The mecca of road trips in India is Manali-Leh Highway. In 2016, I got lucky to visit Ladakh with my 2 college friends and that too on Royal Enfield. It was a thrilling ride through the cold desert that filled my soul (and my hard disk) with countless memories of serene mountain views, pristine lakes and rivers that kept surprising me by changing colors, patterns, shape and sizes at any turn throughout the journey. It is hard to describe the feelings and almost impossible to jot it down word by word; but it will be equally unceremonious to not try at all. So here is my story of Manali-Leh-Srinagar Road Trip.
Few snaps from our memorable journey to Ladakh...
It all started with a phone call from VJ, sometime around Feb 2016. I used to be a busy man those days.
"Are you up for a Bike Trip to Ladakh?"
"Ummmm"
"15 Days, Royal Enfield, Manali, Leh, Pangong, Nubra vagera(etc)"
"Bhai (Bro) I haven't taken leave more than a week ever..."
And it's true when you are Typical Indian Office Bug. You go to office, and to home, repeat it till retirement, take long leaves only on festivals.
Well, in next 2 years everything would change upside down. After this trip I would travel on many biking routes across India, try camping in subzero temperatures, dive in deep blue ocean and chill on white sand beaches, touch the southern most point of India and ride through tiny road strip with Indian Ocean on both sides. This Ladakh trip and the time spent especially in Nubra Valley, Pangong Lake is unforgettable and could be easily credited for the inspiration I had to come out of my regular routine job and do things I always wanted to do without a second thought.
Preparation
Agreeing for 15 days absence for the trip was hard indeed but the real problem was that I had never taken such a long bike trip in my life. I had past experience in riding through deserts of Rajasthan or few ghat sections in Maharashtra, but riding in The Himalaya felt more challenging than exciting.
We were sure that it would take preparation and we should start soon. The visit plan with itinerary was almost final (that changed 5 times later) by March last week. A big thanks to blogging sites like TeamBHP, VargisKhan, BCMTouring etc that helped us in planning the epic trip.
Me and Vj decided to ride over the classic Manali Leh Highway to reach Leh. Moni decided to fly to Leh directly. After a day's stay for acclimatization (yes, its important) and local site seeing, we planned to move upward journey to the famous Khardung-la Top and further decent to Nubra Valley. A day's stay was planned somewhere in Nubra Valley and then travel towards Pangong Lake along Shyok river route.
One night camping near Pangong lake was planned initially and we kept 2 options open for return journey. Either move towards Tso Moriri Lake or hit the highway going to Srinagar via Kargil-Drass. Later we decided to cover Kargil-Drass-Srinagar route and left Tso Moriri for future rides. All this was still a rough sketch of what we would be able to cover. Honestly, myself and Vj were also prepared to turn our bikes back and return to Manali if... at any point we realize that its not our cup of tea. However a little preparation, blessings of near and dear ones and a strong will to continue led to successful completion of the journey and became the most memorable days of our lives.
Physical and mental preparation is a very important part and can't be neglected for a road trip like this one. Its basically training our lazy body and mind for regular exercise and learning how to handle high altitude problems like AMS etc. If you are among few regular workout guys, you may not require much of a physical preparation, but still, one has to understand this is not a regular weekend tourist spot. The rules are different here. 500m altitude difference is way more important than 50km of road distance. (we read it, but still learned it the hard way during journey, more about it later). Read carefully about how to avoid tricky situations with likelihood of AMS. And what to do if AMS strikes.
Minimal buying and packing light, was something we attempted, and failed. In crucial times during journey, we realized that highly over sized bags were more of a curse than comfort.
I wanted to be sure if I could ride for 8-10 hours a day without fatigue so I took a test ride to Mathura, Vrindavan and back to Gurgaon same day. I was happy... that I could make it without much fatigue, only till... I saw my arms turned into B&W TV at T Shirt border. How could I forget sunscreen?!!
Next one and a half month, I continued my routine of brisk walk and light exercise every day without fail. Timed it, and measured the workouts. That gave me a light ray of hope that I would be able to complete the journey. Vj has always been a regular gym guy. He continued his workout schedules, only worry for both of us was the back pain that might sabotage the entire plan to an uneventful ending. He took some basic physiotherapy lessons to control the ache and I just decided to follow his lessons in case needed.
