“Chalo aunty main chalta hoon!!!” I said gearing up myself to move out of Srinagar. It took around 40 mins to get into Kargil route in spite no traffic or signals. Riding beside Dal Lake was amazing with Shikara’s in between the misty lake. Once on Sringar-Leh road, stopped to get the bike refilled.
“Bhaiyya, aage raasta kaisa hain???”
“Kareeb pachaas kilo meter thak pahad nahin hain! Uske baad sirf pahad ka rasta! Maza ayega chalaane…”
As he said, initial few Kms of ride was between the lush green fields with hills at distance. Was wondering if I have come to some country side. Although the road was slightly bumpy, it was manageable. Also climate was misty & as it was just 7:30 AM, the cold was unbearable. While it was around 40 odd Kms to Sonmarg, a slight inclination started in road with steady increase in cold. Was getting frozen in spite of wearing leather jacket & gloves. In addition to that, the route was pretty scenic for photos & heavy traffic of Amarnath Yatra vehicles. It was 9:20 AM when I reached Sonmarg & stopped for breakfast in Hotel Sonmarg Glacier.
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| Valley & water... |
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| Road & Hills!! |
After a relaxed breakfast, moved ahead & in some distance, I could see army camps on left side of the road. As I wanted to enquire about Jayraj sir, slowed down the bike & a jawan came close by & said,
“Yeh! Karnatak ka gaadi hain??”
“Ha sir…”
“Yelli Bangalora??? (From Bangalore???)”
“Haudu sir! Neevu Kannada daura?? (Yes sir! You are also a Kannadiga??)”
“Haudu sir! Illi tumba jana idare kannada davaru! (Yes sir! Here there are lot of people from Karnataka)”
“Oh! Jayraj sir yellidare gotta nimge??? (Oh! Do you know where Jayraj sir is???)”
He showed me the gate & said I can find him there. Once in the gate, a jawan enquired my identity & took me to Jayraj sir’s cabin.
“Welcome Krishna! Let’s have a tea???” Jayraj sir greeted me with a smileJ.
Then on, the discussion began about verity of topics which included my journey so far, sir’s experience of being in army, his family, road ahead to Leh, his work here, his visit to Amarnath Yatra few days back & so on. After a lot of discussion, topic shifted to photography.
“I have Canon 500D! What about you??”
“Sir, mine is 550D…”
“Oh that’s very good! When I bought 500D, 550D was very costly. Anyways, we have similar likingsJ”
He showed some of the beautiful shots he clicked during his Amarnath visit, his patrol near Zojila pass & some of his family tour.
“Sir! Is it ok to continue till Kargil & better to stay before it?” I asked as it was already 12:00 NOON.
Soon sir contacted other officers & arranged me a stay at Drass army guest house.
“You cross Gumri & reach a place named Mughal pura. You will meet xxx Anand there & he will guide you ahead!”
“Ok sir! Thanks a lot…”
“You need to rush up fast as the army convey has already begun to move. I have told my guys to let you pass thru with convey! I want you to cross over Zoji La fast as there will be blasting done & all the vehicles will be halted for an hour or so…”
After a quick lunch at his place, moved ahead with couple of scenic shots! Soon was in between the army convey riding in a smooth road. At some point, there was a huge traffic jam & I moved ahead in wrong side. While reaching ahead I came to know that army has blocked all the vehicles due to blasting that would take place. Jayraj sir had informed his guys so nicely that while I was standing at first place, an army guy came & asked,
“Aap Jayraj sir ka dost hain na…”
I shook my head & he quickly opened the barricade & said,
“Jaldi udhar jao! Abhi blasting shuru hoga…”
Boy! I need to rush up soon I said to myself & rode quickly. Am sure other civil vehicles were jealous of me to the coreJ. On reaching other side of the barricade, met 4 bikers coming back from Leh & I enquired the road ahead in Zoji La.
