places in India like this tend to be places already populated by foreigners. The same applies to Indians I guess - they'd like to live around other Indians when they travel.

So P and I walked through Old Manali inquiring at different guesthouses about prices and rooms. They all had rooms available, and though some were more expensive than others, we each found something in our price ranges. Mine is Rs. 300 a night. We waked back to Manali, checked out of the hotel with T and took a rick to our new homes.

Again, the climate here is excellent. It's hot in the middle of the day - but only if you're in the sun. You do sweat a lot if you're walking along an asphalt road in the afternoon. But the moment you step into the shade, you cool down. Five minutes in the shade and you wouldn't believe you'd been sweating five minutes ago. I love this kind of heat. It's dry heat. Not something I've experienced in Mumbai. There, the humidity keeps it hot no matter what the time of day it is. This is the first time I've been so comfy in the last week of May. People in Mumbai must be suffering right now.

I rested for a bit at the guesthouse, then went for lunch and a walk with P & T at the Shiva Garden Cafe and Restaurant, where I tried Israeli food - Pita, Humus, chips and salad. Quite good. I continued alone uphill to the end of the road and Manu temple, and then walked to an ATM in Manali, walked back and got a haircut. I also bought a few nuts and biscuits I might need for lunch if I go an a trek here.

And I've been drinking more water here. Unfortunately, no one here offers refills so I have to keep buying bottled water.

I met the guys for dinner. We went to Dragon Restaurant (attached to the Dragon guesthouse) where I had mixed veg and naan (Rs 100).

Travel Diary: May 23 - 27

Travel Diary: May 18 - 22

Day 11 – Monday – May 18
Leh

Woke at 8.00 A.M. Had a hot bucket bath. Left the hotel at 9.00. Had a luxuriously long good breakfast of mushrooms on toast & coffee (Rs.60) at Lamayuru Restaurant.

Walked to the Shanti Stupa junction north on the outskirts of town and then took the long winding road right and round towards the series of steps cut into the side of a hill that serves as a sort of back entry directly towards the gompa above Leh palace.

The steps form a winding tiring path up the hill. I climbed them steadily with lots of breaks. On reaching the gompa, I found an Am/Can man who showed me another way down – a kind of steep dirt path between the palace and gompa that would take me directly to the palace below. I hadn’t seen this on my last visit to the palace, and including the long approach road for vehicles, would make up the third way to reach the gompa.

I looked around the gompa and the fort above it a bit. This has got to be the highest I’ve ever been to in Leh, and is probably Leh’s highest point. The views from up here are indescribable. It’s lonely up here, and windy. The gompa was closed, and I didn’t see any other tourists save that one man during my time there.

I decided to walk down from the gompa to the palace using the dirt path between them. Easier said than done. The path essentially runs down a very steep slope, zig zagging from one end of the slope to another so as to enable you to keep your balance. I started off a bit shaky at first because of the height and the slipperiness, but made it down to the palace entrance, then climbed down from the palace into Leh town, following the drain and moving between houses as before.

I met P at the shake place, and we walked to the Tourist Information Centre to get directions to the Snow Leopard Conservancy office, from where we hoped to get details about the Markha valley trek. They drew it out for us on a map.

As we walked to the office, I realized for the first time today hot it was. My back was soaked. It’s probably the first time I’ve ever sweated since arriving in Leh, and possibly the first warm day of the year. There was no wind at all today, come to think of it, and even a few minutes in the sun were enough to make you want to get back in the shade, where the temperature dropped dramatically.

Still, for all our efforts searching for the office, and finding it, no one seemed to be in. We made plans to visit tomorrow, and I walked to the SBI ATM, only one of two ATM's in town, and where lines during the daytime are really long. It’s best to go there early in the morning or late at night.

I chilled at the hotel, had a shave, and then went to see P & T. We go to Summer Harvest Restaurant, a pretty expensive place. Still, the portions of food were generous. I had a chicken biryani (Rs. 110) which was very substantial with egg and a lot of chicken so I couldn’t complain. I wasn’t able to finish all the rice unfortunately.

I went back to P & T’s place after dinner and drank vodka with Miranda and Sprite, watching Office Space and the CSK vs KKR IPL match side by side.

I went back to my hotel at just before 12.00, wary of the street dogs on the two minute walk to my hotel. The dogs here are really shaggy – they seem to be covered with a mountain of fur. I noticed it wasn’t cold outside, even for this time of night. I didn’t need my gloves or scarf or sweater. Left the monkey cap on though.

Day 12 – Tuesday – May 19
Leh

Awoke late today – 11.00 A.M. The hotel now has running hot water so I had a hot shower today for the first time in 12 days. Went to Lamayuru Restaurant for brunch at 12.30. Had a paneer mushroom with rotis (Rs. 70).

Walked to the SLC office again. They were in this time. Very friendly people. They gave me details of the trek and a tour organiser who could arrange homestays along the way.

I walked up to the Shanti Stupa junction again and took a left this time to go to the Hall of Fame museum. I was sure this road would lead me there. The walk went on for at least four kilometers. Most of it took me past army barracks and buildings on my right.

A section of the army structures are built against a mountain which seems to have sand running up almost the entire length of it. It was very windy in some parts along the road, creating sandstorms that I had to pass through or stop for occasionally.

The Hall of Fame museum was nice. The three rooms to the left are dedicated to Ladakhi history, culture, flora, fauna, and industry.

The centre room contains a large display of the important Ladakhi mountain passes, with information on some of the key personnel involved in helping to capture them.

