August 2 :: Sonamarg - Mulbek :: ~175KMs
We started out from Sonamarg at about 7:30AM in the morning. Even though we tried our best last evening, we could not get any reliable information about the traffic restrictions on the Zoji la from either the locals or the J&K Tourism guys. One thing everybody including the Indian Army sentry assured us was that bikes would not be subject to the one way traffic restrictions.
I was riding pillion with Jomy for the first part of the day. I was having my camera, Jomy's camera and a video camcorder all strapped around my next and out of their covers ready to shoot and to make up for what ever neglect I had shown over the past few days to this passion of mine. The road for the first few kilometers from Sonamarg deceived us completely and we were all shocked by what we saw once we started our climb onto Zoji la. I will not attempt to describe the road here. Suffice to say that the cameras all went into their bags immediately. Not only me, but no one in our group dared to stop anywhere to take photographs on this stretch of the road. I do not know anything about the scenery on this road, for I was busy making sure that Jomy was able to keep the bike on the road and my legs, which could reach the ground even from the pillion seat was always available to support the bike. The only scenery I did see and I remember vividly, is the steep fall from the edge of the un-embanked road. All you city dwellers, who complain about bad roads, I suggest you take a drive here and your city roads will feel like heaven. Trust me on this one, for I am a city boy myself and I have changed my opinion on Bangalore's roads.
After descending down from the pass, we stopped at the police check post in the valley to get our bike numbers entered in their register. The J&K police were pleasantly surprised to see Indians on bikes. They also cautioned us that some VIP was travelling by road to Drass and Kargil that day and that we should try to Kargil as soon as possible else we might be stopped at Drass itself for security reasons. After thanking him, we proceed towards Drass.
For whatever attrocity was committed to us at Zoiji La, we were more than compensated in the valley on the route to Drass. I will let some photos that I took there talk for itself.
We started out from Sonamarg at about 7:30AM in the morning. Even though we tried our best last evening, we could not get any reliable information about the traffic restrictions on the Zoji la from either the locals or the J&K Tourism guys. One thing everybody including the Indian Army sentry assured us was that bikes would not be subject to the one way traffic restrictions.
I was riding pillion with Jomy for the first part of the day. I was having my camera, Jomy's camera and a video camcorder all strapped around my next and out of their covers ready to shoot and to make up for what ever neglect I had shown over the past few days to this passion of mine. The road for the first few kilometers from Sonamarg deceived us completely and we were all shocked by what we saw once we started our climb onto Zoji la. I will not attempt to describe the road here. Suffice to say that the cameras all went into their bags immediately. Not only me, but no one in our group dared to stop anywhere to take photographs on this stretch of the road. I do not know anything about the scenery on this road, for I was busy making sure that Jomy was able to keep the bike on the road and my legs, which could reach the ground even from the pillion seat was always available to support the bike. The only scenery I did see and I remember vividly, is the steep fall from the edge of the un-embanked road. All you city dwellers, who complain about bad roads, I suggest you take a drive here and your city roads will feel like heaven. Trust me on this one, for I am a city boy myself and I have changed my opinion on Bangalore's roads.
After descending down from the pass, we stopped at the police check post in the valley to get our bike numbers entered in their register. The J&K police were pleasantly surprised to see Indians on bikes. They also cautioned us that some VIP was travelling by road to Drass and Kargil that day and that we should try to Kargil as soon as possible else we might be stopped at Drass itself for security reasons. After thanking him, we proceed towards Drass.
For whatever attrocity was committed to us at Zoiji La, we were more than compensated in the valley on the route to Drass. I will let some photos that I took there talk for itself.
Finally we reached Drass. For me it was a strange feeling. I have heard the name of this place quiet frequently in the evening news … terrorist attack, terrorist this and terrorist that … all associated with the Drass and its surroundings. It was impossible not to be philosophical, when I stood amidst the people who have been through all the tough times. They do live peacefully now. I am confident that the security situation had improved. This was proven by the fact that the VIP who was travelling to Kargil through Drass was some minister from the state cabinet. By straight logic, a minister travelling by road means that the security situation has improved a lot. We made a short stop at Drass for a brunch and continued towards Kargil.
