Julley...A Ladakhi adventure!

 

 “Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations” read one of the road signs as we got out of Leh’s Kushok Bakula Rimpochee airport  and the saying probably best represented Ladakh’s landscape and told us what we could to expect from our eight-day long trip to the land of high mountain passes. Ladakh is truly a visual wonder – with its landscapes alternating from rocky to sandy, from gravelled to snow-covered, with deep valleys and gorges, allowing us to experience bright sunshine at sub-zero temperatures!

 

We best remember the land of Siachen warriors for the surround view of the imposing and colossal Karakorum mountainous range emitting myriad shades of purple, green, brown, red and russet,  Buddhist monasteries and Stupas perched atop the most picturesque locales,  snow covered high altitude passes that makes one breathless both literally and figuratively and its pristine lakes that have much more to offer than “All is well” selfies, vegetarian friendly one pot (read bowl) meals of Skyu, Chhutagi, Thukpa and Thenthuk and enriching and awe-inspiring experience at the Hall of Fame museum of the Indian armed forces, and of course a fantastic opportunity to capture the milky way in its night skies, provided one is ready brave the biting cold in the dead of the night!  

 

Ladakh offers a little bit of everything for everyone - a “push your limits” adventure  for the brave-hearts, a meditatively calming experience at the monasteries for the spiritually inclined, scenic drives with breath taking views of the valleys and elevated ranges for the mountain bound, feeling the rush of ice cold waters from Pangong lake to Shey river, from Zanskar to Indus rivers for the water body,  hopping from one Tibetian market to another on Leh’s market  for the shopaholic, tasting the wide ranging array of local cuisine to feast on for the foodie, and not to forget the quiet starry nights for the astro-photography aficionado - the roof of the world truly has lots to offer apart from a much needed break from the sweaty summer of the South (so much so we forgot what it was like to perspire until we landed in Delhi on our way back to Bangalore!).

 

As always, none of our trips is complete without visiting a local book store, and we did manage to find one such place at Leh’s market called “Ladakh Book shop” However, I was a tad disappointed when we couldn’t lay our hands on any children’s books on Ladakh or any book on local children’s stories, and instead found many books on Tibetan tales for children.  

But considering that Ladakh is known for its monasteries spreading the message of world peace, we picked up “Jataka Tales – birth stories of Buddha” selected and retold by Ethel Beswisk, – a nice little compilation of Buddha’s stories originally narrated in Pali, during the course of his forty years after his enlightenment. Brought out in the form of delightful stories revolving around mostly animal stories, with values and life lessons to imbibe from, for children and adults alike. “Jataka Tales” will also serve as a bibliographic souvenir reminding us our Ladakhi adventure! 

 However, for a children’s book on Ladakh, I didn’t have to travel too far and was pleasantly surprised to have found this book tucked away in the corner of one of our book shelves,  bought a few years ago in the hope of travelling to Ladakh someday! “Sonam’s Ladakh”, a Katha publication by Manish Lakhani is a wonderful book that vividly captures the essence of the Ladakhi landscape, Ladakhi culture and its people. Narrated by the five year old Sonam,  who belongs to the indigenous semi nomadic Changpa tribe, the book takes one through a visual tour of Ladakh during the peak of its winter and its myriad summer colours, of its flora and fauna, pristine lakes and its beautiful monasteries and best of all through Ladakh’s “quiet nights full of stars”!  Sonam’s Ladakh is surely a must-visit and a must-read for those getting Leh’d this travel season!   Our Ladakh trip was like a breath of fresh air, and we came back refreshed, rejuvenated and carrying a little bit of Ladakh with us!

Hyderabad blues!

We just returned from our tour of the Pearl City of Hyderabad and during the last week ... we've been soaking up some Hyderabadi sunshine as well as getting soaked in the off and on rain that has been lashing the capital city of Telangana. However that did not deter us from discovering the city in our own unhurried way.... savouring each and every moment ... amidst the numerous tantrums, tussles, tardiness and toilet breaks of our kids.. ..:-) 

Starting from the best known icon of Hyderabad, the "Charminar" and the bustling old city to experiencing the grandeur of Nizam at the Chowmahal palace and it's various mahals housing some exquisite remnants of British India's most important princely State, from exploring the world famous Salar Jung museum through a guided audio tour to climbing atop the colossal Golkonda fort during the day and witnessing it's illuminated ramparts take us through a thousand years of history vide the spectacular light and sound show in the evening...we were on a roll! While squeezing in a few usual touristy hot spots like Birla mandir in pristine white or the Hussain Sagar lake with the Buddha statue in various evening hues, NTR gardens with it's noisy children's adventure rides, we also managed to stop at the lesser known Qutub Shahi tombs heritage park, browze through one it's quaint little independent bookstores, go bangle shopping at the Laad Bazaar,  sip the Hyderbadi chai and chomp on the mouth watering baked delicacies of its Karachi bakery and shop at the jaw dropping market place of Hyderabad's most recent MNC retail acquisition - IKEA... which was a throwback to our days in the US. Just as we thought we would end our trip with a big bang visit to the Ramoji Film city with it's sprawling gardens, gigantic film sets, including it's latest attraction, the Bahubali film set and it's evening carnival extravaganza, it was however destined that we stay in the city of Nawabs a little longer owing to a last minute cancellation of our flight which in fact proved to be a blessing in disguise allowing us (read me) to go on a shopping spree at Hyderabad's vibrant crafts Bazaar..... Shilparamam! In all, we came back refreshed....carrying a bagful of shopping, a potpourri of experiences and a cartload of memories!! 

No trip of ours is complete without a visit to a local independent bookstore and thanks to the recommendation of an erstwhile-Bangalorean-now-turned-Hyderabadi friend of mine, we stopped by Akshara Books while on our sight seeing tour. Nestled in a quiet part of the Jubilee hills area, Akshara books is how a bookstore should be...a charming little sanctuary of books, its set-up offering a sense of tranquility goading you to immediately curl  up with one of the books from its impressive collection. "Akshara Books" also houses a sizeable collection of children's books ranging from the board books and picture books from foreign publications to many home-grown publications like Tulika, Pratham, Katha and Karadi tales, etc. 

As I was looking out for a children's book on Hyderabad, the friendly co-owner, Ms. Kavitha guided us through the bookshelves and helped us find "Off to Telangana", a part of 'Discover India' State by State series by Sonia Mehta, brought out by Penguin Publications. Narrated from the perspective of the brother sister duo, Mishki and Pushka who set off on an adventure with Daadu Dolma discovering Telangana, with Hyderabad being its Kohinoor in the crown! A comprehensive travelogue for kids aged eight and above,  the 'Discover India' throws light on the history, geography, language and culture of the State in focus accompanied with fun facts, puzzle and games. "Off to Telanagana" turned into our ideal tour guide at Hyderabad, acquainting us with Hyderabad's magnificent mosques and tombs, palace perfections, its Telugu and Hyderabadi cuisine, Telengana's famous festivals, and many of Telangana's accomplished personalities, all presented in an engaging format replete with catchy phrases, fun and interesting games and activities for the young readers to go on their own little expedition....just like we did and thoroughly enjoyed the land of the Sunrisers!!!