Good morning Leh. We both woke up late as we were tired after riding almost 250 kms yesterday. Weather of Leh is also good and you feel like being in a completely different part of India. This is the reason why it is always worth to visit India because from top to bottom, the country is full of surprises and changes. This part of India is heaven. Snow covered mountains, different languages and Buddhist culture. Welcome to Ladakh. It was a dream of mine to be here and when I stepped out in the market, everything was so attractive and different that I don't have words to describe. The economy of Leh improved a lot since past few years because of tourism. Ladakh is a peaceful place as compared to west Kashmir. The hard efforts of Indian Army makes Jammu and Kashmir a peaceful part of India. The streets of Leh are over crowded and make sure you are driving on the correct direction because many times the traffic police makes road for one way traffic only and if you drive in opposite direction then they charge penalty. Also because the time when we visited Leh was the tourist season, that may be the reason for heavy traffic. After taking lunch we headed for applying for the permits to visit Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake. The city is confusing but the correct format is first of all visit the Tourist Reception Center. There are two tourist reception centers and the co ordinates for them are 34.1639N, 77.5845E and 34.1504N, 77.5752E respectively. I suggest to visit the fist one which is located in the city. They will provide you all the required information and you can plan your trip accordingly. After that you can apply for the permit. You need to carry your passport sized photographs and an identity. Passport will be the best one. They will charge 200 Rs as environmental fee, 20 Rs as district red cross committee, 60 Rs as entry fee into the national park. The permit will be made at the DC office which is located near the tourist reception center and the co ordinates for this place are 34.1618N, 77.5883E. They will ask you to fill a form and you have to keep two copies of the documents with you to show whenever asked to be shown by the authorities. 6 Rs for one photocopy and the government forms were not available in the government office. We were asked to purchase them from outside by paying 6 Rs for each form. This is called as perfect open corruption. Anyways finished that work and then went to the Leh palace. Show the permit papers to them and you may get an entry in the palace without purchasing the tickets. Leh palace is completely different as compared to the forts and palaces that we have in Rajasthan. The palace is made of mud and wood and is getting renovated. Archeological Survey of India is doing an excellent job. There is an ancient Buddhist temple in the palace and you get an excellent view of the Leh city from the palace. There is a photography hall as well where you can see the photographs related to Jammu and Kashmir. From the Leh Palace photography hall, you can see a beautiful view of the red Namgyal Tsemo Gompa located on a hill nearby. After visiting the Leh palace we decided to go to the Namgyal Tsemo Gompa. Strange that you have to buy tickets at two places for the same Gompa. These things are too much irritating and leaves a bad impression on the tourism promotion of the area. After visiting the gompa we both went to visit the Shanti Stupa but it was closed. We visited the local market and returned back to hotel.
Suggestions for today are:
Make sure you get your permits handy with you on the very first day.
Visit the tourist reception center before visiting other places. They will plan everything for you depending on the time that you want to stay in Leh.
According to me, go to the tourist reception center, then go DC office to get your permits ready, from there you can go to the Leh Palace and visit the Namgyal Tsemo Gompa located nearby.
From there you can go to Shanti Stupa but make sure you reach Shanti Stupa before 1700 Hrs. After that I will recommend to stay at shanti stupa till 2000 Hrs. because the stupa is beautifully decorated with lights and you will get a beautiful view of Leh from that stupa.
Make sure you get back to Leh city as soon as possible because after 2100 Hrs you may find it difficult to find a restaurant with good food.
Make sure you carry a couple of copies of the permit with you.
Your local mobile phone SIM will not work in Leh. Only postpaid mobile phone SIM from other part of India work here.
If you are an Indian then you can purchase a mobile phone SIM here but the activation will take about 7 to 8 days and you need to have a local reference as well. Best idea is to carry a post paid mobile phone SIM with you.
There are many phone booths in Leh.
Internet charges are very high. The minimum charge is 100 Rs for an hour. Other things are also expensive.
Regarding good Indian food and also if you want to something spicy then go to "Punjabi Dhaba at Gh Road, Skara" If you have difficulty in finding this restaurant then you can call Darshan on +91 9622 980 991.
The bike repair shop is near to this Punjabi Dhaba.
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