The three room to the right contain information and displays about the air force and their role in Ladakh - like the 114 helicopter squad that’s responsible for airdropping supplies to soldiers at high altitudes.

The two rooms on the first floor contain information on the army’s presence in Siachen and the special equipment used by soldiers there - like their clothes, boots (which are really shoes within shoes), supplies, and pictures of them performing their duties.

The walk back to Leh town was mostly the same way, only uphill, but I took a right turn about 15-20 minutes before coming to the Shanti Stupa junction through a village like area. I thought it would be an interesting detour back into town, and I wasn’t mistaken.

The detour took me past some beautiful two-storey village bungalows with large green lawns, yards and pastures; then guesthouses and finally taking me to Fort road, where all the best restaurants are and where P & T stay, my hotel being on the road next to it and meeting it at the taxi stand junction.

I rested at my hotel for a while. It’s definitely cold today, more so compared to yesterday’s heat. I then walked to the tour organizer I was recommended earlier, who gave me additional details about the trek.

I went to P & T’s next. Drank a vodka and pineapple juice – it had quite a kick – and watched Species. We went to Happy World restaurant for dinner, where I tried Italian food for the first time. I had a Pico chicken lasagna. It was just chicken baked in white sauce, which I’ve had before, but in layers. A bit boring.

Went straight to bed afterwards. Quite tired, and in no mood for more alcohol.

Day 13 – Wednesday – May 20
Leh

Woke a little after 9.00 A.M. Had breakfast at Gesmo Restaurant. A mushroom omlette and coffee (Rs. 50). Then back to the hotel for a hot shower – real nice.

The guys and I decided that we’d meet at 11.30 at my hotel. P showed up, and we decided to join a family going to Pangong Tso lake tomorrow.

We then walked around, and went back to their hotel where I borrowed a book to read – Mark Tully’s India in Slow Motion. We went looking for lunch at 1.30 - Gesmo again – where I had a yak cheese chicken sandwich with chips and salad (Rs.80).

We went to see a movie at 3.00 P.M at the Women’s Alliance of Ladakh – Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh – based on the book by Helena Norberg-Hodge.

Went back to the hotel to read for a while, and then to P & T’s at 6.30, where I watched a bit of the RR vs KKR match. We went to the newly opened Dreamland Restaurant for dinner, where I tried Kashmiri food for the first time - Rogan Josh and rotis (Rs. 100). The mutton had a distinctive taste I’m not used to in the mutton I usually eat. It’s not my favourite kind.

I got a water refill and went back to get a good night’s sleep. We’re supposed to meet at 6.20 A.M tomorrow for the lake trip.

Day 14 – Thursday – May 21
Leh/Pangong Tso

Met P at 6.20 today. We left at 6.45 A.M in a jeep with the Indian family we’re sharing costs with. A husband, wife, and their son who seemed to be around six or seven.

We climbed up into the mountains south east of Leh and crossed the world’s third highest motorable road – Chang La. On the other side, we breaked for breakfast at 10.30 at Tangtse village, where we had paranthas and salty tea (Rs. 40). Pangong Tso lake is a 40 km drive from the village, through desert like land where we saw a few wild asses.

The lake is beautiful, and large. The different shades of blue were the first thing that struck me about it. That, and it’s size. We couldn’t see the end of it, and I’m told most of it lies in China. It’s bordered by mountains for the most part, and the approach road that we drove on only took us so far. There’s a small army encampment at the lake, it being a sensitive area, and all visitors require permits.

We got out of the vehicle and spent about a half hour at the lake, just walking around it’s shore and taking pictures. There were other visitors as well – a lot of package tourists in jeeps and vans. I saw a few gulls over the water, which was cold. The lake area itself seemed to be colder than Leh, and this didn’t seem like the time to picnic there.

We drove back to Leh, reaching it at 5.30 P.M. The drive was uneventful both ways, and the trip cost us 1,100 per person.

Back at Leh, I freshened up and met the guys for dinner. We went to Budshah Inn Restaurant, the same place we went to on our first night here. I had a chicken tikka and rice (Rs. 170) and a bit of the gravy from the chicken mughlai (sweetish) and chicken tikka masala (stronger) that my friends ordered, though I still felt a bit hungry. The chicken tikka is sure not enough for Rs.150.

Day 15 – Friday – May 22
Leh/Spituk

Woke at 10.00 A.M. Breakfast at Lamayuru again – coffee, beans, mushrooms and French toast (Rs.50). Very filling but the mushrooms were in the bean sauce – I prefer my mushrooms dry.

I caught a bus to Spituk, a town just outside Leh, about a half hour’s journey. My destination was the monastery. The bus dropped me at what seemed to be a real isolated place. I found and walked up the approach road to Spituk monastery, where I took a lot of pictures. A separate approach road leads to a large Buddha statue above the monastery.

I walked back down, not sure where the bus stop was, and decided to walk to Spituk town. Luckily, I saw a bus approaching from the opposite direction, flagged it down, and returned to Leh, where I hit the ATM, and rested at the hotel.

I had lunch at Tenzin Dickey Tibetan Restaurant on Fort Road at 3.00 P.M – fried veg cheese momos (Rs.60) & Sorig Tea (Rs.20). Then spent a little time on the internet.

I met P & T for dinner. We went to a newly opened place again – Bon Appetit restaurant. A lot of activity seems to be taking place this week. Restaurants long dormant have been lifting their shutters and the number of visitors has been increasing. I guess businesses are anticipating the opening of the Manali–Leh road. That should bring in most of the tourists.

