A deserted land with a cold wind, an invisible brown cloud, a layer of snow like a silk white cloth on the high mountains, an adventure along the dangerous steep slopes of the highest highways in the world, Buddhist monuments of different faiths in the Tantrayana style and the occasional Tibetan with devotees. People and cultural aspects of the people.
Which country can see and enjoy all this? That is our neighboring country India. At the highest point of India, bordering Pakistan, Tibet, China and Bhutan, the province shows completely different characteristics from the rest of India as a whole. The village of Kadukhara in the famous movie 3 idiots was located near the border of Bhutan in Dadak Province. This region of Maddak, which is located on a border today, was a part of Tibet between China and India in the past, but later this part of Maddak belonged to India.
Just the environment
Monsoon wind currents are the main source of rain in South Asian countries including Sri Lanka. Monsoon winds blow over the Himalayan mountain range and meet the water needs of more than 1.3 billion people throughout the Indian subcontinent.
Monsoon winds do not fall on the Hadak mountain range on the western slopes of the Himalayas because they are located opposite the windward face. Due to its elevation above sea level, the climate of Madhya Pradesh is colder than other parts of India at almost all times of the year due to the fact that it is located on a mountain range with a height of 4000-5000 meters. Most of the hills of Dadak are almost completely covered with snow during the period of October-February when the room temperature drops to minus values. Drass and Kargil, which are considered to be the two coldest places in India, are both located in Didak province. During this December and January, the temperature in both places is negative.
Things to do in Dadaak
To the highest places by car
The highest motorable highways in the world are located in the western slopes of the Himalayas. If there are places where you can easily travel by car to the top of the Himalayan range, the province is at the top. There are many highest mountains in the world like Everest, Annapurna, Makalu, Manaslu, etc., but there is no possibility of traveling by motor vehicle to a height of 4000 meters if you climb on foot within Nepal. But there are many places where you can travel at a height of more than 4000 meters and can catch snow anytime.
Location of Taglang la
Marsimik La (5,582m), Semo La (5562m), Kardung La (5359m), Taglang la (5328m) etc. are the highest places accessible by road in Dadak, but among them there are disputes about the place where motor vehicles can travel with the highest height. However, there are more than 5 places in Dadak among the top 10 highest motor vehicle hack places in the world on many online lists. In Tibetan, La means peak of the mountain.
Motorcycle and vehicle travel
Crossing Dadaak with large capacity Royal Enfield and similar motorcycles like 1000cc, 800cc is a popular pastime of Indian youth and foreigners.
In Leh, the capital city of Dhaka, in August, you will often see foreigners riding on such huge four-wheeled bikes. Climbing the mountains on these big bikes over difficult roads, gorges, snow and streams is sometimes a thrilling experience.
In August 2014, I went to Tiddak with a group of Sri Lankan friends, and the cab driver we met on the trip from Tiddak to Manali, Kali, was like a Sri Lankan long-distance Leyland bus driver. The same driver drove the vehicle at high speed even at night on the dangerous winding road with steep slopes where the bottom is not visible and the top of the hill can’t be seen at a glance.
Winding road with steep slope
At that time, some friends who went with me gripped the seats of the cab tightly and sometimes remembered the gods and goddesses of Sri Lanka with fear, hoping for the protection of their homes.
Lakes and gorges
The final scene of 3 idiots is shot at Pangong-Tso Lake, a place on the India-Bhutan border. The Tso Moriri lake, which is full of cold water in the blue plains, is also a tourist attraction. Nubra Valley, which has the appearance of the Arabian desert, has a cool environment that can hardly be imagined as a desert even though it looks terrible. Some tourists travel hundreds of kilometers to spend the night near these high-altitude lakes and spend the night in their extremely cold water.
3 idiots last role
In 2014, we Sri Lankans who were South Asians were not allowed to enter some places near the border, but nowadays many of those rules have been relaxed and South Asian Bangladeshis are able to visit the tourist spots near the border.
Tibetan Buddhism
Samantabhadra Thero (formerly Pitiduwe Siridhamma Thero) who frequently issues controversial statements.
A photo from a trip to Sri Lanka became popular on social media. In fact, the people who believed in Tibetan Buddhism were not Theravada Buddhists. They are believers of Tantric Buddhism practiced in some places in Central Asia and in Tibet. Although there are cultural elements such as Buddhist Stupas and Vehera Viharas, faiths and idols in Dadak, many differences can be seen in them compared to Sri Lankan Buddhism.
Many Buddhist temples like Spituk, Namgyal, Hemis, Lamayuru, Likir etc. are also to be seen in Dadak and some of them are finished according to the architectural models that we do not usually see on Kadumudun and Giridurga.
Information received
The Leh/Ladakh and Kargil regions of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, as per the 2011 census reports, consist of hilly systems covering an area of 59,146 square kilometers and a total population of only 274,289. Although a small number of people live harshly near the water streams that melt glaciers on the mountain peaks, there is no healthy environment for humans to live in, except for movement in this province.
In the year 2014, when we were traveling by bus from Srinagar to Tiyadak, we met a teacher who was teaching in a small school in a village near Tiyadak. He is a resident of Kashmir Sri Nagar, a city 350 kilometers away from the school where he teaches. He casually said that he has to stay in the school hostel for several months during the winter and that even if a relative is sick or bereaved, he will not be able to participate due to road blockages due to heavy snowfall.
Approaching Dadak
Many places in the province of Dadak are located at 4000 meters or more above sea level and at these limits the oxygen content of the air is low. That’s why, in general, people in any part of the world get a headache and feel nauseous when they rub it on the head. Very rarely a person can have this severe effect.
There are two ways to enter Dadak. One is the entry from Jammu Sri Nagar. Another is to enter Lehadak from Manali through the Himachal region. Taking a slower pace, the Sri Nagar Le route is the most suitable route to allow the body time to cope with the low oxygen levels in the environment. We used the road from Sri Nagar to cross the road. We came from Delhi to Jammu by train and from there we reached back to Sri Nagar. To put it simply, it took us more than a day to reach Sri Nagar from Delhi.
Later we visited Sri Nagar Siri for a few days while traveling to Dhadak. Even the regular bus stops at Kargil on the way and the passengers spend the night in a shelter and start the journey again early the next day. The distance from Sri Nagar to Leh is 415 km.
We returned to Delhi via the route that passed through Himachal to Tidal. Taglang la (5328m) pass was the highest point during the 490 km journey. On the way from Sri Nagar to Manali, which is tougher than the Ledadak route, we had to face a sudden rainstorm with small patches of snow at one point. On that route also one should spend the night at an intermediate place.
Both these roads are fully open for traffic only for 5-6 months from June to September..Rest time both these roads are covered with snow. Directly accessible by air from Leh Airport is Dadaak. But it should take at least a day to get used to the low oxygen level there.
Leh city skyline
Some time after our journey to Kashmir and Dhadak, even some friends find it difficult to understand why they reached India Dhadak on the western border of the Himalayas. Regions like Kashmir and Dhadak have their own charming natural beauty as well as folk lifestyles. It is a difficult task to fully explain to another person the experience we have gained in their words or videos.
The food and drink of Indian and various cultures, adventure travel, amazing accommodation, life experiences gained from the people we met, etc. made the trip to Kashmir a treasure trove of memories added to the wild life.