This was exciting part of the journey. I am going to actually see the places where the most recent war that India was involved in was fought, a place of which a billion Indians have heard about, but only very few have seen. Driving through the region, I was a little disappointed. The place was barren … not a blade of grass grew on the slopes of the mountains. Even the color of the mountains was an uninspiring shade of mud-yellow. Save for the lone beautiful view where a muddy yellow river joined with a pristine blue water river there was nothing of significance to write about the scenery. The Indian Army was there … but they left us alone … no stops, no questions, no checking of papers and no registering our bike nos. All along the route to Kargil town, there are small memorials to the soldiers who have lost their life in the region while serving our nation. After a very short time, I lost count of how many such memorials were there. It's either the glum environ of the place or the food that I had eaten at Drass, I still do not know which, but by now I was very sick in the stomach and I wanted to reach Kargil town ASAP for the much needed rest.
Atlast we reached Kargil town. Let me say this, the main road through the market in the town, will put even the best maintained roads in Bangalore to shame. It's clean, well-paved, very wide and traffic is regulated well. Other than that, as with most scenery on the way, the town was not beautiful enough to lift my spirits for the day. We still had day light left, so we just decided to fill up our tanks and leave Kargil. At about 4:00PM in the evening, we left Kargil and decided to drive till daylight permits.
We reached Mulbek, 40KMs from Kargil at about 5:30PM. The strenuous drive through Zoji La and on the way to Kargil has taken its toll on our bodies and all of us decided to stop for the evening at Mulbek. We decided to bunker at restaurant opposite the holy Mitreya temple at Mulbek. There was enough day light left to take some photographs of the place.
This was exciting part of the journey. I am going to actually see the places where the most recent war that India was involved in was fought, a place of which a billion Indians have heard about, but only very few have seen. Driving through the region, I was a little disappointed. The place was barren … not a blade of grass grew on the slopes of the mountains. Even the color of the mountains was an uninspiring shade of mud-yellow. Save for the lone beautiful view where a muddy yellow river joined with a pristine blue water river there was nothing of significance to write about the scenery. The Indian Army was there … but they left us alone … no stops, no questions, no checking of papers and no registering our bike nos. All along the route to Kargil town, there are small memorials to the soldiers who have lost their life in the region while serving our nation. After a very short time, I lost count of how many such memorials were there. It's either the glum environ of the place or the food that I had eaten at Drass, I still do not know which, but by now I was very sick in the stomach and I wanted to reach Kargil town ASAP for the much needed rest.
Atlast we reached Kargil town. Let me say this, the main road through the market in the town, will put even the best maintained roads in Bangalore to shame. It's clean, well-paved, very wide and traffic is regulated well. Other than that, as with most scenery on the way, the town was not beautiful enough to lift my spirits for the day. We still had day light left, so we just decided to fill up our tanks and leave Kargil. At about 4:00PM in the evening, we left Kargil and decided to drive till daylight permits.
We reached Mulbek, 40KMs from Kargil at about 5:30PM. The strenuous drive through Zoji La and on the way to Kargil has taken its toll on our bodies and all of us decided to stop for the evening at Mulbek. We decided to bunker at restaurant opposite the holy Mitreya temple at Mulbek. There was enough day light left to take some photographs of the place.
An interesting fact about this place :: Electricity is available only for a very short time every day. In the evenings, it is available between 7:00PM and 11:00PM. After that we had to use the candles that our host graciously provided us. It was actually a news to us that there are places in India, that still survives without electricity and running water. The next morning, we discovered another interesting fact. In the toilet, the potty where you do your thing was actually on top of the septic tank. Hmmm…. These guys have optimised the entire system and managed to remove the need for drainage pipes. Good common sense .. But extremely stinky.
I have a bad feeling about the bike I was driving from Kargil to Mulbek. It seemed to have lost it s capability & power to pull up the mountains. At Mulbek, I inisted that Vinod, the resident bike doctor, take a look at this one … Hopefully a night's rest would be sufficient to get it to good shape again. Now that we have gotten grease and oil on our hands, we decided to go all the way and checked all the oils in all the bikes. I still have a bad feeling about this bike …. But that is something to worry about tomorrow … for now, it was a nice dinner and good sleep.
I have a bad feeling about the bike I was driving from Kargil to Mulbek. It seemed to have lost it s capability & power to pull up the mountains. At Mulbek, I inisted that Vinod, the resident bike doctor, take a look at this one … Hopefully a night's rest would be sufficient to get it to good shape again. Now that we have gotten grease and oil on our hands, we decided to go all the way and checked all the oils in all the bikes. I still have a bad feeling about this bike …. But that is something to worry about tomorrow … for now, it was a nice dinner and good sleep.
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