History of Leh and Ladakh

History of Leh and Ladakh

India is blessed with places of tremendous cultural importance and aesthetic value.  Ladakh has received unprecedented fame and attention of the tourists over the last decade or so. Ladakh is a region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is really good to see that Ladakh is getting the attention that it actually deserves. We often hear youngsters visiting Ladakh on bikes in groups.

The major cities of Ladakh are Leh and Kargil. Kargil has received a lot of attention due to the “Kargil War” between India and Pakistan. Thus, Kargil became the “talk of the town” in most places in India due to the war. Ostensibly, Leh has higher aesthetic value. The principal language of Ladakh is Ladakhi, a Tibetan language. Albeit, most people know and understand Hindi, Urdu and English as well! Though, Ladakh is situated in the State of Jammu and Kashmir it has a unique culture of its own! So, if you are visiting India you just can’t eschew visiting Ladakh.

The culture in Ladakh is highly influenced by the Tibetan culture. The Tibetan culture is overt in the region. Apparently, a reason for this is because Ladakh borders Tibet to the east. So, the geographical proximity can be a reason. The majority of Ladakhis are Tibetan Buddhists and the rest are mostly Shia Muslims. You get to see traditional Tibetan dresses, ornaments and other stuff in Ladakh.

They are not just beautiful but carry tremendous historical and cultural importance as well! Another great thing about the place is that women here are highly respected and have a high status in the society. The sex ratio is also almost equal, which itself is a testimonial of the equality in the society. Ladakhi food has much in common with Tibetan food. The special tea of Ladakh isworth trying for sure. It has better as one of the ingredients. The tea which is locally called “gurgur cha” contains green tea, butter, and salt.

 Another amazing thing about the place is the simplicity of the people. Most of them are ardent peace lovers and full of hospitality. The quintessential Tibetan culture is all about simplicity and benevolence. They keep things simple and don’t complicate them. There is a saying in Tibet: "If a problem can be solved there is no use worrying about it. If it can't be solved, worrying will do no good”. The religion of the place is predominantly Buddhism. The main city Leh is highly analogous to Lhasa in terms of culture and tradition.

It is good to see that Ladakh is getting the tourist attention it deserves. The bollywood has also contributed to bring fame to the place. We saw the place in big budget movies like “Jab Tak Hain Jaan”, “Waqt”, “Dil Se” and “3 Idiots”. The “Pangong Tso” Lake that has featured in most of the movies is really an eye capturing place. It is really nice to see the bollywood fraternity coming forward to help boost tourism in the place.

Yes, special thanks to “Mr. Perfectionist- Aamir Khan” for coming forward to help the people in Leh when they really needed it! There is still scope of improvement; better facilities can be arranged in the place. Tourism can be boosted more; a few more attempts can be made to advertise the place. The place deserves it all; after all it’s a part and parcel of the Great Himalayas! 

 

Re-blog from: http://halfbakedvoices.blogspot.in/2013/09/history-of-ladakh.html

 

Written by: Rohan Kalia

Half Baked Voices: Travel Guides in India

Thank you "Half baked beans" and Rohan Kalia for mentioning "You and India" on your blog.

Here is the blog on HBB written by Rohan Kalia:

Travel Guides in India

Travelling is fun but when you travel  in an alien land, you need a guide. No matter how much you read or hear about a place, you can’t become connoisseur without knowing the ground realities of a place. This is precisely where the role of a travel guide becomes of cardinal importance. In a country like India with a wide spectrum of cultures, the importance of travel guides is huge. Even in this era of digital technology, social networking and technological navigation; we cannot eschew the importance of travel guides. 

Specially, if you want to explore and feel the essence of a place, the guides play a crucial role. As they say, travelling is not about merely covering distances. To travel is to live!

In India you will find different sort of travel guides. You will find some really vocal and eloquent guides at places like “Lal Qila (Red Fort)” and “Taj Mahal”. At the same time, there are mild and soft-spoken guides near the great Himalayas. The essence of travelling becomes a lot more intense when you travel without any pre-planning. That is exactly when the role of a travel guide becomes all important; as you don’t have even an iota of idea and you almost completely hinge upon the guide! 

