This is a brief account of what all I experienced during my one week in Leh, Ladakh from the 15th of june to the 22nd of june 2015. This post is not all that about what to do in leh and ladakh because lets be honest, you already know much of that. It'l be more about the hospitality and the warmth we received from the people of leh which made our stay there even more worthwhile.
Four of us went together and from the moment we landed in leh , it was clear that the localites were followers of the concept of "atithi devo bhava" ( The guest is equivalent to God) . The taxi driver who we met there was a lean and short guy but full of energy and was very keen to lend us his service till our homestay .
We had booked Tukchu Homestay for our stay in Leh which is around 3-4 Km from the airport and very near Shanti stupa. we had talked to the owner Mr Tashi over the phone and he had agreed to give us 2 rooms for the entire duration of the 7 days and had also agreed to check us out on one day , without any extra charge when we were not staying the night at his place because of our visit to Nubra valley.
So basically, Mr Tashi is an engineer in BSNL,Leh and his wife is nurse in a local Primary health centre . Tashi's sister also lives with them and helps them in running the homestay. He has 7 rooms for his guests and believe you me staying there was no less than being at home. The warmth , hospitality and the feeling of being with loved one's was something which I never experienced at any hotel before. The main difference between homestays and hotels which I found on this trip is that in hotels a person is treated somewhat like a commodity whereas in this case the bond is much better.
Tashi was not only a great host , but he also helped us out in booking cabs for our visits to Pangong and Nubra valley and even helped us find cheap rental bikes for visiting local places . We had made an entire itinerary before going to leh but interacting with other people staying at Tashi's homestay made us improve our plans and made the entire trip very efficient . The dinner conversations and cokctails with the other guests and Tashi were something which we would look forward to every day
His wife is an excellent cook and we were treated to some great cuisines , be it local ladakh specialities or otherwise. The food was always served hot and fresh and her tea is to die for. We used to have atleast 5-6 cups of tea everyday and were still left longing for more. I could not imagine how she used to manage the PHC at night and the homestay in the morning , but somehow she along with Tashi's sister are doing an excellent job.
Sharing some of Tukhu homestay's photos :
Next up we went to Pangong lake with two families with met in Tashi's homestay. We hired a cab which Tashi helped us with and we got a 15% discount on the final amount which was obviously welcome. The trip was very much worth it and I fell in love with the surreal beauty that ladkah had to offer . The peace , the calm and the general laid-back attitude of the people was to die for , a great change from the metropolitan menace we have to go through otherwise.
Then was a bike ride to Lamayuru Monestry , which is around 125 Km from Leh on the Srinagar / kargil road. The drive was splendid with great roads courtesy Border Roads Organisation (BRO) . The view was again great with the Indus river flowing with us for much of the drive. The wind gushing to your face and the mountain peaks in front of you was something really special , but that wasn't the best thing I felt that day. The best moment I had was meeting a person(in picture) in Lamayuru monestry who had come there from Mumbai just as a volunteer and was teaching Mathematics to the children in the monestry.
One of people we met in Tukchu's homestay advised us to stay in a homestay in Turtuk village in Nubra valley , so we decided to check it out when we visited Nubra valley. We had hired a cab like we did for Pangong and just like Pangong lake , our driver was amazing , A fun guy who knew the mountains in and out and was the source of a lot of entertainment for us on the way. He wanting me to get posted to Thoise was something which was a bit far fetched but other then that we had a great time :P
So when we finally reached Turtuk village , a small and quiet place , 11 km from the Pakistan border ,we were greeted by Karim bhai ( the one with the blue shirt in the picture) , the owner of Bagdour home stay . He used to work with Ladakh scouts before leaving service and opening this homestay. He is a gem of a person who was very kind and friendly all throughout our stay there. The rooms we stayed in were not only very clean and cosy but were also very very easy on the pocket. He gave us a tour of the entire village free of cost and showed us the small things that made the place so famous and special. The land in Turtuk is perfect for agriculture and thus it was not surprising to see that agriculture was the major source of income for the people in the village.
A lot of things have to go right for a vacation to be a great experience, right from the planning to the place to the people and luckily in our case all of this fell right into place to make one perfect life long experience . That is why in the beginning I mentioned that this post won't be much about what to do in leh , becuase boring you with information you about Khardung La , Pangong , magnetic hill and the confluence of Indus & Zansakr river won't do you much good, but sharing these experiences might. I am sharing the contact details
of Karim bhai , owner of Bagdour home stay in Turtuk village , Mr Tashi , owner of Tukchu Guest house in Leh and Mr Tsewang , our driver . These would surely be useful while you plan your trip to this paradise.