“It’s worst! There is no road for 10 Kms at all…”
Man! This is not done I said & road ahead. In no time, I was climbing Zojila pass & the road was terrible. Complete bumpy & dusty it was. Lucky it had not rained else it would have gone full slushy to pass through. Riding for 10 odd Kms was like riding for 10 days. There was a swift stuck up at some point & guys were pushing it off. But my trusted partner took me up bearing all the pain. While climbing the pass, several bikers gave Thumps Up & I returned them the same. When I had almost done with painful road, an army truck stopped me & jawan said,
“Aap Krishna hain na??? Sir! Aage raasta kafhi achha hain! Hum aaphi ka intezaar kar rahe the!” Man! Hats off to Jayraj sir’s favour.
After climbing Zoji La, the road was of interlock tiles for some distance & then it was partially good with frequent potholes in between the tarmac. At any case, it was better than no roads I thought & move on.
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| Amarnath Yatra camp! |
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| Beautiful road of Zoji La! |
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| Scenic hills all over! |
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| Zoji La conquered! |
After crossing Gumri visiting Zojila War Memorial, the vista changed to the core & was thinking if I have landed in heaven. Boy o boy! What a scenery it was. I think I have stopped at every 3-4 Kms for photo break. Every hill was worth the capture. At some points, there were very thick layer of muddy ice right beside the road. But the road continued to be bumpy one with small waster crossings as well. While I was enjoying my ride between Himalaya’s a army gypsy stopped me & person got down from it.
“Hi I am xxx Anand! You are Krishna right??”
“Road is broken ahead for another 4-5 Kms & then its good. You go to Mughal Pura & meet 2IC there! He will tell you everything…”
I thanked him & road ahead taking my own time for photo breaks. Boy! Why this beauty is not in our places??? I think I clicked almost every hill I passed through. After reaching Mughal Pura, met 2IC after security confirming my identity again. Manik sir welcomed me with a cup of tea & a brief discussion began about my journey.
“Are you married??” He was the 4th or 5th army guy to ask this questionJ.
“No sir! That’s why I am taking my bike along…”
We had a travel oriented chat for a while & he drew the route to Drass army guest house where my accommodation was arranged. I thanked him for taking time for me between his work & back on the road & hills. This time, the hills were more beautiful as sunlight had fallen on hills since the weather was clear. There was also a blue board in which it was written ‘Tiger Hill’ in which the historical Kargil war was fought.
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| Plenty of them! |
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| You read it right! |
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| Beautiful valley! |
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| Back to good roads again! |
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| Am I in no mans land??? |
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| Wow! |
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| Landscape all over... |
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| Count the colours! |
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| Yes! I did stay here :) |
After crossing Drass, there was a very narrow water crossing to be done & I had not thought it would be so deep. Gosh! Bike tipped over but I dint fall luckily. Even for bike, as I had put boxes, it was kinda bike is resting on boxesJ. Lifting it was not a single man job & to my luck, a local guy walking behind helped me to lift it up & move on.
Reached guest house & Sanjeev Sharma sir greeted me to my room with an army jawan taking the load of my luggage.
After sipping a welcome tea from army, enquired about the BSNL signal & jawan said I can get it outside my room. In an effort to call home, wasted around an hour & it went in vein. I could see 2-3 sticks in range but it suddenly goes off againL. And boy, it’s damn cold outside & started to rain soon as well.
While having a small chat with Sanjeev sir,
“Aage Kargil thak raasta aisa hi hain! Uske baad kafhi badiya hain! Fotu la ka raasta bhi acha hain…” he said & I got relieved.
“Aap bramhin hain?? Acha hua! Main bhi… Pandit hu main. Main asal me Nainital ka hoon! Kabhi aa jayiye Nainital!” he continued…
“Sir, yaha toh bahut tand hain!” I said rubbing my hands…
“Arre, yeh toh kuch bhi nahin!!! Asli tand toh winter main hota hain… Aur yeh Drass 13000 ke unchain main hain na… Hamare jawan, waha Tololing aur Tiger Hill ke upar rehte hain poora din…” Man, will their bones be active???
Got fresh & jawan got the food to my room as I had started to rain. Had tasty roti, dal, rice & jalebi! Wrote the day’s blog & closed my eyes giving rest to my body!
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