Last flight out of Ladakh: Prologue

Last flight out of Ladakh: Prologue

Manali woke up with a sudden jolt from deep sleep. Fearing that it would've been too late she brought her hand out of the blanket and got hold of her watch kept on the bed side table. Still 5 AM. A deep sense of peace dawned over her, and she smiled. She remembered of the days gone by, how amazingly beautiful and adventurous these past two weeks had been. She then remembered each one of the fifteen people in the trek and also remembered of Abhijit and Pathik whom she had to go and wake up so that they don’t miss their flight. She had already packed last night so that was one less worry. She got up and looked outside the window, small flakes of snow were still falling and ice had crystallized on the glass windows in snaking patterns. The entire brown veranda and grey road was now painted white. It looked like a scene out of those picture postcards of Swiss Alps, complete with the Leh palace posing as a medieval castle. Breaking herself from the spell of the scenery outside, Manali went down and knocked on Pathik’s and Abhijit’s room and woke them up. She then got back and freshened up. Their flight was at 10 AM and she had called a cab for 8AM.

It was close to 7AM when she brought her luggage outside and kept it at the reception. Checking back on the guys that they were up and packing their stuff, she made her way to the dining room. Some of the trekkers were already there. They were from the group that was about to depart that day. Not yet accustomed to the cold, they were fiddling with the jackets in between gulping down cornflakes and bread toasts. Manali chatted with them briefly, checked her smartphone and went through the long pileup of messages from others. Out of the fifteen members in their group, twelve had departed yesterday itself all on the same flight, leaving only her and two other to catch the flight the next day. They had just booked their flights for next day in case the trek got delayed but afterwards the extra contingency day had only gone in shopping. All of them had reached home and were missing Ladakh and its cold climate. They were comparing the +25c at their cities to -25c back in the Chadar trek. Manali shared the latest snapshot she had taken of the view outside her window that morning with them, and ooh’s and aah’s followed.

By that time Pathik and Abhijeet also joined and started gulping down cornflakes. Pathik was eager to go back home and meet his parents while Abhijeet was complaining that all of the group should have stayed around for some more time. Manali smiled and nodded to each of them, a feeling mutually shared. The cab arrived on time and bags were packed in. Slowly it crawled across the snow covered streets of Leh, with a steady stream of light snowfall still going on. The roads were empty except for an occasional local seller-woman.

They reached Leh Airport gates in 20 minutes and made their way inside the complex. At first site, it was jam packed. Flights earlier that day had been delayed due to the snowfall and the small airport was packed with worried travelers pacing all around. They were from the 8AM Air India plane that had to takeoff from Leh itself. Theirs was a Jet Airways plane that had to arrive from Delhi and then return back. The lady at the Jet  Airways desk told them that the flight has not taken off from Delhi and there are high chances of cancellations, still they should wait at the airport till 12 noon just in case. They waited and waited, like the rest of the travelers, while the snowfall outside increased in intensity. At 12 noon the Air India representative announced that their flight had been cancelled for that day and travelers should check and come back tomorrow, they would be adjusted on the plane tomorrow. Within ten minutes, Jet airways followed with the same statement. Manali, Abhijeet and Pathik had mixed emotions, an extra day stay would be nice but now they really wanted to go home and see their near and dear ones. Also with just the three of them it was quite boring as compared to the presence of entire group. Manali messaged the news on the messenger on her smartphone and replies started pouring in. Boarding another cab they went back to the same hotel and were happy to get their rooms back. Surprisingly the snowfall had stopped then so they decided to climb up the Shanti Stupa, the huge stupa sitting atop the entire skyline of Leh and a famous landmark. More photography and sharing on messenger followed. Getting back they had a hearty lunch, and in spite of Abhijeet’s protest to go back to his room and sleep, Manali managed to drag both the guys out for another trip to the Leh market, some shopping was always leftover.

It was close to 5PM when they decided to get back. The sun which had not got out of the cloud cover the entire day seemed to have gone below the horizon quite early. A lot many shopkeepers were closing their shops and rushing away. Snowfall was about to start as the air was getting quite heavy and cold. Temperature was somewhere between -10c to -15c. As they made their two-kilometer walk back to the hotel from the market, the entire city of Leh, that becomes a riot of colors and brimming with foreign tourists was entirely vacant, roads empty, not a soul in sight. All three were walking at a brisk pace when near a turn on the bridge crossing on Changspa road, Manali saw something, or someone. Someone familiar, maybe it was someone from the trek group that had departed yesterday. She was half sure, half confused that she had seen Koteshwar or so called ‘KoTI’ standing near the stream below. She told Pathik to stop telling the same, but he just laughed and kept walking. Manali took few steps toward the edge of the bridge and looked down; there was no one, just the semi frozen stream flowing in the icy crisscross patterns. She stared for another fifteen seconds and concluded it was her mind playing tricks. She turned back and suddenly she couldn’t see anything; an intense yellowish white light blinded her. It might have come from some military truck passing by, Manali couldn’t be sure. She thought of getting hit by the truck, but she was too late escaping from that too. But nothing happened, the truck didn't hit her. When the light reduced and Manali eyes got back to seeing normal, her heart skipped a beat. Maybe, two beats. She was standing outside a tent, her tent, and she could hear the noises of entire group huddled in the dining tent, playing dumb charades or mafia. She would’ve kept on standing there wondering what was happening, was this a dream, a trick her mind played, or was she dead, or just gotten off from sleep; she was unable to decide. But the unmistakably familiar sound of Stanzing, the cook’s helper singing ‘Thankyou ji, Coffee ji’ brought her back to senses. She was standing at their first campsite, at the starting of the Zanskar river valley, the place called Matho Doksa. With doubtful steps she made her way to the dining tent, expecting this dream trip to be over any instant. But it didn't, she entered the camp and found everyone there, all fifteen safe and sound, cheering wildly and loudly.

Their trek on the frozen Chadar formed over Zanskar river had just begun, again.