Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 12)

Shoot.

At 7 am we were set up and ready for an interview with the CEO, which took about 45 mins or so. One of the units was late to report, and got an earful from me. We left for Spangmik already having wrapped two solid interviews. 

Took a lot of drone shots along the way, stopping groups of riders periodically and making them do formations. Lunch was quite pathetic, so I didn't feel like eating much anyway. We reached Spangmik in the afternoon, and the co-founder and team obliged us with some much-needed camaraderie shots as the CEO was scheduled to leave for Mumbai later in the evening. 

Took the opening and closing shots by Pangong Lake, and reached Maan by 6 pm. Around 8 pm we set up a bonfire chat featuring the co-founder and Col Wangchuk, which went on for 2-odd hours. The Col basically spoke about the 1999 war, and how his boys retaliated to firing from the Pakistan Army. 

Gripping stuff, except that it went on for about 2 hours and it was getting colder and colder by the second. People still listened on intently. 

Apparently the boys met the Dalai Lama, who gave them sathu, which all of them kept back in their pockets throughout the duration of the war. After dinner the Col sat around a table and spoke some more. The Goba of the village was there too, and the group discussed what all Jawa could potentially do to help the region. 

Content wise we got a fair bit today that could form the base for the Jawa intro episode and the Nomad story. 

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 11)

Shoot.

The first day of the ride. Woke up and headed to the Stok Gompa for the flagoff. After a breakfast of Maggi and coffee Col Wangchuk flagged off the ride and the entire unit started out. 

I was in the Imperio trailing way behind, and caught up with the local DP and LP at Leh Gate. As expected, the riders were all broken up into separate groups, and already many had begun to take pit stops along the way. 

Everyone finally caught up 2 hours later at Khardungla, which is the highest motorable road in India. We got some group shots together, and set off again. I left with the local LP and DP, and got a lead on the entire unit until North Pullu where road construction on a narrow patch of tarmac halted the convoy for about an hour or so. 

The rest of the drive was smooth, and we got some very good tracking shots. We reached Tirit on time after lunch at Diskit, and I helped the LP install some lights around the bonfire area while our director, DP and group went to shoot at the dunes with the co-founders and Jawa gang. 

There was a beautiful bonfire in the evening where Daniel, Faisal and the group jammed out. We had dinner around 11 pm, and turned in after the brand manager drunkenly played some Hindi pop rock tunes to a sleepy audience on an acoustic guitar. Slept pretty late, but slept knowing the first day shoot had gone as well as it could. 

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 10)

Shoot.

The crew left around 6 am to take some beauty shots around the city. Around 10 am, after breakfast, we left for the Martyr's Hall for the commemoration ceremony of war veteran wives of the Ladakhi Scouts regiment. 

The setup and shoot were smooth, and it felt amazing to spend my birthday at such an event. Met Col Sonam Wangchuk, the Lion of Ladakh, and General YK Joshi who was Chief Guest at the event. Got our first set of tracking shots on the way to the wreath laying ceremony at the Hall of Fame. That was a proud moment - to be shooting over there with Col Wangchuk, the CEO and co-founders.

Drove the LP's i20 back to our resort where we had a group lunch by the river, and then shot an impromptu jam session with Daniel Waples and a Ladakhi damian player. I went for a recce of Ladakh Serai resort with my AP and the local LP. It is one of the most serene, green, peaceful hotels I've seen in recent times. The place had multiple apple and apricot trees, and we ate some that had fallen down on the ground because of yesterday's dust storm. 

Went back to the city in the evening and spent some time at Babloo Sharma's lamp shop, buying props for the bonfire music performance planned in Osse Khar tomorrow. Came back to Ladakh Serai for dinner. The crew had brought a small cake for me, which I cut, and we all had some dinner and drinks. 

Seems like a good crew that's going to gel well and have fun shooting together. All in all, a great birthday spent doing work I was born to do. Feels great :).  

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 9)

First day of shoot. 

Around 11 am we went to Gyapthago, the Ladakhi homestay owned by Jigmet. Anupam Thareja and the Jawa gang sat through the preparation of a Ladakhi meal and later visited an old Ladakhi home made of mud. 

These homes have low doors so that people bow in humility while entering them. 

It was a good experience overall, and definitely got good content. 

Our director knows what he wants, and he's able to communicate well with the crew. 

Around 3:30 pm we went to Stok Palace for the rider briefing, where there was a tiny dust storm because of which we couldn't do any drone shots. 

