Rush from Srinagar to Kargil | Ladakh Mega Meet

The Journey so far…

Day 1 | Srinagar – Sonamarg – Zojila Pass – Drass – Kargil

Finally the day had arrived for DoW Ladakh Mega Meet 2013 to happen and plan was to reach Kargil at the end of the day. It all started at 3 AM in the morning as I had a flight to catch at 5.30 AM for Srinagar from New Delhi Last night one of the member Pradip had already called up from Srinagar and told me about some bandh in Srinagar today. They were tense and so were the other members who had reached Srinagar for this mega meet few days before our meet begins. One day loss will mean a lot of changes in the plan for exploring so many lakes and passes… So, tension was all around night and I could barely sleep of anxiety. Woke up early, got ready and called up Sahil who was waiting for me at his friend’s house at Mahipalpur for a pick up to Airport… Few more anxious moments passed as I waiting sipping a cup of tea for the clock to tick 3.00 AM and it did!!

Hurried to car with my dad after taking blessings from everyone in family who were awake at that odd hour and see-offs to wifey and junior. Even while driving there were so many things going around in mind about the different permutations in case we got stuck later in the day. Nobody around me had a clue and biggest challenge was to get going by 8.00 AM as flight will arrive by 7.00 AM only. There were 25 odd people whom we have to assemble at Ghaat No. 1 of Dal Lake and then get going from there. But, anyways I reached Mahipalpur, picked up Sahil who had come from Kerala for this Mega Meet of Ladakh and few minutes after we reached Airport. Waved goodbye to my father, we entered the premises of Airport. Anees and his 4 friends who had travelled from Dubai and Bangalore were present there, so kind of relief for me as they had booked a separate taxi for themselves and I was not able to get in touch with them for past couple of days. Jiwesh and Shakti also met me there at the airport and finally my two cousins (Saurabh & Paritosh) also joined as last comers. So, in all 11 devils were all set with boarding passes to get lost high up in remote corners of trans-Himalayan desert called Ladakh…

Flight landed exactly at 7.00 AM and immediately I started calling rest of the 14 members to get going out of hotels at the assemble point. Apart from 11 of us, there were Pradip & his friend Mainak form Kolkata, Sourabh from Mumbai, Nabeel who was the biker from Kerala, then Benjamin another biker from Australia, a couple in Ertiga as Gagan and Neha from Delhi, Tapan ji and his two friends from Delhi in their XUV, Lokesh, Shekhar and Bhupinder in Ford Fiesta again from Delhi & Batinda and finally Javed and his friend in a Scorpio from Noida. So, many parallel activities were going on, we were running here and there to pick baggage ASAP and get out, I was booking taxi from Airport to Dal Lake, calling everyone there to get up and ready, calling our Ladakh taxi guys to be there and Anees with his freinds being unreachable again, etc.. etc.. The time to 8.00 AM was ticking like anything… Every passing second was a kind of tension creeping more and more. Finally, in 2 local taxis we got going somehow and reached Ghaat No. 1 of Dal Lake where some were waiting and some got confused of pickup but Rigzin, dear friend and one of the best taxi guy in Ladakh I have ever know was around to sort out things too.

Everyone got assembled, I met all lovely personalities, thanked them for coming over be a part of this historic DoW First Mega Meet up in Ladakh and taking up the step for DoW Causes. Meanwhile Rigzin and his two friends did put up luggage and arranged sitting for each one of us in the taxis. In quick time we were ready. Benjamin had also came walking there to spot us but somehow did not check-out from hotel. He hurried back in no time to come over with bike and join us. We waited for good 30 minutes past 8.00 when a police van came directed us to move quickly else soon the influence of bandh/strike will start coming over the roads and we might get stuck. With a bit of heavy heart and tense faces we moved ahead but only after requesting everyone (locals around) sitting there to tell Benjamin that we will wait for him at Sonamarg or on Zojila Pass at Srinagar – Leh Highway.

