Leh & Ladakh.

Hey friends,

The last few weeks I have been on a vacation to Leh, Ladakh. It was exhilarating. One of the best times of my life.

I will share the places, and let the pictures tell the story. But before that, I wanted to share some thoughts on the experience overall.

On short note, it was breaktaking. Each and every part of it.

I was able to tune out the world, and dial in into experience. And I'm glad I did.

The vastness of the Ladakhi landscape is something that words can barely capture. Pictures barely can. Imagine standing atop a mountain pass, surrounded by nothing but peaks and endless sky. It's humbling, to say the least. It really Is.

The air up there is crisp and invigorating – each breath feels like it's cleansing your soul.

One of the things that struck me most was the silence. In our daily lives, we're constantly bombarded by noise – traffic, notifications, the general hustle and bustle. But up there, there were moments of pure, unadulterated silence, even when there is sound, you know what I mean? The silence taught me things I can't put in words. It's also in these moments that you can truly hear your own thoughts, and it's both terrifying and liberating. I had so many Eureka moments about the things I want to do more in my life and in the next few months. But, I also had so many fears, worries and anxiety about everything else in life.

The beauty, oh lord, I can't explain it. It plain sight showed me the raw beauty that exists in this world. I couldn't stop staring. How oblivious we are to such things staying in cities. The peaks, the rocks, the snow, the sky. Oh, beauty.

One of the places we visited was the Pangong Lake, which was particularly special to me. Here's why (Cringe alert, lol). As this month I turned 20, I thought of doing something as a checkpoint of starting my 20's. I went to the lake in the evening, played some songs and had a chat with myself and lake. Ik it might sound so we weird and maybe cringe, but its okay haha. I let out all my fears, all the things I'm worried about, all the things I want to see myself achieve and who I want to be. I talked all of that out, imagining the lake hearing me.

I can't wait to live and experience my 20's to the fullest, and explore my highest potential. But I will only be able to do that if I adhere myself to some best practises as I may call. So I took two stones, made some promises to myself, and throwed one of the stones back to the lake. The other in my hand right now.

Here's what I gained from doing this, a profound sense of hope. A regained belief in myself. And nerves flowing with excitement for the next decade.

Overall, it was breaktaking. Each and every part of it.

Now that I'm back, I can't wait to restart my life. I will be back to bangalore upcoming week and a whole lot new stuff coming up then. I can't wait.

The Journey

We started from The flight from Delhi to Leh was breathtaking! It sky, mountains and the snow from top, looked heavenly!

We first visited the Leh palace is a 16th Century 9-story building, built in the Indo-tibetian Architecture. It built in a great hight, and give spectaculat views of leh and the surrounding mountains. It was amazing there!

From there we went to Shanti Stupa, a Buddhist, and a beautiful momument in Leh. Its a stupa built on a hilltop and again, gives a beautiful view of Leh. Just look at this. The beauty is killing!

Then we went a place called the Sangam Point the Indus and Zanskar rivers combine into one. The place was beautiful!

We also went to the Lamayuru monastery which was particulaly soothing. The silence and the calm I felt there, I'm still carrying it within me.

Then we went to Khardung La point, at an height of 17,500ft above the sea level. There I experienced snow for the first time In my life.

So okay, for the first min in snow, its not all hollywood and amazing, man, you are chilled and the only thing you want is to go back in your car and warm yourself up again.

But as you take a look around, you are in utter stun. The snow near your feet, the snow around the peaks, and the snow falling all over your body. You are totally present and in the moment, only you and the beautiful experience. Your body is shivering with cold, but your heart is aching for one more minute out there.

I also had Maggie up there, Seventeen thousand feet above sea level, shivering in cold, but yet having maggie in bliss. lol.

For the rest of the trip, we went to some other monasteries, some view points between the hills, and the Pangong Lake. At Pangong, we stayed in an almost cottage-like house (not cottage though, because lord, the cold), where we didn't had any form of internet connection. And it was the best.

Oh, and yeah, we went to the school and the point in Pangong, where the amazing movie 3 Idiots was shot. I loved that movie since I was a kid, so this was super cool!

Along the trip, I had great food, and an even better company of my cousins, Sejal and Tanmay! The trip wouldn't be so good without them, couldn't ask for better.

Now I shall release the pictures, lol.