Moon Rover

A ROAD TRIP AROUND LADAKH IN THE LAND ROVER DEFENDER IS A LUXURY THAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO MISS

- MERAJ SHAH

"So, which has been your most memorable experience so far?" Our host asks, somewhat unexpectedly. It's a reasonable question, even if a bit premature. We're halfway through an extended road trip that began from Srinagar in Kashmir, crossed over to Ladakh over the Zoji La (pass), wound along the Suru River through Kargil, before turning east toward Leh, the capital city of the country's newest Union Territory. On the final stretch we've stopped for lunch at Alchi Cafe-a restaurant that's been in the news for its innovative take on traditional Ladakhi cuisine. "The food at this cafe is a highlight for sure," I mumble. And I do mean it: Ladakhi cuisine has a preponderance of grains prepared in gruels accompanied by bread. Functional food, and a bit of an acquired taste. Alchi Cafe's fusion of the local bread with a meat filling on the other hand, is downright succulent. My fellow travellers shoot furtive glances and shuffle in their seats, aware, acutely that they need to come up with a response before the same question finds its way to them.

As a sequence of platitudes ensues, I give the question more room to settle. For the life of me, I can't single out one specific instance. Our myriad experiences on this trip-culinary, motoring, cultural, adventure-have all been clubbed under, for lack of a better word, luxury. Not just in the sense of how well appointed the hotels have been, or how insular the bubble that our ride-the Land Rover Defender-has ensconced us in, but in a more expansive, less literal sense. This trip-part of a series of experiences run by Cougar Motorsport in partnership with Land Rover India has been luxurious in how it's freed us, the participants, from any burden of choice, worry, or responsibility.