Srinagar to Leh... Yeh Yeh Yeh!!!

Back from a 10 day long trip to Kashmir. I strongly recommend this one to you all and it's an ideal place to go if you are looking (either/or) for adventure, leisure, peace, meditation, trekking, camping or fun. People normally crave for foreign trips. If you have not visited here before, I can vouch, a trip to this place will beat that all and with a fair distance. Its sort of a trip that makes one believe and realize  that 'life is beautiful', makes one wonder at the marvel of nature, makes one feel like saying..'Waaaoo' each time. With each passing day, we felt that that it can't get better but the graph of amazement of the realms of nature just ascended northward every day. I can now relate why so many wars have been fought for Kashmir.There is something magnetic about this place.

The trip planning started in January 2009 and by the mid February air tickets were booked for Srinagar for 24 May flight from Delhi. After a long wait and loads of shopping, finally we were in flight on a Sunday Morning, All excited for visiting a place which has been captured in 100s of Bollywood movies. The first thing that came to mind after landing on Srinagar Airport was - Where do we stay - A houseboat or a hotel. Eventually, we decided to stay in houseboat in Dal Lake. The first ride in Shikara to house boat reminded us all time favorite song filmed on Shammi Kapoor, "Ye Chand Sa Roshan Chehra". After a warm welcome and a delicious lunch, we decided for local sightseeing and the first place we visited was Shankracharya Temple. Its almost 30 minutes drive from Dal Lake to temple parking area and another 15 minutes walk to reach to the temple which is situated at a height of 1,000 feet (300 m) above the plain. The view from the top stunned us. It was soooo beautifulllll. The next stop was Chashme Shahi, built around a fresh water spring. The main focus of the garden is the spring. The water of the spring is believed to have some medicinal properties. Playing with chilled water of the spring was big fun. By the time we were out of Chashme Shahi, it was quarter to 7. The driver suggested us to head for dinner and we were back to the main market near Dal Lake. The day ended with another Shikara ride to the houseboat.

Next day, we were served the famous drink of Kashmir - Kahwa, a traditional green tea made from saffron strands, cinnamon bark and cardamom pods. By 8.30am we were on our way to Gulmarg, a place 60 kms from Srinagar, which is famous for skiing world championship. Near to the parking area of Gulmarg, we saw a small temple, which is famous for a Bollywood song, "Jai Jai Shiv Shankar". Almost after an hour of waiting in long queue, we got tickets for cable car. Popularly known as Gulmarg Gandola, the cable car project is Asia's highest and longet cable car project. Two stages of the ropeway took us to a height of 3,747 m (12,293 ft). It was a beautiful ice sheet getting thick by continuous snowfall. The temperature must had been below zero. A cup of coffee at the peak of mountain along with Maggie made the noon beautiful. With expected storm on the peak, there was announcement for closure of second stage and tourists were asked to get back to cable car for a safe ride to stage one. After lunch, we were on our way back to Srinagar. The evening started with search of a taxi for next day trip from Srinagar to Leh. It took us almost 2 hours find the right guy, Bunti Bhai, who became our go to man for next 10 days on the trip. Thanks to expensive air tickets from Srinagar to Leh, we enjoyed one of the best road trips. The trip to Leh cannot be a complete trip, if you have not traveled from Srinagar to Leh via road. It takes around 30 minutes for a flight from Srinagar to Leh and an overnight journey of around 16-18 hours if you travel by road for a mountainous journey of 430 kms.



