Kanyakumari-Kashmir Round trip-Big-Day16- Hundurmaan LOC-Mulbekh-Namki La-Fotu La-Lamayuru-Kushal Stupa-Indus-Saspol-Basgo-Leh

Big Day 16 - Hundurmaan LOC-Mulbekh-Namki La-Fotu La-Lamayuru-Kushal Stupa-Indus-Saspol-Basgo-Leh (stay in Leh - very big day in terms of site seeing)

Kilometers Covered - 350 KMs

Walking - 15000+ steps

Got up around 5.15 AM - enquired with hotelier the previous day regarding the usage of water hose in front of the building to wash the car. He denied it earlier and agreed last night after talking to the owner. Anyways, without using the hose - I managed to wash the car with 3 buckets of water from a general water pipe near the reception. 

Hundurmaan LOC view point - Pakistan border - we reached there by 6.30 AM. They were constructing a pathway to the viewpoint and managed to convince the security to climb up the point without disturbing the concrete laid a day ago. The path to the view point was totally deserted - maybe bcos of the time. Superb view and convincing photographs. 

Post breakfast - poha and maggi - packed some coz the quantity of poha was huge, we approached Mulbek - we were informed about a hot spring and an off-road path of 2 KMs to visit the spring which we mutually agreed not to visit. Mulbekh monastery required some amount of climbing and we skipped that as well.

Another beautiful temple - Maithreya - few kilometers away from Mulbekh

We saw a steep peak (we named ourselves as koomachi malai - needle peak - oosi malai) and took pictures of the same. 

We took photographs in Namchi La - another point to take pictures for a Ladakh traveller :)

Then it was Fotu La (the highest point in Srinagar - Leh highway - NH1) 

Lamayuru Monastery - another deviation we avoided. However, we could see the monastery from the highway itself. What?? you guys missed these historical structures? We had the same question - however, stick to the plan in Ladakh instead of getting stuck somewhere in between was the mantra :)

This point - Major Kushal Chand memorial stupa was one of the must visit in NH1. Please read the below - an extract from tribuneindia.com 

Major Kushal Chand, elder son of Thakur Mangal Chand, ex-Wazir of Lahaul, was born at Gemoor Khar (Khar means a palace) on September 26, 1919. A Lahauli, Kushal was a second generation soldier. His uncle Rai Bahadur Thakur Amar Chand fought the Turks and Germans in Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) during the World War 1. Kushal Chand was commissioned to the 2nd Battalion of the Dogra Infantry Regiment on September 15, 1941. 

It was the same battalion, wherein his elder cousin Thakur Prithi Chand was his three-year senior. Both cousins were deservedly awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for saving the Ladakh valley from Pakistan-aided tribal raiders and lashkars during February 1948. Immediately after August 15, 1947, most of the princely states exercised their right of acceding to the dominion of India barring Hyderabad and Kashmir because their rulers assumed that their state was big enough to exist independently. (We leave Hyderabad for now and focus on Jammu and Kashmir, being contiguous to newly formed dominion of Pakistan). The Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, instead, signed a standstill agreement with both India and Pakistan. Taking advantage of the wavering stand of the Maharaja, Pakistan, in connivance with the British officers, who chose to stay back and serve with the Pakistan army, planned the annexation of Kashmir, including Ladakh valley. 

Leh, the hub of the valley, was its prime target. The execution of the plan began in late August 1947. And by the time the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession to the Indian Dominion on October 26, 1947, a lot of water had flown through Jhelum, Kishanganga and Indus rivers; the Pakistan army, in the garb of tribal Lashkars, captured Baramulla and were well on their way to Srinagar. Mirpur, Kotli, Poonch, Jhangar, Naushera and Bhimber in Jammu region were besieged or fallen to Pakistani lashkars. 