Anyway, I tried Italian food again. I had the Pasta Napolitana. Not very good and boring as well. I should stay off Italian food for a while. Or at least Italian food made by Indians in India. We then went to a bar nearby. I had a 60 ml of rum (Rs. 30) and a pepsi, watched the IPLK semi final – DC vs DD. Adam Gilchrist can bat!

Went to bed at 11.30.

Travel Diary: May 18 - 22

Travel Diary: May 13 - 17

Day 6 – Wednesday – May 13
Leh

Election day today. Had breakfast at the guesthouse at 10.00 and took a long walk along the outskirts of town before meeting M at around 12.00.

We searched for a restaurant for him to have breakfast at. Everything’s closed today and I’ve been feeling really exhausted. We finally find a place to eat – Kangla Chen restaurant.

We met up with P and T at Jigmet later and we all go searching for lunch. Strangely, Kangla Chen is now closed. An already ghost like town had become even more of a ghost town. I felt progressively worse, and was in no shape to go searching for lunch.

I walked back to the guesthouse, every step an effort. This tiredness seems to be a continuation of yesterday evening’s exhaustion. I was fine during my first two nights and days, apart from the loss of appetite. The exhaustion really set in yesterday evening during my walk back to the guesthouse, and today’s walk seemed like an eternity. I guess it’s the altitude. The trip from Srinagar to Leh was really gradual an I didn’t really face any high altitude problems I'd read about. I do remember suffering from a little shortness over the Zozi La but that’s about it. I’m only feeling the effects of the altitude now.

I guess I need to stop over exerting myself. I will be moving closer to town tomorrow to prevent the long walks back to the guesthouse. The exhaustion is also probably due to the lack of food. I’ll have access to ready meals in town if I move there. Come to think of it, I’ve only had a real dinner here on my first night. The next two days consisted of mostly breakfasts and snacks. I really need to eat more.

On the plus side, I’ve just had dinner with the family that owns the guesthouse I’m staying in. They gave me the royal treatment, with rice, mutton, veggies, and curd. I really needed this.

Day 7 – Thursday – May 14
Leh/Hemis/Stok

I checked out of the guesthouse today. Met up with the guys for breakfast at Kangla Chen. Had a pancake (Rs.50). Could only finish half. Checked into M’s hotel, where I dumped my bags, and then visited a tour operator to book an overnight trip to Nubra for tomorrow. Foreign nationals need to submit their passports to get a permit to visit the area, while Indian nationals need to submit some ID proof. I used my PAN card. Tour operators can arrange the permits themselves at an extra cost.

M and I took a shared taxi to Hemis and Stok monasteries (Rs. 600), while P & T looked for a new and better place to stay for the same price. I threw up on the way. Really didn’t like that pancake. Hemis is really high up. I had a bit of a headache at the monastery, and a nose bleed as well.

Still, it was worth seeing these two places, if only for their museums. Hemis is really large. I don’t know how the resident monks at these monasteries celebrate their open air festivals in winter, it being so cold. It's May and I'm freezing. The museum could be improved with dates added to the exhibits though.

Stok palace and monastery is slightly smaller and looks more nondescript compared to the grandeur of Hemis, focusing on turquoise ornaments worn by the royal family along with their pictoral history.

In contrast, Thiksey and Shey seemed to be more popular as monasteries only, with people going there to see their ruins and prayer rooms with their respective religious displays.

I felt better on the way back to Leh. We reached our hotel at 6.00 P.M. I freshened up, went to get a water refill (there’s a place called Dzomsa that fills your one litre plastic water bottle for Rs.7), and went to finalise our booking for tomorrow.

Had dinner with M. Paneer Tikka Tandoori (Rs.80) and rice (Rs.30). Talked about movies. He loves Tremors as well. Really cold on the walk back to the hotel. Paid for one night since I’ll be checking out tomorrow for a day. Watched a bit of the RR vs MI match on the T.V in the lobby, before going to sleep.

Day 8 – Friday – May 15
Leh/Khardung La/Nubra/Sumur/Diskit

Left the hotel at 7.00 A.M. Met up with the guys at the tour office. They had a Scorpio with a driver waiting outside to drive us to Nubra, in which I dumped my bags.

We drove north and upwards, really high up, soon crossing the snowline, toward Khardung La, the highest motorable road in the world. We stopped to show our permits at one point, at North Pallu, for half an hour, which seemed a bit long.

Then we got stuck on an ice patch on the way to Khardung La, which was scary since there was a sheer drop on the other side of the narrow ledge we were on. Still, the scenery was very beautiful – white everywhere – that we couldn’t look at too long without sunglasses because of the strong glare.

It was snowing and we all got out of the vehicle while our driver tried to get it started, our feet sinking into the snow and slipping on the ice. We finally made it past with the help of the driver from the vehicle behind us, who got the Scorpio past the ice patch, and we all got back into the car.

We made it to Khardung La at last. There was a sign on top of a little snow bank saying it’s the highest motorable pass in the world, and it was fun scrambling up to get our picture taken next to it, before running back into the car. We had no idea we wouldn’t be moving for a long time.