The trip officially started with 25 souls on the move having anxieties of getting out of Srinagar. Some took the main route/exit out of Srinagar and some of us followed the Dal Lake inner route to exit the town. We could feel the tension for sometime seeing presence of so much police/military around but finally we were rolling well and suddenly we could realize we are in Himalayas 🙂 🙂 … Well, the weather was lovely and just pleasantly cold as we continued towards Sonamarg which was our stop for the breakfast. I chatted after a long long time with Rigzin as he kept praising DoW and the help in business this initiative is bringing directly to so many other drivers he knows. I was overwhelmed hearing those kind words and would like to thank every other reader who has gone directly to these drivers and helped them in their businesses. Rigzin is fabulous company and very dear friend who always keep me bound to his never ending interesting stories and know-how about Ladakh region. Love, respect and loads of wishes for him that he grows good in time to come.

Soon came Sonamarg and then we had actually a lovely time meeting everyone there without any tense moments. Tapan ji and his friends already had their breakfast and we were looking for it. Some were pure veg so they went in there and some of us opted to have together at any place of choice. It was good 1 Hr stop and the next stop was Zojila Pass We started the ride up towards Zojila Pass and found the roads though were fine in shape but quite dusty which is usual towards the end of season. Zojila is one hell of a pass when it snows, slush or there is a convoy in which you gets stuck but in September nothing like it. In between, we spotted Benjamin and he was thrilled to see us and so did we. We felt happy that we got hold of him as I had left messages over community and mail too for him to get connected. We got him introduced to everyone and especially Nabeel who was riding with us too. So, now two bikers had company. As we moved, we ended up at a point where a landslide was being cleared which took sometime. So, we chatted together and had pictures with the Jawans serving us up there and thanked them for whatever they are doing for us. Finally, reached the first High Mountain Pass of our Meet: Zojila Pass Everyone was excited and I knew it was just a beginning.

We finally descended to the lovely meadows of Minamarg where we stopped and entered our vehicle number in Police Register. The roads were quite decent on the other side of Zojila pass anyways. The surroundings were still green in that region and autumn colors haven’t really come out by that time. The next stop was Drass for lunch and to have Rajma rice there… We all stopped at Drass and this time we dissected the groups to different dhabhas so as to utilize time efficiently. As usually, the Rajma Rice was seriously good along with Roomali Roti being served there. Meanwhile call from Bhupinder came who told us that they are moving at good pace so they opted to move to Lamayuru that very day instead of staying at Kargil and will meet us in Leh next day. I had no choice than to say “OK” 🙂 …

We left quickly this time and soon reached at Kargil War Memorial after a small stop to get views of Tiger Hill. At Kargil War Memorial, everyone spent good amount of time. We paid respect and prayed for every martyred soldier who helped our country stay high headed. A Big Salute and Bow Down for everyone serving up there and who sacrificed their lives for our safety. I can bet that as you walk in to Kargil War Memorial normally, you walk out with abundance of emotions, respect and feeling of patriotism knowing/seeing what happened on grounds. I always request all to DO VISIT and PAY RESPECT when you travel there

Anyhow we got going after couple of cups of Tea in the canteen but only to find that just before Kargil there is a landslide which resulted in a wait time of good 1 Hr or so but thankfully got cleared up. Reached Kargil and moved here and there in search of hotels as PWD Rest House was all booked. It was dark by then and then we decided that only couple of us move around to see PC Palace. Rigzin’s friend Aunduk had fixed a deal with him at Rs 1000 per room for any number of people + food extra. We saw the rooms which were quite good and took the awesome deal. In some rooms we stayed 4 and in some 3, so effective cost was reduced to quite extent. Tapan ji and Javed had already booked their own hotels so they were staying in them but rest of us were in PC Palace, just near taxi stand.

We all were hungry and ordered food in the common restaurant/dining hall down there in the hotel. Well, the food was decent and we had Dal, mix veg. and rice along with tawa rotis. Some opted to go out and try some fiery spicy non-veg food outside the hotel including Shakti, Saurabh, Benjamin, Sahil and Sourabh where latter two suffered quite a stomach upset next day after having that spicy cuisine 😀 😀 … Well, it was time to end this super long day and crash onto bed dreaming about magical vistas through Lamayuru, Moonland and Sham Valley over next day as we travel from Kargil to Leh 🙂 …

The Journey ahead…