After staying two nights in the houseboat in Srinagar, it was time for us to move on. Our next destination was to take a jeep to Leh in Ladakh, about 434km from Srinagar - an 18 hour ride. We were told by the houseboat owner to arrive at the Srinagar taxi stand opposite the tourist office at around 6.00am so that our group could hire the first available jeep (trip to Leh was infrequent at that time) and start our journey as early as possible. Three of our HC members (Janna, Antonio & Valerious) chose to stay on for another night in the houseboat so they would arrive in Leh a day later.
After much haggling, our group had a private arrangement with a jeep at the taxi station and agreed to the charge of Rs900=Rm81 per person (maximum capacity 8 people) as against the cartel price of Rs1,300=Rm117 per person. We were told to wait at the Boulevard for a pick up soon. After more than 30 mins of waiting, the driver did not show up. This meant the deal was off and we suspected that the cartel was aware of our private dealing with this particular driver for not sticking to the rule. As we were about to give up and head back to our houseboat, another jeep showed up at the Boulevard and it appeared that the driver knew where we were heading. The driver was pretty firmed in offering his jeep service to take us to Leh but we had to pay Rs1,300 per person. Beggars had no choice and we accepted !
See picture below re a jeep our group (Cheng, Jukka, Don, Caesar & Jaggi) had hired for the Leh trip. All our luggage were tightly tied with plastic sheets placed on top of the jeep.
After almost a two hour ride, our first stop was at Sonamarg, a popular trekking town located in a green valley. all tourist buses, timber trucks & private cars going to Leh passes through Sonamarg or they stopped here for a short rest or for lunch.
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| Our hired jeep with a No of 99 - stands for longevity |
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| Don and me posing for a picture before the arduous Leh trip |
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| A quick lunch at a food stall in Sonamarg |
After Sonamarg, the roads ahead were rugged, narrow, winding with numerous twists and turns. Some roads allowed only one vehicle passes and drivers had to be extra cautious and patience to ensure a safe passage for either side
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| A sign pointing left to Sonamarg Hosiptal |
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| We opted for a jeep hire instead of taking a public bus |
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| Is this bus road worthy ? |
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| Scenic mountain scenery |
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| Glaciers in Himalayas |
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| The roads were rough & bumpy |
For this particular stretch of roads, our jeep had to pass over the Zoji La pass (3529m) which separates Kashmir from Ladakh. After some ten hours of driving, we had probably covered 2/3 of the journey and we had reached Kargil - most travelers would put up a night in this town and depart for Leh in the following morning. However, our driver had decided to move on
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| Bare & arid land |
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| A bridge in the middle of no where |
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| A unique landscape of Himalayas |
At a security check point (Gumry camp) midway between Sonamarg & Kargil, all foreign tourists had to register their name, age and passport details before continuing the trip. At 57, I was perhaps the oldest guy among all the registrants whose average age was around 20's to 30's.
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| A police check point for our passport registration |
After another two hour ride, our group told the driver to stop at the nearest town so that we would put up a night in a hostel as I believed all of us including the driver badly needed a rest. We found a hostel (Rs50=Rm4.50 per room) in Lamayuru , located on the foot of a cliff , where the Lamayuru Gompa is sited.
" The start of our jeep safaris to the Himalaya peaks. A test of our mental, physical and spiritual strength !
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