Turns out an army convoy was coming up to the pass from the other end, and since it’s mostly a one way road, we had to wait for over an hour for them to arrive, break and then continue on down the part of the pass that we had come from. Now it’s not recommended to spend more than twenty minutes at a really high altitude like this. We were here for over an hour, with nothing to do. I was starting to feel a bit down; maybe got a bit of a headache even. While the other guys walked around, I tried taking a nap in the car.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the convoy moved off (I counted fifteen large army trucks), and we started on our way down the pass into Northern Ladakh and the Nubra valley, only to be delayed again by three straggler army trucks that were coming up the other way. Instead of backing up the way we had come, what was by now a little procession of tourist jeeps managed to squeeze through each army vehicle one at a time by using a little clearing at a curve in the mountain.

On the Nubra valley side of the pass, it took us a couple of hours to drive down to the valley and our first stop was South Pallu, where we stopped for brunch. I had a slight headache by this time and a hot cup of tea really made me feel better. The steamed veg Momos and Thukpa (noodle soup) also helped (my first Tibetan meal, it was refreshing but really bland), though I didn’t have much of an appetite, and couldn’t finish them. But that and a bottle of mineral water really picked my spirits up and I looked forward to the trip yet ahead.

We drove north to the village of Sumur – a really small quiet town with free monastery entry. It felt good there. A monk showed us through two prayer rooms. I noticed a lot of colourful devotional ceiling cloth hangings., something I’d not seen in any other monastery so far. This monastery, M tells me, belongs to the Gelukpa sect of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama’s branch.

We drove from Sumur down and across to the west side of the Nubra desert to the town of Diskit, and checked into the Sand Dune guesthouse, where we freshened up and went for a walk. Diskit is a really small one-street town, somewhat deserted (like Leh, many shops were closed at this time of year). We noticed that we were getting sand in our teeth all the time, and I realised the haze over the town was really a cloud of sand. We seemed to be in the middle of a kind of sandstorm, being next to the desert.

P challenged some children to jump from the first floor veranda they were on, which they promptly did, on to a sand pile on the ground below.

We walked back to the guesthouse and sat around a table in a little enclosure in one of the guest buildings, waiting for dinner to be served. Noticed sand everywhere again – on the table and chairs. We used the time to talk about movies – I notice that the other guys are movie buffs as well - and played a game of cheater, which P won.

Dinner was a mostly North Indian affair – rice, vegetables, and dal. Very tasty. I filled my bottle up with warm drinking water before confirming with the driver what time we were to meet the next morning, and then going to bed.

Day 9 – Saturday – May 16
Nubra/Diskit/Hunder/Khardung La/Leh

Woke at 6.30 A.M. Freshened up, had a head wash with hot water, and called on the others.

We went to Diskit Gompa, the local monastery, which was built in a way that made it seem like it was stuck into the side of a mountain. Driving along the monastery’s steep winding approach road was another somewhat harrowing experience – people who are afraid of heights certainly wouldn’t enjoy all the vertigo inducing drives in Ladakh. The Buddhist architects seem to take pride in making their monastic creations as inaccessible as possible.

The monastery with its prayer rooms was the same as most others I had seen. Their insides all look the same to me now. There’s always a prayer room with low tables, mattresses for monks to sit at, wall paintings of the deities, and a central altar like place where offerings are made. The best part of the monastery to me was not the monastery itself, but the excellent views of the town to be had from its roofs.

We came back to the guesthouse for breakfast – Ladakhi bread with honey, jam and butter; and tea – after which we paid for our room and board (Rs.380) and drove to Hunder, the last town along the west side if the desert. We stopped along the road to take in the desert with its sand dunes. It wasn’t a complete desert. The sand dunes did have rocky outcrops and electric poles sunk in. We also saw Bactrian camels there. They let tourists ride them for a price.

We drove on until we reached Hunder, where a bridge across a small river to the town was the last point we could travel upto, the Pakistan border being not too far off. We walked around the Gompa situated before the bridge and then drove back to Leh – a very uneventful ad smooth ride. We played 6 degrees on our way up to Khardung La, which was peaceful, quiet and not snowed in this time around as opposed to yesterday. I actually took a walk about and made snowballs for the first time in my life.

We probably reached Leh at around 4.30 P.M, and paid the tour organiser the balance amount. I rechecked into the hotel, freshened up and met M, P & T at the shake place (the same place that I had the mango shake on my first day here - we all seem to love it), and decided to put off the lake trip we were planning for tomorrow. We met a funny British guy and his gang - he cursed a lot about the expensive flights out of Leh (he had paid Rs 10,000 for a Leh – Delhi ticket). The four of us also decided to meet up at 6.30 for dinner.

I killed time walking around and surfing the net for an hour (it’s Rs.90 an hour here or Rs. 1.50 a minute), then met the others for pizzas at Gesmo restaurant and German bakery (Rs125 for large plate sized chicken and marguerite pizzas). The pizzas were pretty boring - they didn’t seem to have much on them, even the chicken ones, but they were filling, at least for me. The others had to order something else to fill up – they seem to have larger appetites.

I went to bed, after checking out P & T’s new hotel room, arranging to meet tomorrow for dinner, collecting my laundry, and having a steaming hot bucket bath.

Day 10 – Sunday – May 17
Leh

Woke at around 9.00. Had a cheese onion tomato sandwhich (Rs.45) at Kangla Chen restaurant. Felt energized.

Walked to Shanti Stupa. Or rather, walked to the hill with the stairs leading to Shanti Stupa, the large Stupa built by the Japanese on a hill overlooking the town. It was a gruelling walk. I had to stop for a few minutes every 20 steps or so – and it was around 300 steps to the Stupa’s main base. As usual, it was all worth it – the views of Leh town were the best yet. People in cars could of course use a separate approach road to the main base, which houses a little monastery of its own, along with a parking area.