One word of caution, safety gear for bike riders is essential. This journey tests the patience of even seasoned bikers. These roads are filled with challenging situations, one must ensure that a single minor event doesn't ruin the entire blissful journey. Helmet, riding boots and at least knee & elbow guards and if possible riding jacket and pant must be worn all the time during riding bike.
I created a checklist of things I might need. Not all of it I carried, but it was good to iterate over the list and prioritize. Sharing as below.
- Itinerary and Bookings Printout
- Travel Guide / Map Print Out, PhotoIDs
- Mobile & Mobile Charger, Multiplug or multi usb will be helpful
- Power Bank
- Pen and Small Diary
- Backpack or Carry bag, Bag lock
- Torchlight & Extra Batteries
- Small Scissor, Swiss Knife
- Sunglasses - must
- Metal water bottles, needed 3 to 4 litres in capacity minimum
- Match Boxes or Lighter, Couple of candles for emergency
- Plastic Bags / Plastic Zip Lock Bags/garbage sacs, Twist-ties, safety pins
- Tent & Sleeping Bag, Tent Lamp & Yoga Mat. Waterproof sleeping cover for emergency
- Plastic Sheet Waterproof
- Some waterproof arrangement for shoes
- Chocolates, toffees, chips, chewing gums, mouth freshener, dry fruits etc.
- Glucose / ORS. Dehydration is a killer.
- Camera Kit, Bag, Charger, Spare Battery, Cable, Spare Data Card is must
- Selfie Stick / Tripod / Filters /Remote Release if interested in photography
- Tooth Brush, Tooth Paste, Shower gel, Shampoo
- Tissue Papers, Hair Oil, Deodorants, Moisturizing Cream, Lipguard, Comb
- Sunscreen lotion/gel, Aloe gel
- Shaving Kit
- Clothes as per the schedule, Sweater, Jacket, Inner Thermal, Woolen Socks
- Towels, Handkerchiefs, Slippers/floaters, Hand Sanitizer
- Wind cheater/rain coat
- Basic repair toolkit / screw driver set, small hammer, puncture repair kit, spare tube, fevi quick, brown tape etc whatever felt needed
- Bungee chords
- 5 ltr plastic can and petrol pipe
- Riding Jacket, Helmet, Riding Pent, Protection gloves, Balaclava, Mask if needed.
- Pens, pencils, colors, crayons, chocolates, toffees for distributing among local children
Real challenge is to not miss what's important, yet keep the load to minimum. We thought we did good justice with the luggage, coming days would prove us wrong. :)
Reaching Leh
"Yar, I am reaching Leh by flight. Don't have much leaves."
"Bhai, dekh le, we are ready to move a bit faster from Manali if you can join the road trip."
"Not possible bro... You guys carry on. I'll catch you in Leh."
Moni decided to catch a flight to Leh. And we realized that there is absolutely no reason to go fast on this breathtaking mountainous road that had so many surprises along the route that we found it hard 'not' to stop every now & then just to absorb the beauty of this cold desert road. Have a look.
Vj reached Delhi on 21st June and we traveled to Manali by Bus on 22nd. Another option was to rent a Bike from Delhi, but considering our first journey, traffic and pollution; we decided to rent a bike from Manali. Bus took little more than 15 hours, and another hour to reach Solang where we booked our stay which is at least 400m higher than Manali and towards Rohtang. This would help us beat the traffic next day when we would start the epic journey, and a bit higher altitude than Manali would help early acclimatization too.
The famous Solang Valley was full of tourist that time. Though no ice caps were present there but a lot of people were trying their hands with Paragliding. We had different priorities so we went straight to bike rental shop. The booking was done a month before to ensure we get good condition bikes. As expected, we got 2 nice bikes less than a year old. But we had to be sure, so evening was spent riding the bikes within Manali. The bikes seemed OK but when it's Mountains, there are performance issues with Bikes, as well as Riders, we would experience that in coming days...
Day 1
24th June, Manali. We started our journey on the unusual, fierce and barren Manali Leh Highway. We were quite excited but a bit concerned too, as the bags were heavy, and the road was not expected to be smooth. Even after waking up on time, we started a bit late than planned as we were new to use bungee chords to tie the bags on bike. We needed to ensure that the bags are tied such a way that it won't fall in bumpy hilly roads. After few hiccups, we were ready with the loading on bikes. A few career options flashed in our minds that we discussed and scrapped for monitory reasons.
