If you want to know how we got here, check this – Kashmir, Curfew and a Ladakh trip (Part 1)
It was Day 2
Places covered: Srinagar – Sonmarg – Zoji La Pass – Dras – Manman Top – Kargil
Distance covered: ~230 kms
Day 2 started well for us. We got up early as planned because we had to start as early as possible. Bread and butter with some coffee was our breakfast after which we started packing. We had to pack our luggage efficiently on the bikes as we didn’t opt to take the support vehicle(A Jeep to load the luggage along with a mechanic). So 6 bikes, 10 guys and 14 days of luggage was what set to travel for the next two weeks.
Our Bikes:
- 1 Royal Enfield Himalayan
- 1 Thunderbird 350cc
- 2 Royal Enfield Classic 350cc
- 2 Royal Enfield Bullet 500cc
So began packing at around 6 am.
After 30 minutes we were ready to leave. Here we are, all set to start our trip.
The rental guys offered to accompany us till we crossed the first 50 kms to make sure we didn’t have any blockage on our way. We started our ride at around 6.30 am. We stopped at a fuel station at Ganderbal to fill up all our vehicles.
For someone who loves to ride a bike, a full fuel tank and an empty highway is something irresistible. The sun was already up and the road was empty. We did something that we had been waiting for so long. We geared up and throttled our bikes with excitement. Our trip has begun officially. That feeling of fresh air gushing all over your face can’t be explained! I kept my helmet visor opened intentionally to feel the wind and I guess the others did too. With almost zero vehicles on road, we were the only ones riding that day. We were able to see security forces stationed in many places who were looking at 6 bikes and a car swooping past their check posts one after the other. Nobody interrupted us though.
We were on NH1, the road that had Sind river flowing on one side of it all the way till Sonmarg. We stopped after crossing the city outskirts where the rental guys said that we were absolutely safe to travel further. The only restriction that we had was that we had to reach back Srinagar after 13 days. We talked about how to contact them when we returned back if in case the phone networks were not restored even by then. We were left to proceed on our own after that. How does it sound to be on the other side of the country with your friends all left to explore the lands with no contact for two full weeks? Sounds exciting right! So were we. And speaking of the word ‘contact’, none of us has contacted our family for the past 36 hours. Nobody back in home, knew if we landed safe at Srinagar the earlier day or not. We were told that our mobile network would start working once we crossed Sonmarg. We thanked the rental guys as they left back to Srinagar. We stood there taking pictures and videos for sometime before starting our way towards Sonmarg.
Sonmarg: Our first stop on list was Sonmarg. The view here was breathtaking. There were green lands with ice caped mountains surrounding the entire 360 degrees. We parked our bikes outside a small Dhaba, opposite to which was the Thajiwas Glacier. There was a policeman who came and started a conversation with us. He enquired where we were coming from and where we were heading to and asked how the situation was back in Srinagar. He was surprised that we were not stopped anywhere on the way out of the city and explained how it was a high time for the tourists but because of the situation, the places were all looking deserted. We went inside the dhaba to have some coffee. There was a TV mounted in one corner of the shop showing faces of Imran Khan and Modi. The one thing that we found common among the Kashmiris during the entire trip was their usage of oil and salt in cooking. Not sure if that was their style but they just use too much of it. The bread omelet that we ordered was literally floating in oil. No idea why but even maggie had oil in it! As we were eating, the locals who owned horses gathered around us asking if we wanted to go on a horse ride into the mountains. They said about the glacier and that the climax of Salman Khan’s movie “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” was shot there. I just hoped he shot only the movie and nothing more. After eating, a few of them left for the horse ride while the rest of us sat outside the dhaba talking and enjoying the view. Here are some beautiful shots taken there.
Zoji la pass: The green lands started to vanish slowly as we traveled away from Sonmarg. We entered Zoji la pass after about 15 kms. Zoji la is the second highest mountain pass in Srinagar – Leh Highway. It runs at an altitude of around 11,600 feet. The nice beautiful roads were gone. It was all mud roads now and it was hard to drive. There were trucks moving along the pass in many places which left dust storm behind. Unable to cross these trucks because of the road conditions, we rode behind them most of the time. It felt like we took a mud bath while crossing Zoji la. But it was challenging experience for us because it was the first pass that we were crossing at that elevation. After crossing Zoji la we stopped for some refreshment. This was when one of the sim cards showed some signal bars. Everyone made a call from it to let know our families we were safe. We didn’t get enough pictures of this place but Gopi had his GoPro setup and recorded most of these roads. I’ll upload a video soon to show our ride through Zoji la.
Manman top: After that dusty drive through Zoji la, we entered Dras. We stopped there for lunch. I guess it was around 4.30pm and the hotels were almost done with their lunch menus. We somehow managed to get some hot rice, dal and chicken for lunch. Our target for the day was Kargil which was another 60kms from Dras. We knew it would be night before we reached Kargil. We also heard about this place called Manman top located 15kms south, a view point from which you can see the entire Dras valley. We decided and took a detour to Manman top before leaving to Kargil. The road towards this place was not so good. We had to stop in between asking the locals if we were heading in the right direction. We rode watching the sun set behind the mountains. The entire place here had some red flowers grown all over it. It looked like the mountains were covered with a red carpet. We spent some time here chatting and enjoying the sunset.
By the time we got down from Manman top, it was already dark. One of our bikes had some braking problem but it was manageable. Luckily, the road towards Kargil was good and we continued to ride without problem. We reached Kargil and found a hotel by 10 pm. In the effort of finding a hotel to stay we lost two riders somewhere in the dark roads of Kargil. Somehow we made contact with them through the only working phone and reached the hotel. We then roamed the roads of Kargil to find the last available restaurant to have our dinner. After finishing our food, we reached back to the hotel and it was a wrap for the day.
Update: Here is our video !
What happened further – Kargil to Leh – Getting Leh’d Part 3
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