From New Delhi to Leh on the old Hindustan-Tibet Road
After not being able to travel for two and a half years, in June this year I was fortunate to go on a 23-day tour from Delhi to Ladakh via the old Hindustan-Tibet Road.
The road, which the British Raj built in 1850, is still considered ‘off the beaten track’ by travellers, despite the magnificent views it offers and the wonderful places it passes through.
This prospect was very appealing to me. So, for the first time in my life, I booked a group tour. This, I thought, would be the easiest and most efficient way to travel the region.
The inside track
Dr Rieki Crins is the founder of the Learning Exchange Foundation, The Netherlands, and of the Bongde Institute of Hospitality and Tourism, Bhutan.
I was very much looking forward to this trip. I had never been to the Western Himalayas, whereas the Eastern Himalayas, Bhutan, Sikkim, and West Bengal are very familiar territories to me.
To join the tour, my travel companions and I flew from Amsterdam to India’s capital New Delhi. The flight was fully booked. We flew a Middle Eastern airline since European carriers had reduced their flights due to all kinds of post-COVID troubles.
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In Delhi there were hardly any tourists. A rickshaw driver told me that I was his first foreign client in more than two years.
I just loved being in Delhi again after four years. The city had become much greener, although there were still many people living in the streets (always a difficult sight).
We took the train to Chandigarh where a bus was waiting for the 12 of us.
Our first stop was the hill station Shimla. I was very keen to visit this town, having read so many books about it and its significance during the Raj … continue reading this “GT” Travel Experience in full & for free at The “GT” Travel Blog.
