Day-V (18th July ‘09)
We started early for the queue to book our tickets. That humble man was sleeping and I calmly put 100 rupees and my visiting card under his pilow as he asked for my number earlier. Then I waked him to say goodbye but he was deep in his sleep. Thanking him again.
This balaclava really helped a lot which was in the jacket pocket by chance to resist the cold breeze…
It was a long waiting time to get the tickets and returning to the base.
And now we are back on the saddle again with the blessings of Shree Amarnath Jee. We were late to our schedule so thought not to return to Gulmarg and decided to hit Kargil for night stay.
Fuel gauze was showing little more than ½ empty. And to my calculations I’ve a range of 200+ kms now. So I wanted petrol, after enquiring got to know that I did a mistake ignoring the fuel pump some 40-45 kms before. So headed for Kargil rather than wasting 3-4 hours to return for fueling because it was the next fueling point. We had total 40 rupees with us until we reach Kargil. Some 150 kms to go today and Zojila was the only pass in between.
We reached Zojila at around 10.00 AM. It was the first pass of the trip. It was quite easy but the road was terribly bad.
From Zozila there are two descending routes for Srinagar. The other route is higher than the normal track and is a jeep track. Army diverts the traffic via this route if they find the regular route terribly bad or slushy.
It was easy till Kargil with many photo breaks and we were there before 2 o’clock. First we went to an ATM for cash and got some extra for emergency. Before having lunch we decided to get a room but got a rear flat then. But thankfully I was in front of a Puncture shop where I was enquiring about the road condition for ZANSKAR.
The road from Kargil divides in two ways, left one over a bridge is for Leh and the other fine tar road towards right leads to Zanskar, another beautiful valley on top of my list.
There was an iron nail in the rear tire. We had enough time with us to ride some more. Mulbekh was the next point some 40-45 kms from Kargil and we were not sure if there is any provision to stay there or not. Kargil was completely boring so thought to go to Mulbekh after fueling and seeing Kargil war memorial and to return to Kargil if we dint get any accommodation there. To our surprise Drass War Memorial is called Kargil War Memorial. So we missed it in the intension to see Kargil War Memorial. Anyways a salute is pending to real heroes of India for the next time.
Now I needed fuel badly. Kargil Filling Station was the last fueling point before Leh. IOCL really rocks, you can expect them any where. Thirsty Uni again gulped nearly 15 liters of unleaded petrol. It was more than enough to reach Leh
.
Mulbekh is a beautiful place famous for its chamba statue. There are also 2-3 monasteries and the surrounding nature is just beautiful. Accommodation is not at all a problem with a JKTDC guest house and many other private options. 2 restaurants are there in front of Chamba statue. We opted for JKTDC with 300 bucks with neat and clean rooms. Power is definitely a problem here. Only source is Diesel Generator which supplies power from 8-11 in night and 4-7 in the morning for prayer purposes.
A monastery…
Two Oriya guyz from Bangy…
Chamba statue…
Lamayuru was the point of attraction for me for the next day and for that we needed a quick start.
Route – Shree Amarnath Jee-Baltal-Zojila pass-Drass-Kargil-Mulbekh
Total distance covered - 170 Kilometers
Road condition – Over all Good, a bad stretch at Zojila (expect silky routes by next season, road widing work in progress)
Event of the day – Helicopter ride, Zojila-first pass of the trip, Lost SX 100’s carry pouch at Zojila, Flat rear of Uni at Kargil, Evening at Mulbekh.
Important places – Drass(Kargil war memorial), Kargil(big city, all facilities available)
Tourist interest points – Kargil war memorial at Drass, Mulbekh (Chamba statue & monasteries)
Precautions – Be careful while ascending Zojila.
We started early for the queue to book our tickets. That humble man was sleeping and I calmly put 100 rupees and my visiting card under his pilow as he asked for my number earlier. Then I waked him to say goodbye but he was deep in his sleep. Thanking him again.
This balaclava really helped a lot which was in the jacket pocket by chance to resist the cold breeze…
It was a long waiting time to get the tickets and returning to the base.
And now we are back on the saddle again with the blessings of Shree Amarnath Jee. We were late to our schedule so thought not to return to Gulmarg and decided to hit Kargil for night stay.
Fuel gauze was showing little more than ½ empty. And to my calculations I’ve a range of 200+ kms now. So I wanted petrol, after enquiring got to know that I did a mistake ignoring the fuel pump some 40-45 kms before. So headed for Kargil rather than wasting 3-4 hours to return for fueling because it was the next fueling point. We had total 40 rupees with us until we reach Kargil. Some 150 kms to go today and Zojila was the only pass in between.
We reached Zojila at around 10.00 AM. It was the first pass of the trip. It was quite easy but the road was terribly bad.
From Zozila there are two descending routes for Srinagar. The other route is higher than the normal track and is a jeep track. Army diverts the traffic via this route if they find the regular route terribly bad or slushy.
It was easy till Kargil with many photo breaks and we were there before 2 o’clock. First we went to an ATM for cash and got some extra for emergency. Before having lunch we decided to get a room but got a rear flat then. But thankfully I was in front of a Puncture shop where I was enquiring about the road condition for ZANSKAR.
The road from Kargil divides in two ways, left one over a bridge is for Leh and the other fine tar road towards right leads to Zanskar, another beautiful valley on top of my list.
There was an iron nail in the rear tire. We had enough time with us to ride some more. Mulbekh was the next point some 40-45 kms from Kargil and we were not sure if there is any provision to stay there or not. Kargil was completely boring so thought to go to Mulbekh after fueling and seeing Kargil war memorial and to return to Kargil if we dint get any accommodation there. To our surprise Drass War Memorial is called Kargil War Memorial. So we missed it in the intension to see Kargil War Memorial. Anyways a salute is pending to real heroes of India for the next time.
Now I needed fuel badly. Kargil Filling Station was the last fueling point before Leh. IOCL really rocks, you can expect them any where. Thirsty Uni again gulped nearly 15 liters of unleaded petrol. It was more than enough to reach Leh
.Mulbekh is a beautiful place famous for its chamba statue. There are also 2-3 monasteries and the surrounding nature is just beautiful. Accommodation is not at all a problem with a JKTDC guest house and many other private options. 2 restaurants are there in front of Chamba statue. We opted for JKTDC with 300 bucks with neat and clean rooms. Power is definitely a problem here. Only source is Diesel Generator which supplies power from 8-11 in night and 4-7 in the morning for prayer purposes.
A monastery…
Two Oriya guyz from Bangy…
Chamba statue…
Lamayuru was the point of attraction for me for the next day and for that we needed a quick start.
Route – Shree Amarnath Jee-Baltal-Zojila pass-Drass-Kargil-Mulbekh
Total distance covered - 170 Kilometers
Road condition – Over all Good, a bad stretch at Zojila (expect silky routes by next season, road widing work in progress)
Event of the day – Helicopter ride, Zojila-first pass of the trip, Lost SX 100’s carry pouch at Zojila, Flat rear of Uni at Kargil, Evening at Mulbekh.
Important places – Drass(Kargil war memorial), Kargil(big city, all facilities available)
Tourist interest points – Kargil war memorial at Drass, Mulbekh (Chamba statue & monasteries)
Precautions – Be careful while ascending Zojila.
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