YHAI National Himalayan Mountain Biking Leh
Day 2 - Acclimatization and Orientation
For the first night in Leh, we had a pretty sound sleep. The weather was nice & pleasant in the morning. Had breakfast & everyone for ready for the acclimatization trek to Shanti Stupa. We all gathered outside the base camp & a customary head was taken. Our camp leader showed us the way to head towards Shanti Stupa.
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| Shanti Stupa |
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| Starting the acclimatization trek |
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| On the way towards Shanti Stupa |
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| On the way towards Shanti Stupa |
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| Shanti Stupa - A preview |
Our base camp was located in the Changspa area of Leh. This is very close to the Shanti Stupa. We started strolling while the sun was shining bright. It was quiet chilled even though the sun was out. We started the trek at around 10 AM. We finally reached the bottom of the hill on which the Shanti Stupa is located. There are stairs available to help reach the top. Our camp leader briefed us about the path to follow & requested everyone to come back by lunch.
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| At the foothills of Shanti Stupa |
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| On final pose before start the ascend |
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| While on the ascend to Shanti Stupa |
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| While on the ascend to Shanti Stupa |
We started the ascend and at first it looked pretty easy but as soon as we started going higher the altitude started playing with us again. We were gasping for air and after multiple pit stops we finally made it to the top. Of course these pit stops were used as opportunities to click photographs. While on the climb is when we found about “chortens”. These are stone structures build to resemble small shrines and painted in white. These as we understood from the locals were built by them in remembrance of their departed ancestors.
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| While on the ascend to Shanti Stupa |
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| Half way through to Shanti Stupa |
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| While on the ascend to Shanti Stupa |
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| While on the ascend to Shanti Stupa |
The Shanti Stupa is a Buddhist white domed stupa built in 1991 by Japanese Buddhist Bhikshu, Gyomyo Nakamura and part of the Peace Pagoda mission. It holds the relics of the Buddha at its base. It was become famous as a tourist spot because of its location and the stunning panoramic views it provided of the entire Leh city.
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| Shanti Stupa |
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| On the ceiling near the entrance of the meditation hall @ Shanti Stupa |
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| Meditation hall @ Shanti Stupa |
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| Meditation hall @ Shanti Stupa |
We started exploring the Shanti Stupa. Apart from the main monument, there is a prayer room, a meditation room, souvenir shops & an administration cum security office. Here is where we met one of the first army jawans. He was from Maharashtra and had spent 2 years in this region. He was getting transferred to Manali from next month. We spent some time chatting with him and Akhilesh grabbed his bike to get a test drive. Once we were done roaming around the stupa is when we clicked our first group photograph for LMB-16. And what better place to have the first photograph. This still happens to be our display picture of WhatsApp.
This time we came back through the market and some of the glimpses were a sign of the laid back life in Leh. People were just about opening the shops, two people were playing chess just outside a shop, and the locals were busy in their household chores.
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| Prayer wheel |
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| Locals playing chess in the market |
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| Birdie !! |
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| Fresh Apples !! |
We finally made it to the base camp. And boy we were hungry. Lunch was ready and we jumped right in. Post lunch and a small break we were called in for the official orientation programme by the camp leader in the afternoon. The camp leader shared the details of the plan for the next 5-6 days of the trek, the route we will follow, the safety norms to be followed, adherence to army guidelines since some of the areas were highly restricted and photography is not allowed. Maintain cleanliness at all times and not to litter around. Behave well with the locals and a magic word given by him stayed with us for the entire trip “Juley”. Juley can be used when you want to say hello, goodbye, thank you, how are you, nice to meet you and you’re welcome. So, every time we passed by locals, we would shout Juley and a Juley in return was guaranteed. Such is the friendly and welcoming nature of the locals :)
The orientation programme went on till 4 PM and since we had time till the soup was served we were told by the camp leader if we wanted we could go to the market to do any last minute shopping. We went to the market and I & Hamza got a monkey cap after a strong bargain. While the others bought lunch boxes. We came back to the camp & had the soup followed by collection of our knap sacks. We were told to carry as less stuff as possible and preferably a very good deodorant :). Well we understood why this was a special mention. In the higher camps, let along having bath, even brushing teeth & washing you plates would become a nightmare considering the cold. We were strictly told not to have bath in the higher camps as this would result in hypothermia and we will get sick very soon. We collected our knap sacks and packed the basic essentials for the next 5-6 days. We submitted the rest of our luggage in the store room and by then it was time for dinner. We had dinner and decided to call it quits considering that we were really tired from the acclimatization trek and the walk to the market & back.
Many more memoirs to share .... Sachin
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