Well it didn’t do any good do to my back. I can feel my spine were literally screaming for a rest. It was quite a roller coaster ride from the Karthungla ( the highest motor-able road in the world ) with hell lot of bumps in it. Being never experienced high altitude and cold conditions before it was so much for my body to take. Am was lying tired in the taxi we took feeling nauseous and waiting for Hundar to arrive. All the time in taxi I have been gazing upon the forever changing landscapes of might Nubra Valley.
From valleys to mountains to rivers to rocks Nubra has tons of surprises within them. There is so much to see here and wish we could stop and admire each and every spot in our path but our spinal cord is begging for some rest so we moved along. All of a sudden the Nubra presented us something new a wide spread sand dunes which I have seen only in movies before. All of a sudden everyone started to behave like a kid in a candy store. And Driver turned to us and said “Welcome to Hundar” with a big smile. And here we are officially in Hundar after 5 long hours of back breaking journey from Leh.
MAGNIFICENT SAND DUNES:
In excitement we asked our driver to stop the vehicle and stepped out of it to witness this amazing Sand dunes. Being a bright sunny day over the dunes Light and Shadows plays the game of hide and seek. The patterns of the sand were irresistible and we all want to jump and roll down over it. But first things first we gotta find a place to settle in.
We got in the cab and found a cozy place quite near to the sand dunes. And the land lord suggested that we should not miss Sun set by any means near the Sand dunes. We took some rest looking forward for sun to set in.
THE PENULTIMATE THING:
Gripped with excitement we start from our rooms to see the enchanting Sunset. The Sand Dunes were 15 mins away by foot. We started walking slowly knowing we have ample time for Sunset. We reached there sat on the sands feeling the every feet of beauty it withholds. The light was getting softer and air feels more colder we knew Sunset was just around the corner. We could literally see the last sun rays were running over the dunes to settle inside the mighty mountains. And snow caps on mountains were sparkling due to the rays. As sun sets further in it painted the whole sky fiery red and gave a feast to our eyes. It was the best Sun set I have ever witnessed ?
DAWN IN HUNDAR:
It goes without saying Sun rise will be magical in the mountains. We woke up early and reached the Sand Dunes wait for the first rays to to touch the ground. We sat down and waited. There is this little puddle of water where we could see the reflection of skies and mountains. Whilst am observing the puddle there is little streak of yellow flashed across the skies and we couldn’t resist. And there was a Shepard carefully guiding herd of cows across the road near the dunes. It was a stunning view where whole valley is flooding with light and the entire herd of cows were moving towards the light was a scene of lifetime.
After Sun rise we get to meet some locals around the place and had some of the local delicacies and spend some quality time with the locals and Photographing places.
CUP OF CHAI:
Chai is my best friend and I can’t say no for Chai any time of the day. As evening starts setting the temperature dips in as well. This calls for a Chai moment. I have heard of Kashmiri tea are very special from what we have back in South India. And the aroma of Kashmiri tea will speak for itself. It got better as we enjoyed a fine evening with lots of Ginger lemon tea with the view of such an incredible place.
NIGHT SKY:
Watching billion of stars adorn the black void was one of our main motto of this trip. As night sets in we were praying for clear skies to see the families of stars to come visit us. And Star lords answered our prayers! As it gets darker and darker stars started appearing in groups and we all gathered for the grand show down. Even the land lord sat along with us for Star gazing and expressed his love for it and described how will not miss such sights despite his busy schedule. His exact words were “I cannot go without spending 10 minutes of my time witnessing these stars on such clear day no matter how tight the schedule is”.
While we are having this conversation Lo and Behold few stars appear to form a pattern and trying to depict something. And the moment we laid our eyes on it we knew we are very lucky to witness such a beautiful Milky Way in the sky. And there were some serious exclamations all around touched by the beauty of Night sky. We still can’t decide what’s the best thing Hundar has offered to us the “Shimmering Sand Dunes” or “Marvellous Night Sky”. I urge you to see it for yourself and decide. Read more of my Travel stories.