A guide who is local to the place is indeed a bliss and of immense utility. A local guide is well versed in the lingo of that particular place and this helps a lot. The guide has in-depth knowledge about the local trends and cultures. Furthermore, a guide who is local is a known figure in that particular place which just adds as an asset.

Well, credits must be given to the movie “Guide” for bringing the guide culture in trend in India. The movie starred the legendary actor Dev Anand who did full justice to the role of a travel guide. The plot of the movie is full of twists and turns and the concept is super classy! Raju (Dev Anand) was a freelance guide, who earned his living by taking tourists to places of cultural and historical importance. Whenever people hear the word “guide”, especially the ones who connect with bollywood- They think about the movie “Guide”. Truly, the movie deserves credit for bringing and promoting the guide trend in India.

People visiting India from foreign countries find these travel guides really useful source of information and convenience. India is a country with immense cultural heritage and there is a lot to be seen and explored! The food, the fashion, the local cultures, religions, wildlife; there are ample things to experience and explore. It is really great and refreshing to know that new models have been created to prepare a platform for travelers in India. These models not only provide fantastic hospitality but also help the foreigners to explore the “Real India”.

 A quintessential example of such a model is “You and India”, a model that strives to offer real Indian taste to the visitors. “You and India” strictly believes in the famous jargon- “Atithi Devo Bhavah (The guest is God)”. You and India has come up with innovative ideas like- food walks, village trips etc. to ensure real Indian experience to the core! We hope ideas like these keep coming, so that we can take our tourism to the highest level.  

Rohan Kalia

Repost from: Half Baked Voices: Travel Guides in India

What Crazy things you can do in India?

When we hear crazy we think of Bungee Jumping, Sky Diving, deep sea dive, crossing Amazon river, climbing tough mountain or as my friend from Germany recently introduce me to bobsleigh (you should search the crazy videos of bobsleigh) and last but not the least skiing and paragliding at the Eiger.

Check this video. It is considered to be one of the most extreme adventure sports of paragliding and skiing at same time.

The list can go with a person walking on a rope and crossing a river or lake.

So what is crazy? We can say something that develops fear among us and overcoming that can be crazy.
As a ordinary person I am too afraid to try these and I recommend fellow travellers to avoid them if they want to discover each inch of Earth.

But still common man in India do some crazy stuffs every day. I have narrowed down 5 most crazy thing that most of Indians do.


Here is my list:

5. Holi festival. It doesn't sounds crazy but if you are in a huge group of people drinking Bhaang "It is extract of flowers and leaves of Cannbis"  it can get a lot crazy and YES it is legal to drink it and even there are Govt. Shops selling it.

4. Driving car in the jam packed city roads. The best thing in India is that you can make your own rules while driving. Honking, taking wrong turns, do anything to reach your destination.

3. Driving bike on the Indian Road. Yes, if you want to see 6 or 8 or 10 people on a bike for 2, you should book your ticket to India.

Even a dog gets a ride here.

2. Adjusting in local trains. Yes there is always room for more people in Great Indian Railways. They are never full.

1. Getting married in India. I watched Friends and remember Monica getting furious over Joey Inviting his parents into wedding without her consultation. She is upset as she has to rearrange sitting area and re-order food. Well If she would have wedded in India, I am sure she would have died from heart-attack watching guest brining whole family, friends neighbours into the wedding. A simple wedding in India has around 1000+ guest. No one is Invited with RSVP like this:
" Mr. XYZ" you are invited

but like this
"Mr. XYZ" you are invited with your whole family.

It is indeed a treat to attend weddings with music, dance, groom on elephant or Horse, lot of food and colourful and beautiful ladies and the wedding lasting over 5 days.

See what Raj Koothrappali (from The big bang theory) has to say :

So what do you think? We expect to get some more crazy ideas from you from your city or country. We really expect some crazy ideas. Keep pouring  :) and visit India.