I left my previous post at the
Lasermo challenge. The Lasermo challenge is a wretched tale of deceit,
manipulation and trickery. Let us keep this portion for the end and first
discuss the magnificence of Leh making our reading journey interesting and
riveting.
Leh is one of the most sought
travel destination and in the recent times has been a traveller’s paradise. The
meadows of Saspol, the desert road of Likir, The moon land of Lamayuru and the
highly revered Pathar sahib Gurudwara- all add to the exquisite blend of
natural beauty, aroma and the mystique power of meditation. I am specifically
discussing the areas on Leh- Kargil road. This is where I spent the best part
of my Leh journey-Saspol.
One of the fallout of the Lasermo challenge
was that I was posted as Branch Manager Saspol. Saspol is a small hamlet next
to the highly sensitive area of Nimmo. The climate of Saspol is very similar to that of Srinagar
with lot of vegetation. This small town is situated on the Leh Kargil highway
with very scarce population. The village is around 60 kms from Leh and supplies
the vegetables to Leh. The branch had BMs residence in it but i stayed
with a Ladakhi family- the Denmo’s.
Ladakhi are known by their house names and a sort of caste system was also
prevalent in this society as was evident from the house names. The Denmo’s were
a family of five and the hospitality was amazing. The Ladakhi cuisine is a healthy
and quite sumptuous but the family cooked some Punjabi as well as certain Kashmiri
delicacies for me. Of course, I cooked few Kashmiri delicacies myself for the
knowledge transition. Thanks to my Ladaki
stint I also became a cook as well. Bank makes us an all-rounder in life to be
more precise.
Saspol has a quite few tourist
destinations nearby be it the Sangam or Alchi dam o the Lamayuru moonland. I
had a privilege to visit all of them. Sangam is the meeting point of two rivers
River Zanskar and Indus. The combination and confluence of the two rivers is
simply aesthetic and arousing. Young couples’ enjoy their cuddle and hugs the
same way as the two rivers merge. I was keen to flow in these waters. And as it
said that “what you wish from the core, truly happens on the whole”, I got
this opportunity.
Leh branch was gearing up for
audit and although I was away from the branch, I was in constant touch with
Kamal and Razdan. Asa precursor, we visited the Sangam fo making arrangement
for rafting by the auditors. Chief Manager Leh and few other staff also joined
us. The climate was enticing and the opportunity was beckoning plus our desires
were unstopping-our troupe decided to take the rafting challenge. We reached the place and put on the rafting
uniform and out we went to the starting point which was around 10 kms from Sangam. Of course, there were few people who looked bit scared from outside but
even they flowed with our eagerness. What followed was a 45 minute long, tumultuous
journey of thrills and chills, the splashes & the dashes. The rafting boat carried
us eight people and of course the kayak. The Zanskar was showing its real face.
I was reciting the Hanuman Chalisa from inside praying to Him for safe return.
The ups and down of the boat took hell out of us and we screamed on top of our
voices. The topsy-turvy movements continued till the waters became calm and we
could see the mighty coitus of Zanskar with Indus- the magnificence of Leh had
just begun.
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