To Leh From Kerala in Mahindra Bolero

[smooth rider]

after the shikara ride we went to see the mughal garden. it has stepped terraces and flowing water with fountains. its on the far side of the Dal lake amidst a beautiful background.
next went to see the Hazrathbhal shrine. it contains the holy hair of the prohet mohammed & is one of the holiest muslim shrines of kashmir. its the only shrine in srinagar with a dome while others have a pagoda like roof. it was 6pm by now and we had planned to go shopping and returned to our hotel room. then freshned up and went shopping at the Lal chowk. we bought dry fruits for all back home, warm clothes and jackeits. i bought 2 knives.( my new weakness ). we had a jolly good time bargaining. i felt really tired after all this. i had no apetite and settled for an ice cream. there was a shop selling all types of ice cream. we also saw the very jittery attitude of the J&K police. they were seen showing the food on to the road of a street vendor. they all had AK 47 rifles slung on their shoulders and so no body was raising any sort of protest.

 

[smooth rider]

2 snaps i couldn't upload..........

 

[Fyzy09]

Smooth_Rider,

Did you not go to Pari Mahal?? You definitely missed the panaroma of Srinagar if you did not..

 

[AR Ram]

Wonderful pictures and narration . Eagerly waiting for you to reach LEH. Truly its deserving a five star rating

 

[rakeshkn]

Wonderful travelogue and great pictures., I wonder how i missed this. waiting for more pics and narrations

 

[smooth rider]

fyzy i was dead tired and had to cancel other sites, also we had time constaints. we headed back to our room only by 10 pm. we had planned to reach srinagar the previous night. but could reach only till Banihal. my wife was apprehensive regarding my health and asked weather we have to cancel our onward journey. no way i told her......... i had been planning this journey for ages and it was my dream. but when i got up the next day i was really tired. we decided to stay in srinagar for one more day and regain my health. we stayed in the room till afternoon. decided to have a sumptuous lunch from some where. we got into our storm and went looking for some good hotel. we spotted the hotel called mughal durbar on the road to lal chowk. well the hotel is beautifuly decorated with mughal paintings. i had read good reviews about the hotel. the waiter who attend us suggested that we order a dish which would contain a mix of mutton and chicken preparations. we asked him how much it would cost ? guess what .......... INR 2000/it would suffice for 5 of us. well the dude was trying to fleece us. we ordered some mutton and chicken dishes. well i didn't like it. well the surprise came at the end. the bill was INR 600+ service tax INR 100. when we asked how come the service tax is so high it was explained that it was INR 75, which they have rounded of to 100/
so mates if ever you go to sringar don't go to this hotel , you will be fleeced. we went back to our hotel and slept till evening. then we again went shopping. also we were on the look out for the guy from whom we had bought some sarees, which we found out to be damaged. well we found that guy again but to our surprise he was ready to replace all the damaged sarees. we expected him to be rude and refuse to replace the sarees, after the bad experience from the hotel.we retired to room by 9 pm and called it a day by 10 pm.
got up by 5 am 7/6/2913. we hit the road by 6.50 am. we had break fast enroute from a dhaba. i was really feeling energised by the rest at srinagar. the diarrhoea had been cured for me and my daughter. the road was beautiful. we passed through Ganderbal, Kangan & Kund to reach Sonamarg.we passed through beautiful vistas on after the other. well it was like jumping from on page in a beautiful calendar to the next. see for yourself.......

 

[smooth rider]

more snaps enroute to kargil

we saw a group of soldiers who were training hard in rock climbing. a tough looking officer forbade us from taking their snaps. well, we took their snaps for you mates.

 

[Fyzy09]

Sonamarg looks beautiful.. The skies are so clear and everything looks so bright unlike when we were there.. It was raining intermittently but yet the looked beautiful.

we saw a group of soldiers who were training hard in rock climbing. a tough looking officer forbade us from taking their snaps. well, we took their snaps for you mates............

I would request you to remove the soldiers pic from the forum if you were asked not to click them.. It can be a matter of national security.. Hope you understand..

 

[smooth rider]

some more snaps

 

[appus]

No roads at some places? Scary landscapes !

I think you are busy with work. Waiting for updates.

 

[smooth rider]

yes appus , very busy with work. will update today. scary......? wait till you see Zojila, Chang la & Rohtang pass.

 

[AR Ram]

yes appus , very busy with work. will update today. scary......? wait till you see Zojila, Chang la & Rohtang pass.

Yes, every time I open the forum first I look for your updates. Very eager to see the pictures from Leh and more information on your experience there.

 

[smooth rider]

we pushed on . it was bright and sunny, with a chill in the air. the road became worse by the time we reached Zojila pass. the road became narrower, with the remnants of landslides every where. We had to stop at places where the road was a bit wider to let trucks/ larger vehicles to pass. then there was the taxis , they were all in a tearing hurry always, honking behind you. we let them pass when we could. then there was a large landslide that was being cleared when we reached there. we were stuck there for 1.5 hours. meanwhile some big shot in J&K police arrived with siren blaring pilot vehicle in front. they asked us all to move aside to let them pass. they then made the bulldozer driver to speed up the work. when the road opened there was mad rush down hill by all. i let all who were in a hurry to pass

 

[smooth rider]

more snaps.

 

[smooth rider]

more snaps