In the rough, rugged terrains of Ladakh, which test the nerve and determination of travellers, the intensity of beauty all around is made lighter by some hilarious signboards that make you smile or even let out a cheerful chortle.  We bring you five of the best.

We are beginning to comprehend, now more than ever, what Oscar Wilde meant when he said, “If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you!”  This is about adorable abandonments: of abandoning oneself in the act of laughing in the mountains and feeling the air ringing with laughter.

'Cheak’ your brake

Yeah; seriously! ‘Cheak’ your brake, folks! At every turn, bend and slope, cheak your brakes! Now, just because there are no traffic signals put up at every corner, just because there aren’t many vehicles moving around, doesn’t mean you can imagine your vehicle to be Batmobile! So yeah, drive or ride safe, and cheak your brake! For a spelling error is forgivable, but a motoring error can be fatal!

Be gentle on my curves

Epiphanies! We realise that we don’t need the curvy roads of Ladakh and signboards such as these to tell us how to be gentle. Not only while driving or riding. But gentle always. In life. But, while speed can intoxicate us in the valleys and mountains of Ladakh, we better not let it get the better of us. Life lessons, folks, life lessons!

It is not rally, enjoy the valley

Word. Leave rage behind, leave rush behind, leave haste behind; these valleys are for watching with keen and patient eyes… or some serious understanding like that. Although language has gone horribly (and thus hilariously) wrong, this signboard’s purpose is fulfilled if you frown for a second thinking of the consequences of speeding, even as you are laughing until you nearly split a gut!

Darling I like you, but not so fast

This is death talking! You are only as free as imagining anybody’s voice uttering those words in your ears. And see how nice ‘death’ is being to us! Maybe it’s time to realise that speed isn’t the only exciting thing about driving or riding in Ladakh, especially because the place is postcards-packed-together-everywhere, and slowness is the only way to observe and savour all that pristine beauty.

Be Mr Late than Late Mr

How you place an abbreviation while addressing someone matters a lot. Don’t agree? Hence the signboard. Why let one journey into the lap of mountains become the last just because of speed? We know it’s rather tempting to hear the winds roar past you, but think of the trade-off. If you still want to take risk, well, may the signboards save you from having the order of your title swapped!

Join us on our Ladakh Landscape Photo Tour.