The first day journey plan was just to cross Rohtang pass, drive down to Keylong and reach Jispa where we pre-booked a room in a hotel. The smoothest part of the journey was till Rohtang. The valley was green and beautiful. No ice is left in Rohtang during June, people still come to enjoy the view of nice valley and nearby snow capped mountains. The usual tourist traffic reduced drastically after Rohtang but few Army trucks and bike enthusiasts were seen every now and then. We were pleasantly surprised by the customary 'Thumps Up' sign that a biker makes to wish good luck to other bikers coming from opposite direction. It was quite new, and after receiving few good wishes, we had no reason not to reciprocate the same.
We encountered our first major challenge while traveling from Rohtang to Gramphu. Riding uphill is difficult but riding downhill is scary. Add to it, sharp turns, full of boulders, rocky in few stretches. Speed was less than 10km/hr, but we were glad that we were able to move forward.
It was already dark a few km before Keylong, we broke the rule to drive in dark on the very first day. Golden rule is to start the journey with sun, kill the engine before sunset. But we were in the middle with not much idea about the place. No phone signals, we had only pre-downloaded google map. After few minutes we reached to a bridge crossing near Keylong.
We had 2 options and we chose the wrong one! It was dark, cold and windy. We thought of calling it a day and finding an accommodation in Keylong for a moment but we couldn't search as there was no signal. It showed Keylong town a kilometer away downhill from where we were and Jispa roughly 20km in forward journey. So we decided to ride a bit more and travel the last leg of planned journey.
Those 40 minutes were the most exhaustive 40 minutes of entire journey as the wind started to blow and the effect of travelling uphill, reaching 3000m+ elevation also factored in, the Oxygen was reducing gradually. By the time we reached the hotel, we were completely exhausted. This mistake would have domino effect the next day and we won't be able to start early even on Day 2. However, at that time, all we could think of was a nice bed and warm blanket. We had the dinner and fell asleep as soon as we closed the eyes.
Day 2
25th June, Jispa. We woke up to the view of mountains and river... perfectly picturesque Jispa can be a busy tourist place in itself. But the more convenient Keylong is more popular stop among tourists. The bus stop at Keylong have regular bus services to Leh and is situated at a little more convenient elevation (3080m) than Jispa (3300m). We realized that only last night.
We started late as none of us was willing to wake up early. Poor mobile snooze went unnoticed a few times before getting stopped by lazy folks. We had a nice breakfast in open soaking up the sun while appreciating the natural beauty at Jispa.
Our initial target was to reach Sarchu (4300m) but we decided to ascend gradually to avoid AMS and associated complexity. So we revised our plans to explore local areas and travel upto Patseu (3800m) only. Total distance to be covered today was very less, so we spent time near the river at Darcha, clicked some nice pictures and enjoyed the serenity of mountains. Just before Patseu, we were amazed by the view of a beautiful lake, Deepak Taal (also known as Patsio Lake). We were in no hurry, so we stayed long there as well. It was very cold and windy day, causing maggi and omlette taste out of the world. How come this maggi thing taste so awesome in mountains?
Just after Deepak Taal, we reached military camps of Patseu. Though there was a PWD Guest House just a km away and accommodation was available; we decided to try spend some time with the fauji bhais to know there experience. Subedar saheb told us many stories of travelers, and how the weather in Baralacha La changes so frequently, and many trips that just get concluded in Baralacha La or Sarchu due to AMS. They were humble enough to offer us beds to sleep in a common fauji dorm tent. Their job is tough, yet their nature was so humble that for a moment, we felt like part of the force, that was a proud moment. The dinner was served as early as 6pm and at 7pm sharp, the generator went off as scheduled. No lights... pitch dark. The sky was clear, and full of stars... much more than I ever saw in the past.
Day 3
26th June, Patseu. We woke up at 5:30am, and we were ready to go by 6am. We bid adieus to our new fauji friends and started our last leg of journey to Leh. Today we would cover multiple peaks and valleys to reach Leh, at least in plans. :)
We were forced to stop by the mesmerizing view of Suraj Taal. The lake is out of the world and worth spending some nice amount of time. However we continued towards Baralacha La soon, as we were a bit concerned now about the fate of our journey.
First hurdle of the journey was Baralacha La (4850m). We had AMS scare in our mind, however the road condition was quite good and we crossed it before 9am. That boosted our confidence that we can cover till Leh today. However, if needed, we were also ready to hault at Sarchu or Pang just in case sun goes down. Taking risk of traveling in dark was a straight no no for us now... theoretically speaking.
