Turtuk is the end of the road for tourists - the end of India
But we are not tourists - we are travellers! Lets see where we can go
Though the area is known as 'Nubra valley' - it is actually the 'Shyok valley'
What a place! It is a narrow valley, hemmed in by mountains on both sides
A place of austere beauty
No greenery - but the very earth makes up for it by bursting forth in many colours
Punctuated by actual sandy deserts
A treat for the senses - though you wouldn't want to be here in winter.
And we have reached the border! I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was manned by my fellow marathi-country men -the Maratha Light Infantry!
The familiar symbols of Shivaji and maratha forts made me feel at home - though the locals must have been puzzling over them. We made a special request and they let us go a little bit further on our bikes to Thang - the final frontier. After all, we are not tourists - we are Bikers!
And bawa's bike celebrated by having a puncture!
Luckily a tyre mechanic was close by in Turtuk village
We make our way back - the scenery...the scenery
The colours of the very rocks...
We are entranced. Bawa is still fuming over his tyre...
But never mind - see these sights... the Shyok river
We come to Hunder...and whats that on the road?
It's the Bactrian double humped camel!
What a beauty! See the colour, the musculature, the bearing, the regal fur, the royal sneer...truly a prince among camels. The normal single humped fellow is a plebeian compared to these guys.
As we near Diskit, we again see the sea of sand - the famous Nubra valley desert
This is really a wonder of nature. Where does so much sand come from - that too at such an altitude in the middle of the Himalayas?
The most unobtrusive petrol pump ever. we had to really keep our eyes peeled to find the Diskit petrol pump
Must be the most awesome setting for a petrol pump ever
The Diskit monastery with the giant Buddha looking over the mountains
The sun is setting - but I had to stop to take a quick pic
And bawa discovers that his petrol cans are leaking! oh no! they touched the spinning wheels and got a hole cut in them
What a place for this kind of thing to happen. Bawa tries to save the petrol, but its too late
And now its dark and getting bloody cold. We abandon our Panamik plans and decide to stay in Diskit for the night. Luckily we find a very nice family-run place.