N is for Nubra Valley !

During my Ladakh trip, I was really excited about seeing the Nubra Valley. It is a high altitude cold Dessert and was once a part of the ancient Silk route.

Nubra valley was undoubtedly beautiful, but what I had not accounted for was the sheer climatic and geographical diversity that I would see there.

To reach Nubra Valley from Leh, One has to cross Khardung La - The highest Motorable road in the world. 

When we left Leh, the snow was still far away.

Then the snow came closer 

And closer. Till the road was like a black snake slithering  through masses of snow.

And then our car was bumping over snow ... 

With so much snow around us Siachen didn't seem too far away ! 

 

Finally we were at Khardung La ! 

The snow was there knee deep ... 

And then we left Khardungla behind 

 As we drove downwards towards the Nubra Valley, the snow that we had played in only an hour back, started receding again ... 

And within a matter of 2 hours we were driving through sheer stone and barren land. 

At Khardungla we were wearing every piece of woolen clothing we possessed and were still freezing. Now as we neared Nubra, the temperature rose steadily and were stripped off all our woolens till were just in our jeans and thin T shirts. 

When we saw the Nubra Valley, we were in for another surprise! It was an oasis of Greenery in an otherwise dry and barren land. 

The valley is fed by the Shyok river and that is the reason why it is so green.

We wanted to see the sand dunes the valley is famous for, and for that we had to drive till the Hundur village. 

Driving over this long flat road surrounded by mountain ranges was an amazing experience.  

Sand Dunes at the Nubra Valley ! 

Nubra valley is also famous for the two humped Bactrian camels – One of the two places in the world where these camels are found.

I have never ever seen such Climatic and Geographical diversity in my life.We had driven down from the highest motorable road in the world and in a matter of 3 Hours we had actually reached a place with camels and sand dunes - All behind a back drop of snow clad mountains. 

It was Incredible !