The mountains just changed in shape, texture, color every few kilometers from here onwards. We took frequent stops to click the pictures, however, we had an idea that camera may not reflect the beauty we were witnessing... so we spent ample time just watching these mountains soaking up the views...
We crossed Sarchu smoothly and then comes Gata Loops. The challenging multiple hairpin bends made journey quite adventurous.
We were now determined to reach Leh and few days continuous biking had built some skills too, we negotiated the twists and turned steadily and crossed Nakee La, and took a hault at another maggi point. By now, our schedule was to have maggi, then ride, next time have bread omelette, then ride. Almost all the places had the same menu, and still, it tasted so delicious... may be the exhaustion or the temperature. With filled stomach we moved to cross Lachung La and reached Pang.
We took an unscheduled hault to have afternoon tea and to decide whether we should move towards Leh or have a hault at Pang. The decision was tough as there was still time available with day light, and Pang altitude was 4600m, we stayed last night at 3800m. As per our study, anything more than 500m ascend per night may increase chances of AMS strike. Leh was just 3500m so quite safe, Pang, might prove to be unsafe. So ultimately we decided to take our chances with the last pass of the journey Tanlang La. We calculated that even if we don't reach Leh, after crossing Tanlang La, we would easily reach 4600m or below within day light, making scenario safer and better. Without much doubt, we finished our cup of tea and roared our bikes towards Tanglang La.
To our surprise, the journey after Pang was quite comfortable, after climbing for few minutes, the road was straight like in a plateau. The area is called Moore Plains, and we were able to maintain a good speed to ultimately reach to Tanglang La little before sun down.
Meanwhile the mountains changes to shapes like ruins of temples, the continuous process of erosion, snowfall, water flow and wind must have created such shapes in thousands of years. A visual delight.
A little before dark we crossed Tanglang La, and headed to our last descent to Leh. We didn't stop until we crossed Rumste (4260m). At last we were relaxed that all the high altitude passes are covered and without much of a problem or AMS. It was dark by now, and we took our hault a little before Upshi, To our surprise, the menu had options of paratha and dal. We had a nice dinner and as expected, we couldn't gather ourselves for the remaining stretch of the journey. Needless to say, it was beyond our principles to ride in the dark and the food had nothing to do with it. :P
The dhaba owner had few budget rooms nearby where we decided to spend the night and cover remaining few kilometers the next day. Wait! Moni was supposed to reach today and we were supposed to meet him tonight! We checked our phone, and the signal was not there still. There was no way but to wait till next day morning and let Moni spend the night there in Leh clueless.
Day 4
27th June, somewhere near Upshi. We woke up early as usual :P. After daily routine and quick breakfast we headed to our last leg of the journey to reach Leh. Vj found a phone booth and informed Moni. The mountains didn't stop to change the patterns. We were used to this nature's show off by now :)
Around 11 AM we touched Leh and the mighty signals were back in our phones. We contacted Moni. It was a delightful get together as we recalled that 3 of us were meeting together face to face after 10 year, and that too in a place like Leh. Party to banti he :)
Khardungla, Nubra, Pangong
"What? Our bikes won't be allowed to pass Khardung La?"
"No dear, there are local bike rentals and we will require to have a local bike for riding beyond Leh." Moni said. He spent last day in local market and inquired about the journey uphills.
Self owned bikes were allowed regardless of registration. But rented bikes from outside J&K were not allowed. For a moment, we thought of taking our chances, but then we didn't want to waste much time and energy in probable arguments, so we decided to rent local bikes and hotel manager was more than happy to keep our previous bikes and extra luggage till we come back. We planned to spent a day in Leh and cover Nubra Valley the next day to reach Hunder and then travel towards Pangong Lake on subsequent days.
Rest day, Leh
We found few nice flat lands in Leh to try our basic photography skills.
The domino effect of last day's back log reduced our exploration time in Leh. We traveled towards Thiksey Monastery, didn't have much time as we started after lunch. We wanted to cover Shey Monastery too while coming back but the sun went down soon, we were not that unhappy as we were to find many monasteries during next few days... monasteries are everywhere in Ladakh, everywhere in Himalayas... well everywhere in Asia too... In the places where we can go by vehicles, and in places beyond... further up... The physical and mantle strengths of Lamas is unimaginable to me. We were having much exhaustion climbing stairs, and they climb such heights in mountains everyday where I can't imagine to go even in fields.
In the evening, I met Tinu, my college friend from Leh. We were meeting after 3-4 years.
