Kashmir – Ladakh Trip Day 8 (Inner Line Permits)

At Leh, one is required to get inner line permits for his/her visits to Nubra Valley, Pangong, etc. Hence, we headed straight to DC office in the morning to get the permits for our visits to Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake. We were then strolling in the market, bought Apricot Juice (very fresh and good for health) and dried tomatoes (naturally sun dried) from Dzomsa. Sonam Dorje,the owner of Dzomsa offers earth friendly products and services in Leh. When Sonam Dorje was a child, Leh was different, “Every home had access to a stream for water and there were rules on how to protect it. Then the place grew, it became a mess. Small was nice,” he said. In the cold desert, water is a precious commodity. Unable to accept the contamination of streams through laundry, about ten years ago, Dorje started Dzomsa (means ‘meeting point’ in Ladakhi), which accepted clothes for washing, washed them away from streams, and spread out the used water in the desert. Today Dzomsa is famous for laundry services and to refill drinking water. In the evening we went to see a few homestays and finalized Sheldan Holiday Home for Rs. 750 per night, stay was from next day. Our night stay was at Hotel Mogol.