A little slope from the main base leads to a large wide platform on which the Stupa is located. The platform is splendid. When on it, it appears to be floating in the sky. Height wise, the Stupa is located higher than Leh palace, and the view was better as well. There is a Gompa above the palace that I must visit. It seems higher than the Stupa.

Rested at the hotel for a while, then lunched at a North Indian restaurant down the road from the taxi stand. Had chicken corn soup (Rs.50). Walked through the Tibetan refugee market opposite, and found a snooker place hidden among its back streets. I kept walking down the road from the refugee market, figuring I might arrive at the Hall of Fame museum on the airport road, which I wanted to see.

I soon came to the outskirts of town, and found myself walking through its industrial district, where I realized I would not be seeing the museum today, and upon my return, found a pharmacy that actually stocked Avomine, the travel sickness tablets that I had finished on the Nubra trip and that the main pharmacy in Leh had run out of as well.

Rested at the hotel for a few minutes before walking to P & T’s, where I watched part of the DC vs KXIP IPL match while sipping on vodka and apple juice. It seems P & T had gone out searching for alcohol and finally found a place that sells some, though their quest for beer still hasn’t been fruitful. They’ve been asking for some at every restaurant they’ve been to, with no luck.

M turned up, we went to the same N. Indian place I went to for lunch, and I convinced everyone to have chicken sizzlers (Rs. 130), Not bad. M and I went back to the hotel after dinner and I wished him a safe journey – he leaves tomorrow for a three day mission to organize things before leaving for Bangkok.

Travel Diary: May 13 - 17

Travel Diary: May 8 - 12

Day 1 – Friday – May 8
Mumbai/Srinagar

Woke at 7.00 A.M. Left home at 9.00. The rick to the airport took just half an hour. Cooled down inside the terminal. Got boarding pass. Killed time walking around checking out the shops. It was 10.30. Went through security check at 11.00. The flight to Srinagar was a bit late.

Felt really sleepy on the plane. Ate a Rs. 120 chicken sandwich. Soon saw beautiful mountains with snow-covered peaks from the plane. The first time I’ve seen snow in real life. Couldn't take my eyes off them. The peaks gave way to unending green plains. As beautiful.

Arrived at Srinagar at around 2.00 P.M. Walked from the plane to the terminal and noticed how cool it was – really beautiful weather – around 16 degrees – wonderful for walking in. I enquired at the tourist reception center at Srinagar airport about a hotel. They were very helpful, giving me a guesthouse address. There was another stand at the airport with a guy who helps with hotel bookings but he couldn’t offer anything in my price range and was too pushy.

I took a prepaid taxi (Rs.375) to the guesthouse. Chatted with the driver on the way – he wasn’t too talkative. I stopped at an ATM on the way. J&K Bank is everywhere over here.

Went for a walk after checking in. My guesthouse is close to zero bridge, which is close to the main bus station from where I bought a bus ticket to Leh for the next morning for Rs.710.

Continued on my walk. Saw houseboats and shikaras in the river with interesting names – Pintail, Starling, New Mandalay, Queens Lap, Not the King’s Wood, Kingfisher, Monalisa, Young Fairy Queen, Lotus.

Climbed up a small hill in the center on town with a bungalow on top. It’s very quiet here. I haven’t seen many tourists. The locals have very distinctive facial features. I stand out here. Irritating touts and rickshaw and taxi drivers everywhere hounding me with special offers.

I bought some emergency rations for the two-day bus trip ahead (Rs.145) and got back to my guesthouse by nightfall. It’s colder now – I ordered some dinner (roti and subji), paid for the room and board (Rs.360), and decide to turn in for the night.

Day 2 – Saturday – May 9
Srinagar/Kargil

My mobile alarm woke me up at 6.00 A.M. I noticed how bright it was outside for this time. Had a lukewarm bath. Walked to the bus station 10 minutes away – quite cold – I wore four layers of clothing for good measure.

Found my bus and seat number. A few foreigners on the trip as well. The Srinagar-Leh bus journey is a two day trip with a stopover at Kargil. It was supposed to start at 7.30 A.M but finally left at 8.00.
We made a pit stop at 10.00 for breakfast. Had two good parathas for Rs.40. Met an Australian guy on my bus named Mick, short for Michael, who’s going to Leh before going to Bangkok. He’s spent eight months traveling in the North, most of it in Himachal teaching English. I noticed the snow covered peaks in the distance and how close thew seemed.

Our bus trip continued on. We stopped twice at check posts where foreigners had to show their passports and register. We were moving higher, into the mountains, closer to the snow line.

Pretty soon, we crossed the Zozi-La, which was a kind of path running alongside a mountain that cut through a frozen layer of ice and snow. We were driving through an open-air tunnel of ice and snow, with just a thin wall of the same to protect us from the ravine to one side. It was breathtaking. Ice was within my reach from the bus window. It closed in on us on both sides. It was so close the bus could have scraped its icy walls on its way through the pass. I noticed it wasn’t too cold though. I was expecting it to be freezing. I guess the ice was mixed with mud and was melting.

We stopped at Drass at 3.00 P.M. – the second coldest inhabited place on Earth after Siberia. Pretty much a one-street town. I went for a walk and spoke to a man called Padum. He told me a lot of Ladakhis are named after the regions they’re from.

We drove on until we came to Kargil in the evening. A man called Drass helped me find a room for the night in a guesthouse for Rs.250. It’s quite a dump. The only other hotel he showed me is probably the only good hotel in Kargil - Hotel Siachen, which is Rs.800 for a double bed – too much for me. Kargil is a really sad depressing town. There's something about it that seems to sap your happiness.

