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| Courtesy Jo Ghosh |
It was sometime during March 2012 that i noticed registrations were open for marathon at Ladakh. I had always been fascinated by mountains and when i visited sometime during 2006, i was sure I will visit Leh again. I discussed with Ram about marathon in Leh and it was he who suggested that i run 21 km instead of the 10 km i had originally planned in view of my past experience in Leh and experiences of trekking mountains. and i am glad i decided on the 21 km run.
I then had a chat with Ashish Shah MD of Dynamic Sports
http://www.zendurance.co.in about some details of the trip and that was it and i immediately decided to join the trip. I liked the approach of Dynamic Sports and of its two co-founders Ashish and Deepak. It is nice dealing with them and i specially like the relationship approach. We met them for an orientation during which they detailed the plan, things that should be taken care of, the route planned, etc. they patiently answered our endless questions inspite of it being late at night. Their patient and kind approach and focus on results continued till the last day of the trip and when they gave us finishing certificates at Mumbai. The arrangements, the support, the plan, the medal and the certificate was awesome; it was a delight to be conversing with both Ashish and Deepak who were knowledgeable in so many ways. They had a curious combination of being flexible and rigid in what was to be done. I am eagerly looking forward to their future plans
Day one
The trip started on the 15th July 12, early morning when i got into Jet Airways flight from Mumbai and landed in New Delhi; the trip was uneventful and i slept through most of it. I got down at Delhi airport and had to go Terminal 1D to board Go Air. I showed my flight ticket (complimentary) and got into the bus to go to Terminal 1D. the airport is huge and it took us sometime to reach; a fellow passenger of Chinese origin (lives in US i think) was amazed at the sight of Delhi Airport. Every time i see Delhi airport, I am comforted to know that India has lots of talent and accomplish whatever it wants.
I waited briefly and got my boarding pass; i then spent my team fitfully sleeping for some time, attempted to read and gave up; i had something to eat and coffee and then it was soon time to get into the flight. it was surprising a reasonably large aircraft and there i saw Ram, Raj, Jo. The flight was early; i had a window seat and it was great looking at the mountain ranges reminding me of other times when i struggled to climb.
We soon landed at Leh to a crisp clean air and there i met most of the runners; we got our luggage and welcoming us at the airport were both Ashish and Deepak. We swiftly reached our home for the next few days " The Kaal" which is a super place close to airport with lovely food and good people to take care. We had a hot cup of tea and soon went into our rooms; Ram, Jo and I shared a room. We had lunch and spent a good part of the time in sleeping.
As decided, we were briefed about activities that were planned; further a doctor briefed us about altitude sickness, about medicines, its side effects, to be observant about our symptoms. Since two runners, Andrea and Raj were to run 100km, the doctor gave specific advice and support to them. Some of us went for a walk while i continued my beauty sleep, got up had dinner and went back to sleep.
Day Two
Next day we woke up to a cool morning; the air was really nice and the view from our balcony was breathtaking. The stark brown mountain contrasted with tall green trees. After mini breakfast, we went to Mahabodhi centre where we had a wonderful half an hour session of Pranayama; we felt refreshed and some us continued with one hour of Yoga which reportedly was energetic and powerful. Others had proper breakfast and drove to Shanti stupa; the view from the top was majestic and one noticed the stark contrast in Leh. Outside it was sunny and in shade it was cool; the sun was blinding; there was desert and greenery, mountain and valleys, water in some places but atmosphere absolutely dry. We went round the Stupa, took photograph and had a pleasant view of a group of children singing and involved in a project. As part of the preparation for our run, we started walking down from Stupa and walked up by steps to reach the top where our vehicle awaited us. Some of us went to a cafe and had nice hot cup of tea and took photograph of the children with Pervin (fellow runner) among them. We then drove to Leh market and looked around; after some time we went to a restaurant to have lunch; the food was decent; we finished lunch and returned to the Hotel. I rested at the Hotel, and went to Mahabodhi centre to attend meditation class in the evening; it was quite peaceful and i felt rested. I then went back to hotel, had dinner and went off to sleep.
Day Three
This was the practice day and we decided to run about 5 kms -we had breakfast and went for the run - we were pleasantly surprised that we could easily run longer and ended running for about 10 kms and ended up close to the bridge. we also visited the Thiksey monastery which had quite a few steps that were tiring. We saw statues, wall paintings, Tara temple, the temple of future Buddha, as well museum. We then went to Sindhu Ghat which is on the banks of Indus river; it was not very deep but surprisingly fast moving; a dip in the river gave a much needed rest to our limbs and then we had lunch. It was late afternoon and we soon returned to our hotel since we were to leave for Pangong lake the next day.
