Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out! Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, though we
We first caught a brief glimpse of the bird at the Aghanjar Mahadev Temple. The temple had been disappointing, but the stream behind had more than made up for it. We were walking back to the car, when a harsh call and a flash of blue alerted us that there was a bird nearby. A big one. Gone were thoughts of getting back to the car and to our next destination. Samhith and I were completely focused on identifying the elusive bird. It took us a while to spot it properly, and when we did, I recognized it as the Yellow Billed Blue Magpie!
The photo above was the best I managed to capture, as the bird remained hidden within the thick foliage, giving us only a brief glimpse now and then. Eventually, spurred by our driver's impatience, we moved on to our next destination - The Norbulingka Institute. By now, Samhith was tired and hungry, and we headed straight to the cafeteria to have lunch before setting out to explore the institute. And there it was again - the Yellow Billed Blue Magpie!!
It was so much closer now, and least bothered by visitors. There were lots around, so we were told by the staff!
And that was how we had lunch, with such a beautiful bird for company. At first, I went on clicking, trying to get the perfect shot. After a while, however, I decided to give up, and simply enjoy the experience.....
This post is part of my series on my #summertrip 2015, and I hope to take you along with me as I recount stories from my month long trip, which took me across the country. To get an idea of all the places I visited, and what you can hope to read about, click here.
Related Posts:
Related Posts:
- The Himachal Series-
During Uttarakhand tour specially in Devprayag I have seen many Yellow Billed Blue Magpie. Thanks for rewinding memory.
ReplyDeleteI love discovering so many birds that are new to me via your posts. Thanks for introducing me to this Magpie! :)
ReplyDeleteOhhh its awesome watching yellow billed blue magpie is an great experience, but its my bad that i missed this opportunity well hoping for next time. Well the clicks shared here inspire me a lot thanks for sharing such a lovely clicks.
ReplyDeletei live between bhagsu and dharamkot villages..and last three years i was here for whole year round...in winter as all other birds flew away to lower altitudes but this magpie dared to stay here only.even i did not see any other bird in very cold days and they were in good numbers.
ReplyDelete