"I didn't think anyone of you will come to Leh ever... You know there is a saying..." Tinu said.
"Our land is so barren and hill passes so high that only fiercest of enemy and best of friend would want to visit us."
I might have confronted him, but I felt the gravity of his words in last few days. He was right, the saying... was right!
Mighty Khardung La
28th June, Leh. We started our journey to reach Khardung La and beyond to Nubra Valley. So far only the adventure stories, and beautiful pictures were part of our memories of mighty Khardung La, world's highest motor-able road. All this was going to change in few hours as we would experience the treacherous snow clad approach road, freezing wind and big army truck crossings on barely 2 lane road.
The beginning of the journey was comfortable for us as we were now getting use to occasional bumps, hairpin bends, dirt filled roads etc. The scenic beauty of the journey was unmatched.
How would you feel if you know that you are travelling the same ancient Silk Route that was the major trade route between East Asia and Western Europe for centuries.
How would you feel if you know that you are travelling the same ancient Silk Route that was the major trade route between East Asia and Western Europe for centuries.
As the journey progressed, the condition of road deteriorated. The drains formed by snow melt water was flowing along the route, in some places crossing nallas created puddles where we would require to ride our bikes on boulders without falling. We were prepared with our water proof cover on shoes just like days while riding towards Leh. That was necessary as the combination of wet socks and wind would be lethal. I heard one rider had tried to continue in this condition without drying up the feet, the journey ended but pain in legs didn't. So it is quite essential to calculate required gears in advance. We were sort of, well prepared and these problems didn't bother us much, our problem was different. How to cross the truck coming from opposite direction in this drain cum road combo, that too, from the valley side.
Somehow we negotiated with the hurdles on road and slowly, carefully traveled to reach Khardung La sometime past 2 pm against planned 12 noon. It feels different when you hear something every now and then about some place and then finally after days of journey you reach there. The smile on our faces refused to go, little satisfaction and tons of excitement was leaking from our usually serious faces.
Khardung La is a place where you feel like spending a lot of time, but the elevation is dangerously high. We spent around 20 minutes observing the king-hood of the place, Moni tried to brush up his climbing skills.
Nubra Valley
Journey downwards was equally rough for few km but after that we got surprisingly smooth road that will continue to be the same till Hunder.
Entering Nubra Valley is a different experience. The colors of mountains were unusual and never seen ever before anywhere else.
Sand Dunes... seriously? The cold desert situated more than 4000m above mean sea level... nature at its best.
We enjoyed the magnificent sunset near Hunder.
Around 7pm we reached Hunder town area. We found a nice hotel and called it a day. By now we were use to sleeping early and waking up early, a must for bike rides in these tough terrines.
29th June, Hunder. After breakfast, we explored local area. They call it cold desert, and.. there were camels; well... not wild camels though. They say, during medieval ages, traders used double hump camels along silk road and few were left behind for some reasons. Not sure how true the story is and whether these camel khandan (dynasty) survived harsh winters and reproduced for more than 500 years or more. But it was pleasant surprise. One more surprise was literal. Single hump camel is actually not called a 'camel' but 'dromedary'. Google it :)
All of these within few hundred meters... Desert, Mountain, Water... incredible.
We started our journey towards Pangong Lake around 12 noon.
Shyok River Route
There were multiple routes towards Pangong Lake, after reaching Agham, one may take road either along Shyok River or via Sakti to reach Durbuk and continue towards Spangmik.
The Shyok route is short cut but the journey is difficult with few stretches of road just beside river bed with unpredictable water level variations in river/nalla crossings. We thought, we would anyhow come back via Chang La anyhow, so we planned to travel through Shyok route. We decided that if any bike have issues, we will leave the bike there and move back to Hunder if needed.
There were no vehicles on this road. Not even a single truck, few bikes crossed but no cars. Its only 3 of us riding on road mostly flat as river bed, sometimes, literally riverbed.
Took our afternoon Maggi break near Shyok River crossing. The Border Road Organization (BRO) has been doing herculean task to keep these mountainous roads accessible.
Few stretches in this route is having quite tedious hairpin bends with the view of mountain and valley in between. The overall optical effect was eye popping. We somehow negotiated along the curves and reached down to this beautiful view of Shyok river.
Here onward the route was not that difficult, except that we lost sunlight after sometime. Spangmik was not far so we decided to continue for some more time. It was already dark when we reached Spangmik. We parked our vehicle at very first tent, had our dinner and in no time we were sleeping in tents.