Mr Tashi - +91-9622985005 , +91-9419120151 (http://tukchu.com/ )
Mr Karim Bagdour - 01980-248147 , 09469541085
Mr Tsewang Chosdup - 09906977240 , 09622195310, 0 9469812072
Four of us went together and from the moment we landed in leh , it was clear that the localites were followers of the concept of "atithi devo bhava" ( The guest is equivalent to God) . The taxi driver who we met there was a lean and short guy but full of energy and was very keen to lend us his service till our homestay .
We had booked Tukchu Homestay for our stay in Leh which is around 3-4 Km from the airport and very near Shanti stupa. we had talked to the owner Mr Tashi over the phone and he had agreed to give us 2 rooms for the entire duration of the 7 days and had also agreed to check us out on one day , without any extra charge when we were not staying the night at his place because of our visit to Nubra valley.
So basically, Mr Tashi is an engineer in BSNL,Leh and his wife is nurse in a local Primary health centre . Tashi's sister also lives with them and helps them in running the homestay. He has 7 rooms for his guests and believe you me staying there was no less than being at home. The warmth , hospitality and the feeling of being with loved one's was something which I never experienced at any hotel before. The main difference between homestays and hotels which I found on this trip is that in hotels a person is treated somewhat like a commodity whereas in this case the bond is much better.Tashi was not only a great host , but he also helped us out in booking cabs for our visits to Pangong and Nubra valley and even helped us find cheap rental bikes for visiting local places . We had made an entire itinerary before going to leh but interacting with other people staying at Tashi's homestay made us improve our plans and made the entire trip very efficient . The dinner conversations and cokctails with the other guests and Tashi were something which we would look forward to every day
His wife is an excellent cook and we were treated to some great cuisines , be it local ladakh specialities or otherwise. The food was always served hot and fresh and her tea is to die for. We used to have atleast 5-6 cups of tea everyday and were still left longing for more. I could not imagine how she used to manage the PHC at night and the homestay in the morning , but somehow she along with Tashi's sister are doing an excellent job. Sharing some of Tukhu homestay's photos :
Next up we went to Pangong lake with two families with met in Tashi's homestay. We hired a cab which Tashi helped us with and we got a 15% discount on the final amount which was obviously welcome. The trip was very much worth it and I fell in love with the surreal beauty that ladkah had to offer . The peace , the calm and the general laid-back attitude of the people was to die for , a great change from the metropolitan menace we have to go through otherwise.
Then was a bike ride to Lamayuru Monestry , which is around 125 Km from Leh on the Srinagar / kargil road. The drive was splendid with great roads courtesy Border Roads Organisation (BRO) . The view was again great with the Indus river flowing with us for much of the drive. The wind gushing to your face and the mountain peaks in front of you was something really special , but that wasn't the best thing I felt that day. The best moment I had was meeting a person(in picture) in Lamayuru monestry who had come there from Mumbai just as a volunteer and was teaching Mathematics to the children in the monestry.
One of people we met in Tukchu's homestay advised us to stay in a homestay in Turtuk village in Nubra valley , so we decided to check it out when we visited Nubra valley. We had hired a cab like we did for Pangong and just like Pangong lake , our driver was amazing , A fun guy who knew the mountains in and out and was the source of a lot of entertainment for us on the way. He wanting me to get posted to Thoise was something which was a bit far fetched but other then that we had a great time :P
So when we finally reached Turtuk village , a small and quiet place , 11 km from the Pakistan border ,we were greeted by Karim bhai ( the one with the blue shirt in the picture) , the owner of Bagdour home stay . He used to work with Ladakh scouts before leaving service and opening this homestay. He is a gem of a person who was very kind and friendly all throughout our stay there. The rooms we stayed in were not only very clean and cosy but were also very very easy on the pocket. He gave us a tour of the entire village free of cost and showed us the small things that made the place so famous and special. The land in Turtuk is perfect for agriculture and thus it was not surprising to see that agriculture was the major source of income for the people in the village.
A lot of things have to go right for a vacation to be a great experience, right from the planning to the place to the people and luckily in our case all of this fell right into place to make one perfect life long experience . That is why in the beginning I mentioned that this post won't be much about what to do in leh , becuase boring you with information you about Khardung La , Pangong , magnetic hill and the confluence of Indus & Zansakr river won't do you much good, but sharing these experiences might. I am sharing the contact detailsMr Karim Bagdour - 01980-248147 , 09469541085
Mr Tsewang Chosdup - 09906977240 , 09622195310, 0 9469812072
