Day 7 was the last day in Leh. We had to leave today to Srinagar. Srinagar is at a distance of 475kms from Leh. So the initial plan was to cover this distance over two days. So a stop at somewhere midway maybe at Kargil. But another driver for a group of tourists told us that we could do it in 1 day provided we start early. If we could pull this off, it would save us 1 day. Also Srinagar - Leh highway was supposed to be not as hilly as the Leh - Manali Highway. As our driver had taken almost 2 and half days of rest in Leh, we thought he wont get tired if he drives the whole day. Our driver was also for this idea.
So we started quite early this day even before sunrise. I remember sunrise in the midst of himalayan mountains which was absolutely gorgeous. We caught a glimpse of sun rise, though with roads usually in the valleys, it took 1-2 hours for the sun to be seen after that. We were travelling right next to a river. I think it was Indus river, though I am not all too sure. The roads were wider than the previous ones though the hilly quotient was not lower. This can be partly attributed to the huge army presence in this area. So with good roads, we could travel faster.
At around 7 o clock we stopped for a while for a bio break. As we were travelling in the river valley there was a river alongside the road.
The mountains were still barren but this part of the region was far more populous than the Manali - leh area. But Leh remains isolated during Winter seasons with both the roads being closed and open only if there is military traffic. So only way to travel to leh is by air.After around 5 hours of travel, at 10 in the morning the first signs lush greenery that Kashmir is so well known for started appearing. So this meant we were nearer to Kargil, the infamous kargil.
So we passed Kargil. Kargil looks like just another city in the mountains though it is quite big. On the other side of the Kargil is the mountains where LOC is situated. It is here that the enemy militants tried to sneak through. Though before and after Kargil war, the militant activity was never high. Then we came across a stretch of NH1 highway which is visible from the enemy posts across the LOC. But sadly I came to know about this only after we passed it. Bui had seen the board that said " You are under enemy surveillance ".
The scenery started getting lively from here. for almost 5 days we were surrounded by barren mountains but from here the greenery and the snow at the top of mountains started to show up. Though the mountains looked as big or even bigger than before, the highway is so constructed that, for most part we travel all along the river valley, this made the travel more pleasant while Leh- Manali highway was more of adventurous.
Outside Kargil, there were quite a few army camps. Outside one of the camps, a soldier wanted a drop to army camp around 30 kms away. This was a nice way to get to know the situation at LOC from insider. He did say to us that Kargil and drass regions were never under fire from militants before and after kargil war. Only during Kargil war was the area dangerous with some of the shells fired landing on the highway we were traveling. We dropped him near his camp and soon after I spotted the scandal ridden Bofors guns nicely hidden behind the bushes with the barrel poking out. Soon after we came at the drass War memorial. This is dedicated to the heroes of the Kargil war.
The war memorial is right at the foot hills of Tololing mountain range. Apart from tololing , the war was also fought on the tiger hill range. The war memorial is a large complex with a wall dedicated to the fallen heroes. There was also a small museum with artifacts captured from the enemy militants like shells grenades and photographs brave soldiers and facts about war. One interesting fact i came across was that the food prepared for soldiers with the help of villagers took 3 days to reach the soldiers on the frontline.
So we saluted the brave soldiers and reached Drass at around 1 o clock. We had lunch here. There was a sign that said Drass was the second coldest inhabited place on earth next only to siberia. The temperatures drop to as low as -45 C. Food supplies were also low by now so we refilled them again with junk food and by 2 o clock we were back on road.
From Drass the highway was well protected. We would come across 2-3 soldiers after every 100 -200 metres. This made me feel insecure rather than secure. Seeing them would remind me that there might be an imminent danger. Looking at the beauty of the nature surrounding you but with soldiers carrying guns was a bit sad but the modern reality.
As we were playing cards in the back, we had not seen the beauty of the kashmir valley until suddenly we came across sonamarg valley. With its tall mountains covered with coniferous trees, river flowing in the valley and the temperatures back to normal, it was refreshing after the 5 days barren mountains. We stopped here for a few minutes enjoying the nature. By now it was already 4:30 pm with srinagar not too far away, maybe 2-3 hours away.
From here the nature started to take a different turn. The valley we were travelling in was large, so only on one side were the mountains close enough and the other side the mountain were far away.
Here you could see the houses you have always painted in your childhood. A small house with a sloped top in the midst of trees, a mountain in the back ground with sun setting behind mountains and birds flying to their nest in the evening. It was quite a sight. Add to this the paddy fields which looked golden was just a sight to remember.
We reached Srinagar at around 7:30 in the evening and settled into the hotel. The hotel was just behind Dal Lake though dal lake was not visible from there.
The hotel owner had suggested us a restaurant. So we reached there only to find out that it was ridiculously expensive. So we went to another restaurant and had food and returned to hotel.
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