After lunch at Sonamarg we started our journey towards Kargil
The bus started to negotiate the twisting, rough hill road towards Kargil and we gained height progressively. Looking out of the bus window to the valley below was rather scary.
The road happens to be very narrow and rough and has no sidewalls.
Only a few miles before Zojila, it started to drizzle, and as the road became wetter, so our fear of slipping and sliding became greater. Thoughts of what could happen if the rain increased and rocks started sliding onto the road, perhaps even onto the bus itself, in the middle of the journey, were in
everyone’s minds. When the driver was negotiating sharp turns, tremors would go down our spines, and at times everyone would scream with terror.
The driver seemed to be quite experienced; he went on driving quite nonchalantly, and in
between times, boosting our morale as well! After an hour or so the rain stopped and we all heaved a sigh of relief. After we had covered what seemed like only a few miles, some vehicles
on the other side of the road came into sight. The driver of our minibus started reversing inch by inch under the guidance of the bus conductor, who had come down to guide his master on
that muddy road. We must have reversed for nearly half a mile by the time the driver had succeeded in creating a space for the oncoming vehicles to pass us. It was quite terrifying to
contemplate that any small degree of alteration in the angle of the reverse direction of our bus could throw us deep down thousands of feet into the mountain pass, and no one would
be recognizable later. The driver finally restarted his onward journey towards Kargil. Night had started falling, and we reached Dras (located at an average elevation of 10,764 feet,
Drass river flows in this beautiful valley). We all opened our luggage and took out our sweaters and blankets as the cold air was making us shiver.
Dras is the second coldest area in the world (after Siberia) where temperatures go below -50 C even.
At around 9pm we reached Kargil. We spent the night in a hotel and had a bird’s eye view of the town next day. The most wonderful attraction in Kargil was the sight of the short-legged Pashmina goat, the backbone of pashmina industry in Kashmir.
We restarted our journey towards Leh on the next sunny day. From Kargil onwards, the road was wider and in much better condition and travel seemed a wonderful experience in the
partially desert-like mountains, as no fauna or flora exists at such high altitudes.
At Leh we were received by one of the officers of the Leh division and suitable accommodation was
provided for all of us. The long tiring journey had exhausted us, and partly due to mountain sickness, everyone was complaining of muscle cramps. The shortest walk would cause cramps in our legs due to the low oxygen levels, and most of us preferred not to exert ourselves for the first two days so
that our bodies could acclimatize to the high altitude. A few students had minor epistaxis but two days later, we had all adapted to the altitude. We had a tour of fashionable markets
in Leh and witnessed its beautiful fauna and flora, as well as its rich cultural heritage.
Leh is indeed one of the most beautiful cities in the country. One of the fascinating spots was the Masjid Shai in Leh, which spoke volumes about how Hazrat Shahi Hamdan had traveled, and his exemplary missionary trait.
One fine night it was wonderful to have dinner at the home of Head of the Division. There was a fine mix of Muslim and Buddhist culture to be seen in his home as his mother had
been Buddhist. The elegant guest room contained wonderful paintings, wooden art and paper art. “Well Doc,” he proudly said while we were having a delicious dinner, “here we have
been living for ages in untainted brotherhood and communal harmony.”
We certainly retained wonderful memories of our stay at Leh, and finally, after a week, one evening we set off on our journey back to Srinagar in a different minibus. I happened
to meet the driver of the bus before we set off. To my horror, a strong smell of alcohol was on his breath. It made me very much fearful of his driving. The fear of that awful dangerous road was fresh in my mind, and anxious thoughts churned in my mind while our journey carried on. A few hours later, the whole bus was asleep and some were even snoring, but I did not close my eyes for the whole journey. Every time the driver negotiated a curve, my heart would sink. Finally, the scary
night ended and so did the horrible travel on that difficult road. No sooner had we descended completely from that rough mountain road, then everyone clapped and I clapped longer
and louder than anyone!
“Doc, it seems that you were more scared than any of us,” said one of the students. I smiled and told them that the driver had been drunk, which I had not disclosed earlier. Unfortunately, the world over, accidents occur when drivers are in a drunken state.
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