Came back to The Last Resort, our hotel, around 6 pm and had an early packup. 

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 8)

Shoot.

Met our director and DP for the shoot, and took them through the concept, the brief and our run order for shoot days. They seem like the kinds who will collaborate well and add layered dimensions to the project. 

The brand manager sat and briefed us on the co-founder's vision for the series, which is to highlight the 'giving back' aspect of the community. 

The co-founder, when he came for the meeting, said everyone is able to take good shots of motorcycles, showing them as mean machines, but very few are able to connect it back to a sense of community doing things that really change lives. 

RE, apparently, has abused the region by doing films around here, but this brand wants to help the locals. It's cool even if the film comes across as a documentary (which, strangely, I thought is what we were there to do anyway). 

So anyway, we're sitting over dinner trying to figure out what to make of this brief and how to structure the narrative. I hope our creative leads don't tire themselves out trying to piece together a broken puzzle that has parts missing. 

We also visited a local kitchen where we're doing a lunch shoot tomorrow, and the Guza place where half the riders are staying (also where we're shooting the army dinner). Both lovely places, and I hope we're able to do justice to the shots we take over there. 

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 7)

Recce.

I write this from my cottage in The Last Resort, our base camp for this epic journey. Got back from our 850-odd kilometre recce around 7 pm, a lot wiser and definitely better acclimatized to this weather. 

At around 9 am, passing by Tso Moriri, on a whim we decided to take a dip in the cold water. The brand manager, associate producer and I took off our pants and jackets by the river bank - in what must have been not more than -5 to -10 degrees Celsius water - and dove headlong into the clear, chilly water. 

We also visited a local nomadic family, where I met 17-year-old Chukmet. He showed us around his settlement, his tent and a party tent where apparently the entire tribe gathers for coffee. The family has a number of sheep from where they get their pashmina wool. Also, Chukmet (like me) dislikes school. 

We watched a bunch of sheep graze in the lush green pastures of the valley as we lazed around in the grass waiting for the tribe chief to come around so we could ask his permission to interview some of the tribe members about their pashmina connection. 

He never showed up, though, so we left.

It was a lovely 8-hour drive back to Leh, marked by an especially remarkable pit stop at the Puga Govt school where one of the local producers' mother is a teacher. Over tea the school chief and we discussed the lives of the Nomadic children and their families, ambitions, aspirations, etc. We're going to go back there next week and speak to the kids and bring along some books and stationery for their school work. 

We stopped at a couple more places for tea, etc before heading straight to the Cafe for work, upon our arrival in Leh. The local producers came by and we discussed the episode themes and shoot schedule in detail before breaking up for the evening. 

Sometimes I feel the producer's job is a genuinely thankless one considering the director and DOP get most of the credit for a good product, and the producer takes the hit only if it's a bad film. I wish I could do something to change that perception, and maybe try and showcase how the producer imbibes each aspect of his job with different layers of creativity - right from choosing a good crew, to setting the initial vibe, to making sure everyone feels well compensated for their work, and the brand feels they got their money's worth. 

So many things need to be taken care of. It's an all-rounder's job because a producer essentially is also a backup everything. I hope this comes through well in the days to come, and I really am able to make this series something I'm genuinely proud to talk about. 

Midway point learnings:

1. Stay calm and composed; there's nothing that cannot be fixed. 

2. Detach. This, too, will pass.

3. Hydrate well and often.

4. Ensure the crew is well fed and feels cared for. 

5. Manage egos smartly. 

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 6)

Recce.

Woke up feeling better than yesterday. Had a simple breakfast, and we left for Tso Moriri. One of the bikes had come to our hotel, so we took some beauty shots with Udit riding. 

At various points during the ride we stopped and took bike shots for a short teaser  we want to put out by end August. Stopped at a roadside dhaba and had some egg sandwiches. Already low-key bored of thukpa. 

Also, a little homesick. 

It's nice to want to live in the cold, but it's quite impractical for people like us who are used to Mumbai weather. When you cannot bathe every morning, or even on impulse whenever you feel like, there's something wrong with the world. 

On the way to Tso Moriri we passed a couple of beautiful lakes where the clouds hang low and the sunlight shined across the horizon. Temperatures dropped over the evening as around 7 pm we crossed the beautiful, expansive Tso Moriri. It's so much more beautiful than Pangong - a vast expanse of turquoise blue water surrounded on two sides by steep hills. 

