We left Srinagar at 6:00 am to avoid the curfew that was imposed. I think that was the day when it got so bad that there were a few fatalities. This is when we had just cleared Srinagar, enroute to Kargil. Caught in a rather jaunty stance is our kashmiri driver Bilal
A stop enroute for pictures. Sometimes, it's fun to catch the photo-take-outers for a change
A kashmiri couple, on their way to work. Notice the very colourful prints
This is what our 'convoy' looked like
They pretty much do things with style up there. You want a pedestrian bridge to connect the highway & a garden? No problem, each mini pillar along the rail is going to look good
And here's who is smiling at you, ready to Accept your Refuse! I got down on one knee & started framing the shot, when someone behind me said: 'Oye, dustbin ka photo kyu nikal raha hai?'
Stop for lunch, enroute to Kargil. At a Punjabi restaurant, where they serve a huge dry paratha & one big chunk of butter (which was a chunk becoz the weather was fairly cold). I look down in my plate mildly bemused, then look around. The others pick it up & rub it all over the paratha, melting it along the way. Wooo
We had quite an interesting group of people. On this table, to the left, is appy, who's a scientist & had a keen eye for photography. Next to her is a lady who does social work. Across are two buddies who do trips together quite often & mind their own business. Unfortunately, i got to know them & hassled them some
Beyond one point on the highway, the road narrows & it's unsafe for vehicles to run in both directions. So the army closed the road for a bit & made all the vehicles wait on this embankment, while a huge army convoy was coming down
Luckily for us, it was a great place to wait at
The wait might have been for close to 2 hours. After spending time down at the river, I climbed back up & sat at this tea stall by the road. There were some locals chatting on the political situation in Kashmir...it got to be quite emotional. I clicked this discreetly, with my camera close to my waist
Finally the army convoy passes through! There were army trucks, carrying men & supplies, & yellow coloured 500cc Royal enfields
This fruit was growing all over the mountain. It's actually very tiny, probably the wild asses were feeding on them
Here's a huge 'plateau' where the army had a camp set up, at Drass. The soldiers were more than happy to see us, besides lending us their loos
This is the Vijay Smarak memorial, at Drass. If my memory serves me correct, we're looking at Tiger Hill, where the pakistani army had taken positions, & where shooting down at pretty much where i was standing
Here's what was really fun about Srinagar, Kargil & Ladakh: You find the most hilarious captions all along the road, on people's vehicles, etc. This was the jeep i was travelling in!
The owner/driver of this jeep was a brooding lad. They explained what this meant, which i promptly forgot. A Kashmiri hindi to englishman's hindi translation is bound to be disastrous from the start
And the driver of this vehicle was particularly edgy
I couldn't help it. Really. Meet S and V, two people who made the trip a lot more fun for me. I didn't know them too well yet (day 2), but i still got whacked after clicking this :)
My first capture of the famed blue mountains of the north. And not just blue, look at the multitide of hues they contain
Our sprawling hotel in Kargil. I think we were walking distance from the border, like 'over that hill is Pakistan'
My first buddhist monastery visit, & seeing a prayer wheel
Inside the Chamba statue's monastery. Complete peace
All monastries had this kind of a 'gong' inside...actually like a drum...hanging from the ceiling, with an elaborate hammer. Here's 2/3 year old Chinmay, as fascinated as i was
Chamba statue, carved against the mountain. It's actually huge, look at the monastery opening on the bottom right to get a measure of scale
On the terrace, they have these metallic figurines, painted colourfuly & facing the sky
Overlooking the monastery
Landslides are common on these trails, & there are workers who are constantly shifted around to deal with them. Here, we've stopped while they detonate part of the route ahead
This was my all time favorite sign of the trip, & the only one which was actually a mistake :) We had lunch at this place, post kargil
And then, some adventure within the adventure: Rain had caused a landslide, bringing down a bridge connecting kargil & leh. Our vehicle couldn't go further till it was repaired. Incidently, the army was overseeing this repair, & this green grid kind of bridge is typical of what they use in that area
So our whole group had to get off the jeeps, luggage included, climb down to this makeshift bridge, & then climb up. The youngsters in the group formed a chain to help the older people across. This wasn't easy on our tour leader, he had to arrange for a new set of jeeps/drivers to meet us on the other side, while our current set returned 'empty-vehicled'
We were staying & travelling at pretty high altitudes, between 15000 & 18000+ feet above sea level. Oxygen levels was low, beside it being cold, & your body initially struggles to adapt. We were all issued these string & cotton pendants containing camphor, which was a comfort thru the trip
At Leh, finally. There was a store close to our hotel which a visited, and these 2 school girls were waiting for their bus <Click on my name on the top right to visit Ladakh Trip-Set3-Pangong Lake>