Though the Gilgit Scouts had become a part of J&K state forces on August 1, 1947, the 600-strong force commanded by Major Brown actually owed allegiance to Pakistan. In October 1947, Brown rose in open rebellion, arrested the governor appointed by the Maharaja, and raised the Pakistani flag on Gilgit Agency. Pakistan, thus, planned to capture Leh in February 1948. Earlier, Lt Col Sher Jung Thapa of the 6th J&K Forces had left Leh and reinforced Skardu, which the Pakistanis attacked on February 10. The absence of Indian troops around Leh made it a low hanging fruit and Pakistanis began the chase to grab Leh. 

But the three Chands — Major Prithi Chand, his cousin Major Kushal Chand and their uncle Subedar Bhim Chand — with just about two platoons of the state forces and a small band of dedicated volunteers from the 2nd Dogra Battalion outpaced the Pakistanis and saved not just Leh, but the entire Ladakh valley. The three brave Chands, all Thakurs from Lahaul & Spiti, were suitably awarded for their conspicuous act of bravery.

The daring exploits of Major Kushal Chand are well covered in the citation, which earned him the Maha Vir Chakra. In 1953, on promotion to the Rank of Lt Col, Kushal Chand, commanded the 9th Dogra Infantry Battalion for three years. After the successful command, he was deputed to serve with the UN mission in Cambodia. But Lt Col Kushal Chand, MVC, the savior of Ladakh valley, was destined to have a brief tenure abroad, for the aircraft in which he was travelling on duty, crash-landed over Laos and the brave-heart could not survive the crash :(

The next stop was Saspol Caves - a thrilling and scintillating trek to see the beautiful paintings and fort in Saspol. There's no laid path as such and you should get prepared to trek over the gravels and pebbles. Utmost caution required if you're handling a phone. It'll be slippery throughout and as always you'll be lonely in these kind of places :) 

We stopped in a restaurant to have a lemon soda and the packed breakfast poha - the costliest soda of the trip (Tip - don't order anything without looking at the menu card) - however, fortunate to meet a navy officer & family (dad and daughter cycled from Srinagar to Leh and the mom was driving a 2 wheeler scooterette as navigator) - if at all, if you feel you're achieving great heights - you'll witness the greatest enroute and will stay simple and grounded - that's the beauty of travel. Anyways, we did our part - saluted them for their efforts and that young girl has already covered 5 trekking summits in the world (highest peak of every continent - OMG!!!) we wished her good luck for achieving the youngest to conquer 7 summits before the age of 19 - a world record - RESPECT!!! 

Basco Gompa was next - Basgo Monastery, also known as Basgo or Bazgo Gompa, is a Buddhist monastery located in Basgo or Bazgo in Leh District, Ladakh, northern India approximately 40 km from Leh. Although the monastery was built for the Namgyal rulers in 1680, Bazgo itself was embedded in the early days of Ladakh and is frequently mentioned in the Ladakhi Chronicles when it was a political and cultural center. In the 15th century, a palace was built in Basgo.

We stopped in the confluence of rivers Indus & Zanskar to take some pics :) To our surprise, a jawaan came voluntarily seeing the TN vehicle and was conversing for 10 minutes in pakka Madurai Tamizh :) it was an awesome moment for us. The conversation was not elobarated and kept as confidential - lolz

We visited Leh Hall of Fame :) another tribute to our Indian Army

We couldn't enter Zorawar Fort - because we left the working mobile, wallet with cards etc.., in the vehicle parked a KM away. They denied cash for tickets :( However, got a feel of the fort with the exclusively camera mobile we carried and left the place. Please read the information pictures below without fail.

We took the road path instead of trekking path to Shanti Stupa, Leh - astonishing views - 360 degrees

Before settling in the hotel - we visited the Leh Palace - 9 storey - would have taken tremendous efforts to build this. Absolutely stunning

Stay was at Elite Guest House, Leh - walked up and bought the watch charging cable, phone charging adapter and cable -  from the crowded and beautiful Leh marketplace :) (I felt heavenly because the first thing my wife would ask after return would be - What are the belongings you lost during the trip?)

Homely dinner (electric cooker rice, dal powder, gingelly oil, tamarind thokku, mango thokku and curd)

Luv,

Krishna & Mahadevan

insta - viswanatkr01