Tso Moriri is a fresh water lake. We reached our homestay, chilled for a bit, checked into our rooms and had some rum before turning in for the night. 

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 5)

Recce.

Woke up in Merak with a bad cold. After breakfast I had a quick bucket bath, and we set off for Hanle. Vast, endless dry patches of land with mountains on either side. No real increase in incline, but as the day progressed it kept getting colder. 

At some point during the drive the local coordinator got off the car and brought back a stem with seven green leaves on it. Some random wild plant. Each of us had two, they were apparently the leaves of a hallucinogenic plant found in the region, called Laanthaan. 

At first only the bitter taste registered. Then as the day wore on I started to feel a little lightheaded. Followed by nausea and dry mouth. At one point we stopped at Tsaga La where I entered a makeshift tea stall and passed out for 10 minutes. An hour's drive later we got to Hanle where we checked into a local homestay after visiting the Hanle Monastery.

The monastery itself is quiet, located on top of a small hillock outside town. We had the chief monk show us around the area; I made a quick wish and turned around the prayer wheel. We had a small snack (tea & tsampha) and chushul (mixed with milk). Dinner was at the homestay, around 9 pm. 

What has stood out for me is the hospitality of the locals - everyone is so willing to go out of their way to help and share whatever is theirs. Warm water, lemon tea and milk tea are available everywhere, and served with light snacks. On another note, would be nice to have a small house in the hills here and farm for a living. But wintertime temperatures are torrid (-15 to -25 degrees Celsius). 

A patch of road runs around the Hanle Monastery, visible from high up above, across from which is a huge mountain beyond which is the China border. We were trying to spot Chinese army bunkers from far across, but couldn't spot any. Could spot the Pangong though, casually snaking its way up the mighty hills and going out of sight into foreign territory without the slightest care for borders. 

Humbling.   

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 4)

Recce.

We leave for Pangong/ Merak around 9 am. The terrain on this leg of the journey is starkly different: no winding roads and valleys. Instead, right after the valleys we're flanked by plains. Further down the road there's some spectacular sights: broken stupas, an empty cavern deep up the hills, and then the mighty Pangong Tso.

We halt at a homestay for lunch in the afternoon, and have a hot thukpa meal, which takes an hour to prepare. It's strange how no matter how much you try to stick to a schedule or hurry things up life will only move forward at the languid pace it sets for itself. 

The Pangong Tso is filled with tourists screaming, "All is well!" And so we halt there for no more than 5 minutes and drive on down further about 50 km on a broken tarmac path that leads to Merak village. Somewhere before Merak and Maan (another village), there's a small clearing with a lagoon jutting out of the road and into the water. We stop here to take some stock footage; it's around 7 pm and the sun is just setting. 

The breeze has started to blow, and it's the most skin-piercing, spine chilling air I've ever lived in. But the scene is gorgeous on a different level. Two poles hold up a string of Tibetan flags fluttering wildly in the breeze, and a bunch of filmmakers taking in the beautiful scenery around it is quite a sight. Except, there's no one there apart from us. 

It's beautiful - the breeze, the clear water, the skies, and the sheer quiet all around us. 

We reach Merak around 8 pm, check into a homestay and sit chatting about in one of the rooms. The vibe, however cheesy it may sound, has begun to show: the 7 of us already have names for each other, we're picking on one another non-stop, talking relationships, love, and all kinds of things. Could pass off as a bunch of childhood friends, maybe? 

Nah, that's a stretch.

But maybe that's something travelling together does to people. Bring them much closer much faster. There's definitely something about shared experiences.   

 

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 3)

Recce.

Left for Khardungla after breakfast and coffee in the market. The first test of our acclimatisation; went quite well actually. Felt a bit sick approaching the peak, but it went away as soon as the car stopped at the highest point and we got down. 

Took some pictures and left for Khalsar, and had the most amazing thukpa with fried eggs on the way there, which our local LP made. Sometimes I feel people don't deserve to see these beautiful sights at the cheap prices they are on offer for. On our way from Khalsar to Diskit we saw some of the most spectacular valleys around us. The valleys surrounded vast plains covered by tiny white stones, and rivers running along the motorable path for miles on end. 