River Sindh accompanied us from Srinagar to Leh for a major part of the journey. Our first stop n the journey to Leh/Ladakh was Sonmarg. I even cannot count how many movies had been filmed there. It was all green and green. after spending a couple of hours there, we were crossing Zozilla Paas, one of the toughest roads to drive in India. Conveys of army move along the mountains and one cannot travel when they are on and so the travel has to be planned accordingly. The journey was beautiful. The mountains, The valley, The Road, The army conveys, The Capital Mod (Cross), The Trucks, The Villages, The Schools in Villages, The River and The Sharp turns ensured that the journey is full of excitement. At every turn, you want to stop your car and click a few photographs and talk to nature in silence. We met a German couple who was on six month long trip and was riding bicycles all the way from Srinagar to Leh. By 4pm in the evening, we were in front of a sign board that read "Tiger Hill To the Left". We spent an hour over there thinking about Kargil war and the brave Indian Army. A few miles ahead, you reach Drass, the second coldest inhabited place in the world after Antartica. Drass has a war memorial, "Operation Vijay War Memorial" on the triumph of Kargil war where the affable soldiers told about the Tiger Hill and other strategic locations and how the Indian army won over the Pakistani intrusion. It has to be seen to be believed. To me this place is a sacred place and I decided to go inside the memorial, barefoot. You don't feel or even realize that the temperature is below zero. You are in a zone where all you can feel is how brave soldiers sacrificed their lives so that we can stay alive. There were paper and magazine cuttings and one of them read “If there is a Hell then this must be it. It is -40 degrees and the wind cuts the soldier’s face, the lungs scream for oxygen, the cold numbs the mind, Orange juice has to be boiled and eggs turn to Golf Balls but still the Indian soldier fights on”. All of us had goose bumps watching the pictures of the battle and some of the shells and guns. And just behind the Memorial one could find all the 3 peaks “Tiger hill”, “Tololing Top” and “Point 5140”. We paid our respects to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives the nation and moved to Drass and realized that Drass is a very beautiful place. We had a night-out in Drass, where people are inside their homes by 8pm and you can see hardly anyone on the roads or in the markets.



Banti Bhai told us that we will leave by 5am next morning so that we can reach Leh before 1pm. Yes, we were in the cab by 5.15am and on our way to Ladakh. Personalities change, images evolve after Kargil. Muslims give way to Buddhists and we found lot of Monasteries en-route. Most of the Ayurvedic 'Jadi Bootis' are made from the mountains and trees along this route. Just like the previous day, we were crossing beautiful mountains. They were sometimes red, sometimes black, sometimes green, sometime white, sometime brown, they were all there. A place close to Leh is Nimmu which has 'magnetic' mountains and that magnetic effect pulls down the speed of the car drastically. And finally, by 12 in the noon we had covered 430 kilometers on roads and were crossing the welcome gate of Leh. The newly built City Palace was given the opportunity to serve us. We spent 4 days in Leh. We found many foreigners who had come for a month for trekking, camping, some cycling, some motor cycling,some meditating etc. The 3.5 hour journey from Leh main market to a picturesque 135 Km long Pangong lake was breathtaking. On the way, you reach Khardung La Top via world's highest motorable road. Leh people make their fortunes out of tourism in 4-5 months (typically from Mid May to Mid Oct). Local markets for shopping, for day to day needs, and for awesome food span in area of less than 500 meters. Leh Palace and Shanti Stupa are two major attractions within Leh. And the stay becomes awesome when you found the punjabi food, best Momos and delicious gulabjamuns in the local market.

Last week I was in +5 to -10 degree temperature range and today in Delhi it is close to 42. Memories are hard to evade. Memories of having sumptuous maggie at Khardung La top (Height of 18430 feet) at -10 degree temperature, memories of almost finanlizing a trekking trip with 2 Dutch girls from Leh for 5 days and then cancelling it at the last moment realizing we have an office to report back to :), memories of 15 gutsy mid 50's ladies from Bangalore who had come on their own to Leh giving us valuable tips (in Drass) on how to combat with temperature change and oxygen supply in Leh, travails of Punjab Sikh regiment stationed at freezing mountains of Ladakh telling about their experiences in Siachen Glacier, pleasing image of a Punjabi Sardar who had a Dhaba in Leh going all out to serve us with a special Punjabi Dal on being told that we were from his homeland and longing for Punjabi food, memories of meeting 2 doctor brothers who were traveling all the way from Ahmedabad in their Matiz Car, memories of being stuck in traffic for more than 6 hours in shivering weather outside without any food & water to fall back upon as a truck had fallen on Zozilla paas making it impossible to move further, memory of  a bearded aged Muslim Chacha serving us 'Kahwa' ( a famous hot drink in Kahmir) in freezing night to keep us warm, memories of having plain rice with catchup and salt at pangaong lake, memories of brave soldiers telling us about their experiences at pangong lake in winters when temperature falls to 20 degrees below zero.

I can go on and on endlessly but I hope this write up acts as an apt teaser for you when you next plan your holidays :) 

Cheers

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