Day Four
This was the day when His Holiness the Dalai Lama was to visit Ladakh for an inauguration; it was awesome to see so many people including children many of who wore uniforms patiently waiting for Him; there were welcome banners on the road that he was to pass by. We soon passed it; we had to go up Changla (17500+ feet) , the third highest motorable pass in the world. We stopped there for some time and had the pleasure of having delicious kava (tea); incidentally it is offered complimentary by the army guys stationed at Changla (named after Changla Baba; there is a temple too); we were lucky that the weather was kind to us. We travelled down towards Pangong lake (14000+ feet); the roads wind around the towering peaks and it was quite a long journey before we had our first glance of the lovely purple blue lake (of course it the lake has multiple colours including green, grey, etc). The tent that we had to stay that nite was quite far from that place; we went past the place where three idiots was shot, Rancho restaurant and finally the place where we were to sleep at night. We had a late lunch; it was hot and wonderful; the lunch room (in a tent) was hot and it was cosy to sit there. The doctor checked all of us for blood pressure and oxygen saturation (measured with 100% being normal) and gave a green signal to all of us to run with medicine for some (reluctantly we came to know later- he was not to know our determination and strong will to run and the power of mind). We then walked to the lake and sat there waiting for sun set; obviously we could not see the sun set amidst the towering peaks but the after effect was lovely which could be seen in the photographs taken. We had our dinner and chatted for some time and went to sleep; the night sky was so clear and the number of stars innumerable; possibly one can see about less than 5% in Mumbai.
Day Five
We woke up next day to cloudy sky and were disappointed in not being able to see sunrise- however he effect of the sun rise on the western mountain peaks was awesome. We had breakfast and got ready to leave and returned by the same path towards Changla; on the way the vehicles had to stop since the road (actually just a bunch of stones kept together adjacent to the lake) had shifted at night. We then stopped and actually made(!) the road where there was a gap and finally all the vehicle could go across. We passed Changla once again and went back to Leh for lunch (we could not directly go to Nubra valley). We soon left Leh (it was scorching hot) and drove up to Khardungla (18000+ feet); it was cool but quite okay and we had steaming kava and noodles. The way from South Pullu to Khardungla is not paved at all and it is quite rough for vehicle, cyclist or human; the way down from Khardungla to North Pullu is equally difficult. Raj and Andrea were to run from North Pullu to Khardungla and back to North Pullu and onward to Disket; it was difficult to even imagine running. We had tea and noodle on the way before reaching Nubra valley (10000+ feet). Our rooms at Stendel Hotel were awesome; we refreshed and soon went down to have nice hot dinner.
Day Six
Some of us rested while others went to Sand dune, rode camel and the huge Buddha statue; others rested and went for a brief visit to the local Disket market. The market was quite small and had stuff like shoes, mobiles including repair shop, dress with the shopkeepers from Chandigarh, STD booth and the usual grocery/fruit/vegetable. Other runners joined us including Mahesh and troop, Anitha & Jay and Mala. The doctor once again checked our blood pressure and oxygen level with special emphasis for Raj and Andrea and we retired soon for the night.
Day Seven
Raj and Andrea started at about 3 AM while we started by 5.30 AM. More details on http://runmusing.blogspot.in/2012/07/running-at-ladakh-nubra-valley-diskit.html
After the 21 km run, we went back to the hotel while Dishant continued his lone 42 km with Ashish keeping him company while Raj and Andrea continued with their ultra 100 km with support from Doctor for Raj and Deepak for Andrea. Apart from the runners, the drivers, Deepak and Ashish were tirelessly supporting the runners. We had our lunch with the ever smiling Vijay waiting on us (of the restaurant - who incidentally along with another person was fully supporting the hotel be it waiting on table, taking up /down luggage, clearing the room,etc.). We took rest for a short while and soon left to support the 100 km runners. Ram and Joe along with the doctor supported Raj while Deepak, Ariez and I went to support Andrea - Ram and Joe were incredible in supporting Raj in high altitude while Ariez did the same for Andrea. By the time they completed, it was night and we reached tired but delighted in having completed the run successfully. We rested that night and sadly (since we were to leave an amazing experience and an amazing set of people)
Day Eight
We left the next day for Leh and went back to Hotel Kaal and its delightful food. That day was spent in market for purchases while some of us rested; later in the evening, Raj (incredible with the kind of energy he has), Ram and I went for a 18 km run. We finished and returned to the Hotel for a wonderful party where the doctor and Lotus were also present. We parted late at night and rested to leave the next day back to mumbai.
A great experience and great set of people !!!
