We were told that there are no buses direct to Lamayuru but only to Leh but we could take that bus and get off at the bridge 8KM away from the town and wait for a bus that goes to Kargil and get off at Lamayuru. Sounds easy huh!
The quaint little tourist town of Alchi
We woke up very early the following morning to wait for the bus. We’re initially told that the bus would be at the “station” at around 7AM. We waited for almost half an hour and didn’t see any bus at all and we just decided to walk up to the bridge.
It took us more than an hour or two to walk 8KM since we’re carrying all our bags (luckily my bag was a bit lighter after discarding some stuff). As we continue walking and just a few kilometers away from the bridge, we saw the bus passed by without stopping. We were afraid that it might be the only bus for that day. I was optimistic though that there might be another one.
We waited a couple more hours and no bus passed by. We’re at the bridge side near a river in the middle of Kargil highway and the nearest town is 8KM away. We decided that there might be no bus anymore and we could just walk the remaining 50+ KM or hitchhike. So hitchhike we did!
A Swiss traveller that we met the night before also came at the bridge to wait for the bus but we told her that the bus had left already so she came with us to hitchhike. After hailing so many private cars, trucks even military trucks, no one stopped. After almost an hour waiting, a huge fruit delivery truck en route to Srinagar finally stopped for us.
A nice Kashmiri guy opened his truck’s door and asked us where we’re going. We said Lamayuru and luckily the guy agreed to take us with him.
The Swiss girl got off at Rizong and we continued on to our journey debating if we would continue on to Kargil or stop first at Lamayuru. A local hitchhiker also came onboard who turned out to be a military man stationed at Khalsi.
He first mildly scolded us for not getting off at Khalsi checkpoint to present our passport and register. In his broken English he explained that it was for our own security. We explained back that we didn’t know that it was a checkpoint and that registration is required. After passing through quite a number military bases in Ladakh I honestly don’t know which ones we need to stop to or not. We all ended up just laughing about.
As our trip continues on our conversation went on about the other places that he suggested we visit in Ladakh. He also asked us about some stuff about the Philippines. After less than an hour of travelling with these bunch of nice folks, we finally bid farewell as we got off at Lamayuru.
My first hitchhiking experience outside the Philippines was a success!
Sounds tiring, but congratulations on your first hitchhiking attempt!
I love hitchhiking! Like couchsurfing, it’s a great way to meet local people and save a bit of money at the same time.