Panoramic view from the Lamayuru Hotel.
The Lamayuru - Leh highway has the following major attractions:
- Moonland /Moonscape hills
- Straight Road
- Magnetic Hills
- Indus Zanskar river confluence
- Gurudwara Patthar Sahib
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| Moon scape hills at Lamayuru |
Lamayuru is characterized by a lunar landscape with undulating hills. There are many places which bear a striking resemblance to the landscape of the moon. There are many moonland type or moonscape type hills spread over the area. Do remember to click some snaps with them.
There is a famous stretch of pure dark pristine tarmac on the Lamayuru - Leh Highway. Its a straight road which runs for a few kilometers. The best part of the road is that its straight without even the slightest bump or hole on it. There is hardly any traffic as well, making it one of the purest unadulterated riding experience in our lives. We all experienced the thrill of making our Bullets reach 90 kmh -120 kmh on this road of heaven.
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| The famous straight road on route to Leh |
Magnet Hill is a "gravity hill" located on the highway. Its again a major tourist attraction and a fun stop. The layout of the area and surrounding slopes creates an optical illusion that the downhill road is actually an uphill road. Objects and cars on the hill may appear to roll "uphill" in defiance of gravity when they are, in fact, rolling downhill.
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| The famous Magnetic Hill |
By now we had completely left behind any signs of lush greenery and everywhere we went, we saw only bare brown but breathtakingly beautiful mountains. The sky is also so clear that when snaps look as if they had a blue filter applied to them!
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| Forever imprinted on the mountains |
The confluence of the Zanskar and the Indus River is 3 km southeast of Nimmu village. You might have seen the image in many magazines and articles. The lower sections of that gorge are popular in summer with tourists making rafting trips, typically from Chiling to Nimmu. In winter when the road to Zanskar is closed by snow on the high passes, the only overland route to Padum is by walking along the frozen river, a multi-day hike that is now sold as an adventure activity called the Chadar ('ice sheet') Trek.
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| Confluence of Zanskar & Indus Rivers |
Around 30-40 km outside of Leh you will find the famous Pathar Sahib Gurudwara. Its a Gurudwara which is fully funded, maintained and operated by the Indian Army. The Gurdwara was built in 1517 to commemorate the visit to the Ladakh region of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder Guru of the Sikh faith.
According to a local legend, once a wicked demon live in the area who terrorised the people where the gurdwara is now situated. The people prayed to the Almighty for help. It is said that Guru Nanak heard their woes and came to their aid. He settled down on the bank of the river below the hill where the wicked demon lived. The Guru blessed the people with sermons and became popular in the area. The locals called him Nanak Lama. Seeing this the demon got into a rage and decided to kill Guru Nanak Dev.
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| The 'Pathar' at the Gurudwara |
One morning when the Guru was sitting in meditation, the demon pushed a large pathar (boulder), down from the hilltop, with the intention of killing the Guru. The boulder gained speed as it rumbled down the hillside, but when it touched the Guru's body, it softened like warm wax and came to a halt against Guru Nanak's back. The Guru kept on meditating unhurt and undisturbed. Thinking that the Guru had been killed, the demon came down and was taken aback to see the Guru deep in meditation. In a fit of anger, he tried to push the boulder with his right foot, but as the pathar still had the softness of warm wax, his foot got embedded in it. Pulling his foot from the boulder the demon was dumfounded to see the impression his foot had just left in the stone.
On seeing this, the demon realised his own powerlessness in comparison to the spiritual power of the great Guru. He fell at the feet of Guru Nanak Dev and begged for forgiveness. Guru Sahib advised him to get rid of his wicked ways and asked him to lead a life of a noble person. This changed the life of the demon, who gave up evil deeds and started serving the people
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Guru Nanak Dev thereafter continued his holy journey towards Srinagar via Kargil. The pathar pushed down by the demon, with the imprint of the body of Guru Nanak Dev and the footprint of the demon, is at present on display in Gurdwara Pathar Sahib.
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| Nearing Leh! |
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| Proud to see the Indian flag at an army camp just outside of Leh |
One of our bikes had a breakdown just outside of Leh, when their chain snapped. Since there were no mechanics available, we had to tow the bike by tying it with rope to another bike. That was something to really remember in itself. Finally by evening we reached Leh and settled into our hotel.