Pangong Lake
30th June, Spangmik. Vj couldn't sleep well. He woke up early morning and took a walk. In his words, "The entire sky (stars) was visible up side down in the lake." He woke us up around 7 and after daily routine we walked towards the lake, only to get mesmerized by stunning view of The Pangong Lake.
The lake spans around 75km in length. Half of it is in India and the remaining half is in China. The water is so clear that you can see the rocks in the bottom for a very large distance. Yet you can't drink its water because its brackish. And you can't swim in it because it's ice cold. Still two out of three of us took a dip inside this ice cold water!
We drove around for some distance after that and clicked few snaps.
After some distance, we returned back to Spangmik to collect our bags and move towards Leh.
Return to Leh via Changla
Return ride was smooth till we reached Tangste. After crossing it, while moving towards Changla pass, Vj's bike broke down. We got help from fellow bikers but no one was able to resolve the issue. We were evaluating our options to either leave the bike there or roll it down till Tangste. However fortunately we got one helping hand after 3 hours, who was able to resolve it and start the bike. But then it was too late to take risk of crossing Chang La pass and Leh was anyhow 4-5 hours away at least from there. We moved back to Tangste. By the time we found a hotel it was already dark. We got company of one more biker who was regular on that route. 4 of us had dinner together and shared our journey experiences.
1st July, Tangste. Fellow biker moved towards Pangong Lake and we 3 started our journey one more time towards Changla pass.
This time we reached and passed it successfully. Changla Baba ki jai! :)
This is third highest pass, and now we have covered top 3 passes. We celebrated it with a cup of coffee at Changla Cafe. We spent roughly half an hour at top and then drove downhill towards Leh.
Road downhill gave no relief, but by now we were so used to dirt and puddles and drains and trucks and winds that it added no adventure anymore to the trip. Road condition after Sakti was good and fantastic after Karu. We reached Leh before sunset. Time was spent in collecting our luggage and rearranging it for the return journey via Kargil, Drass and Srinagar.
Leh, Drass, Srinagar
The memories were overloaded... there is so much to see that we regretted having such a small duration to spend in this paradise. We returned local rented bikes. Moni joined me on bike as he had his return flight booked from Srinagar. After paying bills and loading our previous bikes, we started the last leg of our epic journey.
As we crossed Leh, we saw a nice India Army Hall of Fame board and we couldn't proceed without having a look inside. I have no words to write on how I felt after reading names of Army men awarded various bravery awards. One has to go see it on his own...
The return route kept surprising us as it was part of a changed plan and we didn't research well for this stretch. We knew about Magnetic hills, but we had no idea about the beauty of Sangam of Indus River, Mountain views at Lamayuru, difficulty level of Zozila Pass, contrast of green valley at Sonmarg after crossing barren scary Zozila to name a few.
Magnetic Hill
The amazing phenomena where you find your bike moving upwards, and tonnes of theories on internet about magnitude of gravity and other reasons. I won't break the suspense here, enjoy the gravity defying phenomena when you go there.
Sangam of Indus River
An unexpected beautiful scenery greets you after crossing Magnetic Hills, mesmerized by the view, you turn your vehicle down the road leaving Highway, that's exactly what we did. The place is commercialized with restaurants and water sports. We preferred spending time at the banks of rapid Indus river, clubbed with a nice cup of tea from the restaurant, priceless.
Lamayuru
"Out of the world literally! People call it Moonland. " Vj said. We just nodded while trying to grasp the geological delight of Lamayuru. Have a look.
We spent our evening in Lamayuru Monastery, interacted with few monks. Evening prayers started soon and we spent some time sitting next to monks, listening to soothing sound of prayers, couldn't understand a word though. After prayers we continued the journey for a while till we found a small hotel on road.
Reached Drass next day and visited the memorial. We were speechless for quite some time after the visit. The terrain had given all the advantages to enemy, and still we won! The incredible place must be witnessed by every Indian who comes to this side of country.
We crossed Zozila, and the passing trucks and black ice on road made it quite difficult to cross, and gulped three hours just to come down towards Sonamarg. It was already dark till we reached Srinagar, still we visited Dal Lake and found a hotel overlooking the Lake. Early morning I dropped Moni to the Airport and the remaining two of us rode the last leg of return journey, exhausted a bit due to first multi day long drive experience, but filled with memories that will last for ever.
