Lake Country

The Changthang plateau is home to three beautiful lakes - Tso Kiagar, Tso Moriri and Tso Kar.
This was the most beautiful place in all of Ladakh. These high lakes are at above 4000m. By the time we reached there in early September, the monsoon arrived. Finally there was snowfall everywhere and it was cold, windy and drizzling.
That didn't stop us from roaming around in the freezing cold slush to see as much of these places as possible. The birding was the best in Moriri and Kar. At Kar I finally got to see the Black-necked Crane.

One Ladakh trip should be dedicated just for Changthang.

I'm Blue I'm Di Da Ba Dai

Pangong Tso - probably the most famous tourist location in Ladakh, is breathtaking.

Its waters are in every shade of blue, and the colors keep changing every minute. People call it the 'moods of Pangong'. The visit to Pangong was very special - saw a melt-water being formed and took photos of the Milky Way for the first time.

Nubra Valley

Nubra Valley is North-West of Leh across the Khardung La - arguably the highest motor-able pass in the world at slightly above 5600m. On the other side, we went to Hundar, which is by the side of the Shyok river. This part is a world of contrasts. Huge swathes of sand dunes right next to a river. The dunes even have water filled ponds in them!
Diskit is another small town in this valley with a stunningly located Gompa.
Beyond Hundar, civilian movement is a but restricted, as it is about a 100km from the sensitive Siachen Glacier.
The valley, with lots of water everywhere, white sands and immense mountains all around - none of the photos could capture even a small part of the wonder.

Leh

Most of the Gompas are short day-trips from Leh. Leh itself has a lot to offer - the Leh Palace and Fort, the endless markets and restaurants serving Tibetan delicacies to wood over Pizzas.
We visited the some of the Gompas, and spent a couple of days during the Leh Festival.

Lamayuru

The road from Kargil to Lamayuru passes through two passes - the beautiful Namika La and the highest point yet, Fotu La.

Namika La passes through the breathtaking Zanskar range, with the highest peaks Nun and Kun peaking through in the background.

At Fotu La we crossed the 4000m mark for the first time. On the other side of Fotu La is Lamayuru. It has an ancient monastery and was a very pretty small village. It was the most beautiful stopover in the trip - a beautiful little village, a stream in the valley, an ancient monastery and the wonderful people of Ladakh.

Lamayuru was so different from Kashmir, that it felt as if a new trip had started. The stream and its surroundings were teeming with bird life and I had a very fruitful morning birding there.

Exeunt Kashmir, Enter Ladakh

The J&KRTC buses were comfortable enough, but it was a bumpy 10 hour ride through the scariest road I've ever been on.

Once out of Srinagar, the road stuck to the banks of the rushing, gushing Sindh river all the way to Sonmarg. Sonmarg is a beautiful stop on this highway. In Summer there are innumerable streams coming down the lush green mountainside. Saw a lot of Gujar nomads with their sheep and cattle and their tent bases set up in the valley.

The Zoji La, the first of many high altitude passes to come was the scariest. At Zoji La, we left the green Sindh valley, and climbed up the the barren slopes of the pass. On the other side, we got down into the Drass valley and the first sight of Ladakh.
Huge rocky craggy mountains and green valleys.

At Drass we got a sight of Tiger Hill, the epicenter of the Kargil war. Kargil is a bustling town. On this journey, we left the land of the Kashmiris. The people of Kargil are from Baltistan, the Baltis.

Srinagar

The first thing that I noticed in Srinagar were the armed CRPF men. It takes some time to get used to seeing  a large number of guys in combat suits wielding huge guns and sandbags and barbed wire on every roadside.

The next thing I noticed were the Kashmiris - extremely good-looking people!
Srinagar itself is very beautiful, with its parks, green hills, beautiful people and of course, the Dal Lake.

Dal Lake lives up to its reputation.
Went for a 2 1/2 shikara ride in the Dal Lake. It was blissfully peaceful, with its huge swathes of Lotus flowers, Kingfishers fishing right next to the boat, the floating market, the boats filled with flowers and vegetables and the clear still water of the lake. The locals are proud of it, and they say that it is 'Jannat' - it surely felt like it!

Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort near Srinagar, is beautiful in Summer too. No wonder it was filled with tourists...and touts. Up in the Pir Pinjal hills, some 60km from Srinagar, Gulmarg has three levels of plateaus. There is a cable car that takes one up the hill to the higher plateaus. The views are breathtaking there, and the cable car ride is a must.

Gave a miss to the famous gardens and went to the Dachigam National Park, the Pari Mahal and Sankaracharya Temple - a 7th century Shiva temple that had breathtaking views of Srinagar. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed up there.

Dholes

Not the drums, the wild dogs.


The Indian Wild Dog or Dhole (not much details on the etymology of the name), is currently 'Endangered' according to the IUCN Red List.

The dholes are audacious hunters, with incredible strategies to bring down its prey. An alpha male on the lookout for prey.

Dholes are extremely social animals and spend a lot of time goofing around.

They never attack human beings, but run away on approach. If approached carefully, can remain undisturbed by human presence.
Their habitat is under constant threat. Moreover, the 'urban' public has very little knowledge about them.
Please watch Wild Dog Diaries (http://www.shekardattatri.com/?page_id=98) and The Pack (http://www.masthmysore.com/krupakar-senanis-documentary-the-pack-nominated-for-bbc-wildscreen-festival) by Senani Hegde and Krupakar, to comprehend their awesomeness.

Best place to see them - Western Ghat Forests, especially Nagarhole and Parambikulam.