I went for a walk after checking in to find something to eat. Met M doing the same thing. Had dinner with him at the restaurant at Siachen and we talked. Found out he used to do the same kind of work I do now, before coming to India. He also told me this is his second trip. We shared a chicken curry and mixed veg for Rs.140 each.

I’m sleeping with all four layers of clothing on. It’s really cold now. It was quit pleasant uptil Kargil actually.

Day 3 – Sunday – May 10
Kargil/Leh

Woke up a 3.45 A.M. Got up intermittently actually as there was no charge point for my mobile and its battery was low so I couldn’t use the alarm. I left the guesthouse at 4.20. We were asked to meet at the bus station at 4.30. I made it in time but it was very dark outside – no street lights and I had to navigate my way from the guesthouse to the station from whatever stray lights I could find. In the five minutes it took me to walk to the station, I noticed my fingers were numb. It was colder than I’ve ever felt before. I brought out the gloves for the first time. They were leather and not much help, but they kept the circulation going in my fingers.

The bus left at 5.00 A.M. I’d never been so cold before. I had 5 layers of clothing on, plus my gloves and a monkey cap. And the guy on the seat next to me on the bus was kind enough to share his blanket with me.

The trip only got colder after Kargil. We drove up over the snowline, stopping for a few minutes at a checkpost that was in the process of being heavily snowed in. For the first time in my life I was seeing actual snowfall. I always thought I’d enjoy the moment tremendously, but at that point I was no numb I wasn’t even inclined to take a picture or a video. I couldn’t even be bothered to unzip the backpack in my lap, take out my camera, and switch it on, because that would mean removing my gloves. That’s how cold I was.

We slowly descended, and stopped for breakfast at 10.30 A.M. I had a lovely hot meal of rice, beans and veggies. It was still cold but not as cold as before. We soon crossed into another area entirely; where snow covered mountains gave way to rocky barren brown mountains. I guess this is Ladakh. I've seen pictures but seeing the stark barreness of the area yourself is something else. We stopped again for lunch at 1.30 P.M, but I was so full of breakfast I couldn’t eat anything.

We continued on, coming to Lamayuru, the Guru Pather Sahib Gurudwara, and army camps, to Leh, reaching to bus station at 3.20 P.M, at which point it started snowing. I finally got to experience snowfall and enjoyed it too, though it was shortlived.

I called up Lassu guesthouse from a PCO (it was recommended to me by someone I had contacted from Mumbai) and the owner drove up in his car and picked me up. I decided to meet M and P & T (the other two Aussie guys from the bus) later around town, leaving them to find their own accommodation.

Lassu guesthouse is on the outskirts of town, I soon learnt, but very beautiful and quiet. I went for a walk after dumping my bags in my room and freshening up. On the walk back to town, I noticed Leh is quite deserted and cold. There are very few tourists around. I met P & T at the Tibetan refugee market, and had dinner with them at Budshah Inn restaurant. Had a chicken curry with rotis for Rs.80.

It was 7.00 P.M by the time I started walking back to Lassu, and I was soon enveloped in complete darkness by the time I reached the outskirts of town. There are no street lights in this part and I almost couldn’t find my guesthouse. It must have been after 7.30 by the time I did find it.

I’ve got a really nice room for Rs.200/night. It’s very cold though. I need to buy a scarf and woolen gloves. My leather ones aren’t very effective.

Day 4 – Monday – May 11
Leh

Awoke at 9.00 A.M. Had a hot bath. It’s been two days since my last one. Left the guesthouse at 11.00.

Went to restaurant called Little Itealy and had a Spanish omelette (Rs.45) and coffee (Rs.15).

Walked to Leh Palace, a landmark right in the centre of town but perched on a hill. I must have reached it by 12.00 after a bit of climbing up a path through old mud brick houses and through steep paths that probably only goats and dogs use on a regular basis. I noticed I had to stop and rest after every few steps. Must be the altitude. Leh is at 3,500 metres, and anything above 2,500 can give you problems.

It was all worth it though. The palace is breathtaking. The benefit of walking up from Leh town is that I got to see a lot of the area around the base of the palace, especially the views of the Leh itself, before coming to the front doors and going inside. No entry charge for me, being an Indian national. I explored the different floors, some accessible by ladder only, though a large part of the palace is under renovation.

There is a pretty good exhibition room somewhere in the centre of the palace, and it’s entirely possible to miss it altogether. Such is the complexity of the palace. It’s so large with so many rooms and a complex series of corridors and connectors between them that it would make a great Wolfenstein game map. The exhibition room shows details of heritage sites in J&K before and after renovation.

Took a lot of pictures. Both of the palace and of the view of Leh. I also noticed a separate approach road for vehicles that traversed half the circumference of the hill. That’s what tour groups and people with vehicles use to come up here, though I‘m sure my way is more fun.

I climbed back down into Leh town by 3.00 P.M. Had a mango shake for lunch and then strolled through the market. Withdrew cash from an ATM. I met M and we exchanged numbers. He bought a SIM card in J&K that actually works out here.

I went on to buy woolen gloves (Rs.140) and a scarf (Rs.70). Walked back to my guesthouse, and met M again, who was on his way to Shanti Stupa, another landmark nearby. We made plans to visit Hemis monastery tomorrow.

Back at the guesthouse, I just had nuts for dinner. I seem to have no appetite. Must be the altitude.

