The Ladakh Series: To Leh Via Zozilla

I was Pondering how i would wind up the Photoselection process this week and as well as write atleast an article on the ladakh series. I had soon identified my solution in Murali-my colleague, roomie and good buddy who also accompanied me to ladakh. I convinced him that writing an article for my blog would make him famous. It worked.lol.

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The Jammu- Leh travel thru Murali Rajan

The Aii Jat Express dropped us at Jammu 2 hours late... fresh though from a luxurious second AC travel, we searched out for options to reach Leh. Finally one sardar approached us and bellowed “where to...?” a few minutes later, we were in a innova careening through the streets of Jammu, under the guidance of Tiger aka D S... tiger was to drop us at Leh in couple of days time. Once out of Jammu, the beauty of this place began to reveal itself...on the climbs to Srinagar, the landscape changed dramatically and just as we wanted, all in gorgeous green (news of argentina’s destruction of Korea added to the glee)...but the most terrific moment of the day came after we crossed the 2.5 km Jawahar Tunnel. The first sight of the magnificent snow capped Himalayas caught us all in awe... just mind numbing experience... we sat all the way to Srinagar grinning in quiet satisfaction...

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At first light, we set out again... breakfast by the Jhelum river, feasting on some sumptuous aloo parathas and puri bhaji, we were luving it...

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“Gar firdaus zamin hasto, Hami asto, Hami asto, Hami asto ...”

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Kashmir is truly a land of extraordinary beauty... lush green meadows, snow capped mountains, frothing rivers... truly a spectacle to behold... we hit the first pass of the many to cross at Zozilla pass...the route also held the war memorial for the war of ’99... the war was fought on the mountains of Tiger Hill, Kargil and the Tololing Range... we stopped for lunch at Drass which is the second coldest inhabited region in the world (Siberia hold the record), and set forth for Kargil, where we initially planned to stay... a tiny little town with a bustling market awaited us... had the first taste of namkeen tea from Kargil which Dilip loved... however since we had reached very early, we decided to leave for Mulbekh... the local tourist office confirmed that a guest house was available... we hit the roads immediately to reach Mulbekh before sundown. The beautiful village with the guest house bordering the farmland... it was deadly cold that night, lit up a campfire though... and thanks to ali bhais hospitality, we slept like logs...

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We left mulbekh at half past seven in the morning; hit some bad road patches before we reached Fotu La, the highest point on the Srinagar Leh Route. We had our first sight of a monastery at Lamayaru... the Alchi monastery was also on the way, but since both required detour from the main road, we decided to skip them both... Lunch at Basgo was our last stop and we eagerly looked forward to reaching Leh... well into the third day in innova, a nice warm room with a good bed beckoned us... MES accommodation, thanks to mahima, Chang La was just what the doctor prescribed..