It was the month of Ramzan when
we arrived into Kargil. It’s a Muslim dominated town. So, it felt really kind
of sacred and festivy! Having said that, this festival is one of the toughest
one I have ever seen! Imagine going without food for the entire time the sun is
in the air!!
Well, the plan was simple on the
morning when we were to leave for Kashmir. We had to leave as early as possible
as around some time in the morning, the military convoy makes its trip from the
Kargil base to Kashmir. When this happens, the entire road was said to be
blocked off – which translates into delays!
The journey had made us smart and
wise, so we decided to use some of the wiseness and smartness and ensure that
atleast the last leg of our rather adventurous journey be peaceful and more
importantly uneventful! So, we decided to leave Kargil right at 5 am in the
morning!!
The air had a chill in it – a direct
signal to the fact that winter was coming in quick! So there wasn’t any
question of taking a bath :). Anyways, the hotel guys were kind enough to
properly pack food for us and provide us with some really awesome tea! After
saddling up all the goodies, we left town.
Being a war town a decade ago, we
got to see how this seemingly peaceful town was a bed of violence! Just out of
Kargil market, we came across a very weird wall which looked haphazardly built
and covered a beautiful view of 3 interweaved mountains. Our driver told us
that the mountain in the center was actually Pakistani territory and the wall
served as a foil for Indian army to commute during war times!
After driving for a few hours, we
came to pay our respects to our Jawans at VijayPath. It was a memorial built
for soldiers who lost their lives in trying to save ours. In the words of the
Jawans – they lost their present to save our future. The memorial served us as
a reminder as to how gruesome wars can be for both sides. The emotions which I felt
when the Armyman pointed towards tiger hill and told us about the extreme
conditions under which the Jawans held fort are inexpressible. This was a place
where I felt deeply indepth to our 1st line of defense.
Another highlight was us passing
through the 2nd most cold town to have civilization – Drass! In July
of 1993 (I think), this town recorded an extremely low temperature of -65
degrees Celsius!
The drive was a smooth affair
without many hassles. The road was awesome as it was maintained by the army.
The view was spectacular. At one point, we were going through a vast field
where we could see horses and sheep’s grazing as we zoomed passed them! It was
truly surreal and surprising to see such beauty in India. The military bootcamp
in the journey made us see how the life is in Kargil and the expectations that need
to be met in order to survive in the army and against nature!
We reached just in time as the
convoy started to make its way – the problem was that we couldn’t get ahead of it!
The entire journey through the pass connecting to Sonamarg we pursued the
convoy who kept an eye out on us. Felt secure as well as scared as the eyes
used to scan the car every few mins!
Sonamarg was beautiful! Just like
how I expected Kashmir to be! Extremely green, picturesque, cold but warm at
the same time. It was treat to be there. Although we knew that the last stage
of the vacation was reached, we were really refreshed by the superb view which
was there on offer.
The drive down to Srinagar there
on was a glide. Rivers flowing on the left and trees and trees going pass us,
it truly felt like heaven on earth!
We stopped for a few clicks, I even
saw how the walnuts grew on trees!! Got to break some down and run away before
people to catch us! Such was the fun filled trip right upto Dal Lake where
things started to get warm! Just about to reach our destination, we stopped
again but this time to shop for walnuts, saffron and all the delicacies of the
north!
Finally we were dropped off at
Dal Lake. We had to completely circle the lake to reach a point which was
closest to our hotel – yea, it was a houseboat!
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