Day 5 – Tuesday – May 12
Leh/Thiksey/Shey

Awoke at 7.45 A.M. Had breakfast at the guesthouse – Ladakhi bread, omelette and tea. I couldn’t finish it.

Left a little after 8.30, and met M at 9.00 at the market. We walked to the bus station. There were no buses to Hemis, we were told, so we took one to Thiksey. We reached the place at 10.00.

Thiksey is a town centered around a monastery. The monastery itself and all the monks homes are either built on or seem stuck to the side of a hill.

Again, we had to stop after every few steps on our climb up the hill. It feels unnatural to feel so tired so quickly. We were stopping every 10 steps or so on the staircase built into the hill, to catch our breath. What’s was also unnatural was how much Thiksey resembled a ghost town for most of our climb uphill. It was only near the top that we finally spotted a young monk, and a few tourists, and were assured of some human presence. This was the first time I’ve seen any Indian tourists in Ladakh, There seems to be no one in Leh, except a few white tourists. I guess because it’s off season, and still winter here.

This is the first monastery I’ve ever been to. We had to take our shoes off before entering the various prayer rooms, which were full of benches for the monks to sit on, and paintings on the walls depicting Hindu Buddhist motifs and Gods.

I always pictured Buddhism as being more subdued, a religion where Buddha is seen as just a man, M tells me that the version of Buddhism practiced here in India and in Tibet is a more tantric or Hindu Buddhism rather than the simple Buddhism I have in mind. That version, he tells me, can be found in Thailand.

I tell him that doesn’t make sense since, if Buddhism originated in India, it should be the version closest to the original that should be followed here, with the religion evolving into a different form as it spreads farther from its point of origin. But the opposite seems to have happened here. With Hinduism already a major force in India at the time of Buddhism’s origin, it’s the more tantric form that took hold here, as the two religions combined, and the original simple Buddhism survived far outside India, where there was no clash or need to evolve.

As M and I took another path down the hill, we noticed a few other tourists using it as well. It turned out to lead to an approach road to the monastery, along with a restaurant and gift shop, where we relaxed for a while. There also seemed to be a guesthouse with rooms for rent.

We left the restaurant around 1.00 P.M, walked down to the main road, and then walked the three kilometers to Shey palace nearby. It was a bit tiring, but certainly not as bad as walking uphill.

Arriving at Shey palace, we first rested at a restaurant on the road opposite the palace, me forcing down a chocolate bar for lunch and energy before crossing the road and walking along the short road to Shey’s main entrance, definitely more gradual and not as high up as Thiksey. We met a family from Dombivli there, who tell me they've also been suffering from a loss of appetite.

Shey palace really exists in three stages. The palace itself is low, small and quickly explored, A short scramble takes you to the ruins of a fort above the palace, a bit tiring. And a serious and probably very tiring climb takes you to another set of ruins on the hill far above. We were in no shape to be bothered, climbing up to the second stage before going back down and catching a bus back to Leh.

At Leh, we walked to the Jigmet guesthouse to meet P and T, and some of the other foreign residents. There was an Am/Can guy reading Shantaram who talked about visiting Alchi. T was also reading Shantaram. At this point I was extremely tired with all the walking. We decided to meet tomorrow.

I walked back to my guesthouse, exhausting myself even further. I’ve got to find a place closer to town. I reached the guesthouse at around 6.30. No appetite. No dinner. Straight to bed.

Travel Diary: May 8 - 12

Off to the Himalayas

And so I've finally booked my tickets and am off at last. I'll be leaving tomorrow and returning on the 14th of June, which gives me 38 days of travel, two days less than the 40 I had originally wanted to have (40 sounds so much more rounded and cool), and a lot less than the 56 days in total I've taken off from work.

But what can I say - it's tough to plan a trip like this. I've wanted to visit the Himalayas for a long time now - since 2007. But the summer of that year saw me shifting jobs with a small break between and no way to plan a last minute trip. Then 2008 came and I wasn't too sure about taking two weeks off in the summer since I planned on travelling in late 2008 or early 2009. I did take a ten day trip in Jan '09, which only whetted my appetite for more travel, making me make up my mind about visiting Ladakh in the summer. I certainly didn't think I'd be able to take an extended trip but maybe instead something along the lines of two weeks. And then came the news that I wouldn't have too much work at the office for the first quarter. Which led me asking for a two month sabbatical. Which I shortened to one month and three weeks to finish off some last minute work. And that's how I ended up with 56 days to kill.

Now I had started researching travel options about a month before going on leave. Like I said, I've been entranced by the Himalayas for a while now, and had worked out in my mind that the best way to use the time I had was to do a really long three week trek through the Himalayas to begin with, stopping at villages along the way to get a feel of the place.

Research showed me it wasn't that simple. The Himalayas would take more time to explore, the treks offered a deep exploration of only a tiny slice of the pie, and none of the companies I contacted seemed keen on responding, or were mostly aimed at professional backpackers or trekkers from abroad and charged huge rates.

It was around that time that I shifted my focus to Ladakh, which I've been reading a lot about. What attracted me most to it was it's pure desert feel - seclusive and all. I soon came to the conclusion that I'd need at least two weeks to explore Ladakh, and another week at least for a mild trek, which seemed doable. Any other travel could be arranged around Ladakh.

The problem, I soon learned, was that apart from air travel, the only other way into Ladakh was by road i.e the the two highways, bot of which were preferable to travel by because of the scenery, and both of which could be closed uptil mid June, which is exactly when I was supposed to be back at work.