Saw two shoot units along the way, stopped at a waterfall and drank from the fresh water spring. Went to Diskit and had goat intestine fried in oil, called Gyuma in Ladakhi. Left for Osse Khar Resort near Sumur around 8 pm. It's beautiful how much life largely remains unchanged around these areas. No deadlines, no great rush, no politics, no hurry. These areas are a reminder for how little we matter in the face of nature and its ways. 

Osse Khar is a cool little place near Sumur and we had a lovely north Indian dinner and beers before falling asleep. 

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 2)

Recce.

After a good night's sleep we had breakfast and left for the Ladakh Scouts Regiment headquarters, where the brand manager had a meeting with the Major General of the Indian Army. Sitting in Mumbai it's hard to imagine just how many army personnel there are in sensitive areas, and the discipline they live with to man our borders. 

The streets were buzzing with army activity, their cars careening down the hilly roads nonstop. Next we went to the market, spotted a cafe called Rabsal, which overlooked the market square. It had a Spaghetti Western theme. Did a lot of pending work, made some calls, had some coffee, shopped a bit, and came back to the resort. 

The market had a lot of tourists. 

After lunch we left for Stok Palace, situated about an hour's drive away in the centre of a vacant plot of land surrounded by hills and patches of green grass. Saw the museum, the king's chambers, the prayer room, the kitchen. It was kind of like a crash course in Ladakhi cuisine, culture, customs and traditions. 

The Buddhists seem like a spiritually evolved lot; in their kitchen there's a contraption that collects the ashes from burning coal, which they then use as compost for their number two. That mix then is used as fertiliser on their farms, which helps yield good produce. But someone also mentioned the kings were a ferocious lot, and the Tibetans slayed lots of innocents and captured China in the past. Going to have to do some research to confirm that. 

After the palace we went to a couple of guest houses around the area, saw some sprawling gardens, ate apricots off the ground and drank ginger-infused lemon tea. Kept getting colder through the evening, and on the drive back - in the sheer darkness of the barren lands - I could swear I was able to faintly spot at least a couple constellations. Don't know which ones, but the sky has never looked more beautiful.    

Ibex Trail - Ladakh (Day 1)

Recce.

For about half-an-hour before you land in Leh airport, all you see are snow-capped mountains. And it's not until you notice the first hutment or vehicle passing underneath you that you get a sense of scale and realise just how massive the mountain range is, and its enormous spread. 

You feel really small. It's humbling. 

The sun has risen at 5:30 am and is shining brightly when we land. Even so, it's 7 degrees Celsius and quite chilly. Leh airport is so small, it transports you back in time - just two conveyor belts for luggage, and fifty steps straight to the exit. A lovely man with swollen fingers welcomes us to Leh, and we set off in a Swift to come to the resort he owns. It's the last resort on the road, and aptly titled The Last Resort. 

The road from the airport is narrow, but all you see around you are these enormous mountain ranges. Discreetly the Indus passes underneath you on a broken-tarmac road some ways off. The people seem kind and gentle, and in no hurry to get anywhere particular. The only sound you hear that's not nature is the hum of the car engines, now about 15 km away. 

The property is a bunch of cottages spread out over a hill. The kind man who received us - the father of Atul (who owns the property) shows us our rooms, and we gather at a nearby coffee table for tea. We're given hot ginger tea and biscuits, which we quietly eat observing the beauty around us - the mountain on one side and a plateau on the other, dissected by the river. And more mountains far beyond.

The kind man shows us around the property. There's a bonfire area, a conference hut and a dining room where the three of us tuck into a meal of aloo parathas, pickle and curd. I pick up a copy of 'What to say when you talk to yourself' but cannot read it right away. After breakfast I decide to come back to the cottage and chill for a bit. Life here is slow, very slow. 

I fall into a deep sleep for a while, and am awakened by the brand manager. We go to the dining area and start discussing our route, and the plan for the next fortnight. A and B, our LP and cameraman from Ladakh, join us and a discussion ensues on Leh, it's history, culture, food, political landscape, etc. We eat lunch together and discuss what is possible, what isn't and what we must steer clear of. I come back to the room after lunch and fall asleep once again. I wake up at 6:30; it's getting chillier, quieter, darker and the silence descends upon us like a thick blanket. 

At 7:30 pm the sun sets as we have soup and khichdi for dinner, I read for a while and play a game of ludo.

The night sky is filled with stars, more than I've seen in a while. The landscape is soundtracked by the gushing of the Indus river some kilometres away. The town is silent, we're the only ones in the resort and I'm feeling sheer bliss.