I got a call from a very close friend of mine from Ladakh and asked me where am I? I had just finished a trip to the south of India and reached home a day before. He asked me to come down to Ladakh the next day. I asked him why and his reply was “If you don’t come tomorrow, you will have to wait for one more year.” I really had no idea what he was talking about but got a sense, it must be something important. I asked him to wait for an hour.
.
I started exploring options to reach Leh in the quickest and most affordable means possible. After looking around, I found a flight from Mumbai to Leh which flew well after midnight at 230am and with a halt at Delhi for an hour, reaching Leh at 6:30am. Finally, I booked tickets but now how to reach Mumbai? I took a train from Vadodara to reach Mumbai and I arrived there at 10:30 pm to catch a flight the next day morning at 2:30 am. All this happened in just an hour and a half. I informed my friend that I am leaving for Mumbai and will be landing at Leh next day.
.
It was a little chaotic at home due to this sudden run to the mountains, but my parents are used to me undertaking this kind of travel. Finally with all the chaos settled, I managed to set off for the trip.
.
Everything went off well and I landed Leh on time, early in the morning, half sleepy. This friend of mine was waiting for me outside with a wide-open smile. He took me to his place, offered delicious chai and asked me to take some rest. Took a shower and went to sleep. Around 10:00 I felt that someone was banging really hard on the wooden door and shouting. I took an entire 5 minutes before I realised it was for me. Suddenly, I realised I am not home but in Ladakh.
.
He asked me if I was ready? I asked ready for what? I thought he might want to take me out to the market for lunch. We went out and started buying food for camping. We got extra fuel and he said, “Okay brother, pack your bags and we are off to the high mountains”. He already made my permits upon my arrival. At 12::00 pm we set off on the road for the high mountains. I really had no time for acclimatising. Generally, I take 2-3 day reset before setting off into the high mountains. I still had no idea where I am going.
.
We crossed Taglang La 17,480 feet and drove for 3-4 hours continuously to reach a destination where we were supposed to reach. I was careful as I crossed at 17,480 feet from sea level (Mumbai) in just a few hours. Finally, we reached and it was a Changpa nomads camp and they were ready to shift to their winter pasture in a day or two.
.
Now I was getting an idea; why my friend was in such a rush and pushed me to run. We reached a little early and the nomad camp was empty and there were hardly any activities. I did set up my tent slowly as I was at 14800 (4511m) feet with no time of acclimatising.
.
We made Chai and I scolded my friend, asking him “Why did you bring me here like this?” I don’t see anyone, not even a single goat. My friend smiled and laughed as he asked me to pick up my camera gears and climb a close-by hill. After climbing there on a hilltop, I felt it was a wonderland, the landscape was completely different. but there was no sign of any animal. The altitude made me a little cranky, I was upset with this friend of mine.
.
Finally, I saw a dust cloud on the ground at the horizon and the cloud was quick enough to come close. And later I realised it was the first flock of pashmina goats and few sheep. And then the 2nd cloud of dust appeared and it went off till late evening and it was almost dark. I even forgot that I was at such an altitude without any acclimatization. Finally, the magical moment got over. It was dark enough, we made a quick dinner and decided to wake up early. Next day I was told there were 17,000+ goats in that small Changpa settlement.

I will talk about the 2nd episode soon, meanwhile, enjoy a few images.