Near panic soon set in. As my life slowly became a tangled web of search engine results, I got to know that the roads could open sooner (in fact, I've just learnt a couple of days ago that the Srinagar - Leh road is now open). This turned out to be a good thing as I figured I could do a bit of travelling before hitting Leh. Planning began in earnest. Do I go backpacking or join a tour? I had made up my mind at the start to never join a tour in my life. To me, they seem more geared towards tourists than travellers.

Unfortunately, none of my friends seemed to be willing to take even a week off from work to travel with me, making me lean towards a tour (as I didn't want to travel alone) or at least to start off with a tour group and then do my own thing once the tour completed.

It was around this time that I started on my sabbatical. I spent the first week continuing with my tour finding effort, but with no luck. None of the tours I found were in my price range, or seemed to my liking, except one. Meanwhile, I was also planning an itinerary for travel during the start of May, as all the tours I'd found only had trips beginning in the middle of May. But planning that itinerary was a real effort, because it forced me to come to terms with the fact that I'd be backpacking alone for the first time in my life. And that too for an extended period of time. And since I'd be backpacking for the first two weeks of May, I might as well backpack for the remainder of my trip as well.

I took this last decision on May 1st, when I realised I had to put a start date on my trip as enough time had gone by. Ideally, I would have liked to leave as soon as I had voted; I would have had 45 travel days in all. But all these decisions took time. I put May 6th as my tentative start date, with me leaving for Delhi and then Himachal first (as that's where all the good tripping points are) before travelling to Leh as soon as the highway opened. Then I decoded I needed at least a couple more days to deal with some last minute bank work. And during that time I heard about the Srinagar-Leh road opening up, which spurred me into booking a last minute ticket to Srinagar instead of Delhi.

And so I'm off at last.

Off to the Himalayas

Movies Seen Recently: Killing Words, Like Water for Chocolate

Killing Words

A 2003 Spanish psychological thriller. A man is picked up for murdering his wife. Did he do it? The narrative continuously skips between the present and flashbacks. Reminds me a little of The Usual Suspects. Not a bad watch.

Like Water for Chocolate

Could have done without it.

Movies Seen Recently: Killing Words, Like Water for Chocolate

Movies Seen: Pan's Labyrinth, Head On

Pan's Labyrinth


A 2006 Spanish film directed by Guillermo del Toro (the Hellboy movies).

Graphic - not a kid's movie. Doesn't have a happy ending either.


Head On


A 2004 German film directed by Fatih Akin.

Movies Seen: Pan's Labyrinth, Head On

Fake IPL Player Blog

This Fake IPL Player blog could be a demonstration of Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point theories. It's a phenomenon that's garnered too many followers in too short a time. Here are reports from Techtree, Rediff, the Guardian, and msn.

Cricket with Balls, King Cricket and indiatimes all have a series of posts on the subject, as do numerous bloggers.

And here's the Knight Rider's response.

And the latest from Yahoo is that he/she's now vanished.

Fake IPL Player Blog

Movies Seen Recently: Central Station, Layer Cake

Two highly recommendable movies.

Central Station (1998)

Along the lines of an emotional epic. A young boy whose mother has just died is reluctantly taken in by a middle aged woman who writes letters for illiterate people at a railway station. Written and directed by Walter Salles.


Layer Cake (2004)

A gangster film along the lines of Snatch, with the main protagonist, played by Daniel Craig, playing off various elements against each other. Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Highly entertaining.

Movies Seen Recently: Central Station, Layer Cake

It could have been worse

This Saturday began well. For starters, I woke late after a late Friday night. Then I spent the morning and afternoon relaxing. The tiresome part began when I left home in the early evening to go to PV's place to catch the second IPL match, but made a detour to the office first to mail some docs to myself that I had forgotten to do on Friday.

This took longer than expected, what with traffic in Bandra being real mean. I had to walk halfway to the office just to save time. And walked back all the way to the station when I was done. Went to Dadar and found PV's place at Five Gardens quite easily, and was treated to Dhansak for dinner, along with a long walk around Five Gardens.

Returned to see the Royals get crushed badly by the Challengers. Didn't stay for the end but left, walking to Dadar station. I was surprised at how tried I was on the train ride home. I was nodding off on the train and couldn't concentrate on my book. All I wanted to do was to get home as quickly as possible and get some sleep.

My rickshaw was quick enough, but on reaching LIC colony, we saw an overturned rickshaw in the middle of the street blocking all traffic. We were the second ones on the spot. A car had stopped by on the other side and a guy had already got out and was turning the rickshaw over. I felt a bit queasy as I could see a foot jutting out from under the overturned vehicle as we got closer, and I realised it probably belonged to the rickshaw driver. I didn't know if he was crushed or dead.

By the time I got out of my rick and had walked up to the overturned rick, the guy from the car was already righting it. I walked round to the other side, where the victim lay, and noticed two things simultaneously - that there had been no passengers in the rick, and that the driver was alive and not too badly hurt. There was a bid of blood on the ground, and he did have a few ugly bruises and scrapes on the knee and arm, but he seemed O.K otherwise. He was badly shaken up though. He looked like he was in shock or something. While the guy from the other car helped him to his feet, my rickshaw driver and I moved his rick to the side of the road and helped the driver into our rickshaw. I told my driver to take the injured driver to a hospital, paid him, and walked the rest of the way home.

Had a quick shower and went to bed. Feel asleep almost a soon as my head hit the pillow. Haven't fallen asleep so quickly in ages. Haven't been this tired in ages.

It could have been worse