30th June 2008: Keylong - Jaspa - Darcha - Patsio - Zingzingbar - Baralachala - Bhartpur - Sarchu

In the morning we started a little late than planned and soon saw a milestone charting out the miles to go

JASPA-----------------17km

DARCHA---------------24km

PATSIO----------------39km

ZINGZINGBAR--------54km

BARALACHALA--------69km

BHARATPUR----------75km

KILINGSARAI---------81km

SARCHU-------------101km

LEH------------------356km

… and we counted still two days to Leh. Our plan for the day was to stay at Bharatpur.

Our first stop and I clicked...

Every where we laid our eyes it was lush green

Biker passing by...

courtesy nitin... for a click...

The weather was quite pleasant and we enjoyed the stretches of greenery and mountains laden with clouds till our eyes could see.

Some construction work in progress we passed by

Pradeep and Sejal got caught in action

Between the bouts of shooting the beautiful landscapes I even tried my hands on model shoots along the way.

Few more breaks on the way...

Pradeep at work before reaching Darcha

So engrossed we were at taking pictures at every nook & corner that it took us almost 6 hours to reach Darcha - a distance of just 28 kms from Keylong! Not surprisingly, a Ladakhi who started with us on foot from Keylong with his ponies overtook us thrice and finally won the race, when we stopped at Darcha for lunch.

few clicks where we stopped for lunch

Waiting for food........

Having our fill, we took off again… passing through Deepaktaal…

a range of mountains brimming with lovely purple flowers…

Reached Zingzingbar at around 4.30 in the evening.

Up next from there was Surajtaal – a splendid lake with crystal-like clear green water. And coincidently the timing was perfect. The slant evening sunlight falling on the green waters of the lake with snow laden mountain peaks in the background was quite picturesque.

I just fell in love. But as the sun was setting and it was getting chiller we had some moments of concern! Sejal started having trouble with her breathing. Though it was well known that she was allergic to dymox and we were already carrying an oxygen cylinder for her, but a bit of panic set in after even Pradeep started feeling uneasy. Panic, as the estimate for the oxygen cylinder went for a toss as Sejal had to share it with Pradeep and we were still unsure of the help available ahead. I took over the wheel and we decided to reach Bharatpur asap.

Around 6 pm we reached Baralacha La.. it was getting colder we spent five mins here

It turned out, at Bharatpur did not quite have adequate medical facilities and we were advised to reach Sarchu as fast as possible. Nitin took over the wheel and we kept rushing ahead constantly ignoring Pradeep’s self-confession that he was fine and that we should shoot and not miss the beautiful light.

Few click I took on the way from moving car...

Last click of the day...

It was probably the first time in my life that I was scared and feeling helpless. Though I had met everyone just a few days ago, I was concerned for both of them. And add to that the stories I had read related to AMS incidents! We all let out a great sigh of relief when we saw the Sarchu Army Medical Camp. In typical ‘filmi’ style Nitin swerved the car straight into the gate without bothering about any security personnel. We narrated the whole situation to the Army doctor who immediately put Sejal and Pradeep on oxygen and provided the necessary treatment. I was now feeling much better after the frantic turn of events, but the next step was to find our stay for the night. Captain Chintan at the camp suggested Goldenrop tents nearby and with his reference, if needed. Hence Nitin and I left Rahul with Pradeep and Sejal and went to fix the stay for the night. We got a big tent which could accommodate the five of us with an attached toilet. It was total luxury at such a scarce place. They even had oxygen cylinders if anything went wrong again at night. As Sejal & Pradeep had started feeling better, the Doctor allowed to let them go and asked us to bring them again the next day morning for check up. The owner and staff at the tent camp were very helpful. They even gave us extra bedding for Pradeep and Sejal. By the time we got them settled and got the soup served I didn’t realize, that in the entire melee, it was already 10 pm. But all’s well that ends well. Finally we got to relax and started to absorb the beauty of this amazing place. Especially, the night sky sans all earthly lights was simply stupendous. So much that it couldn’t resist the astro-photographer in Pradeep to be out in the open clicking in glee. For a change, I decided to savour the moment instead of shooting.

Here is the click from pradeep's camera of search night sky