To Kargil
Diversity: in front of a small hotel where we had tea; Drass, Jammu and Kashmir.
Diverse, that is what describes the road from Srinagar to Kargil: starting with green fields near Srinagar going through villages, the pine covered hills near Sonamarg and then the bare mountains after ZojiLa, and all along following rivers and streams of different colors. We had started off a little late from Srinagar having brunch at a dhaba on the way and reaching Sonamarg a little after noon. Sonamarg seemed like a picnic spot, being close to Srinagar, with all buildings painted a particular shade of green which looked straight from Switzerland, we just rode on without even a break here towards the first pass on this road i.e. ZojiLa. And we missed the pass: we had been gradually climbing and then were riding on almost flat roads alongside the river before we realized we were already past the pass; after Sach Pass earlier in the trip we seemed to have overestimated ZojiLa. Anyway we were now following a dark green/gray river which got clearer as we got closer to Kargil, where the Suru river which is slightly brown in color joins the Drass river.
Part of 'The Trip/2007', Aug/Sep/Oct/Nov.