prashantbhardwaj

“Saab Ghumne jaana tha to Leh jaate, Yahhan kahan aa gae?”(You should have gone to Leh on your bikes… Why are you here?)

We were in the northern-most state, Jammu and Kashmir for nine days. We did not go to Leh or Zanskar, the hot travel destinations these days. We tried to cover the offbeat Kashmir, one which is not covered by any traveler for the fear of militancy. In the search of the border, we rode ‘Along the Line of Control’

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MG

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This will be interesting

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phanikar

Glued to the thread Bring it on buddy

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prashantbhardwaj

Our initial plan was to visit Zanskar this time and then do a Marathon back to Chandigarh via Leh and Manali. The ride was the idea of Vaibhav (KurtRules) and we readily agreed to it. However, due to a few issues, he could not get the leaves as planned and went on to do his Solo Leh Marathon.

With him out of the ride, Archit and I had a discussion about the itinerary and we decided to tweak the itinerary a bit. Archit then came up with one which was different and a bit crazy. I heard him all along and then gave it a thought. It did not take me long to agree to his idea and hence the preparations for a new ride with a different goal started. We laid down the plan, gathered all the information required and did not even bother to assess the risk involved.

Day 1: Chandigarh – Ropar – Hoshiarpur – Jammu – Akhnoor – Bhamla - Shiv Khori

Finally, the day arrived when we were set to leave. We met at 6:30 in the morning and left Chandigarh. Soon after it began to drizzle and continued till after Dasua. A few KMs before Pathankot, the drizzle gave way to heavy rain and it became difficult for us to ride on. We took a half an hour break and rested at the roadside Dhaba. When the rain subsided, we moved again and reached Samba in no time. From there we took the road to Jammu. At Jammu, we got our tanks filled, ate some lunch and started towards Akhnoor. Akhnoor is a good 27 KMs from Jammu and the roads are in a good shape too. From Akhnoor, we took a turn towards Bhamla. With the turn, the views around changed and the roads became a pleasure to ride on.

Enroute Shiv Khori:









We reached Shiv Khori at 7: 30 at night. We were tired to the core due to riding in rains for so long and were feeling the effects of cold too. This was the first day of our ride and getting sick was not on our minds.
About Shiv Khori: It is a place around 70 KMs from Katra and has a Shiv Temple amidst the mountains. One has to trek for 4 KMs to reach the temple and do the darshans.

But, the religious self was not the reason for us to be there. It was the Indo – Pak border, which is a few KMs of trekking from this place. As soon as we reached there, we spotted two police personnel; we parked our bikes at the side and went to have some chat with them. One of the guy was a local and was surprised by our journey so far. We told him our plans to visit the Border and asked about the necessary permissions to do so. After a long chat, we were left disappointed as the few KMs amounted to five KMs of trek on the mountains, which in effect will be a full day of trek. We confirmed the same with a few other locals and decided to give the trek a miss, more so because we are not much of a trekker and don’t like to push our bodies to the limits, and decided to ride to our next destination and try to hit the border over there. Hence after, we got ourselves a room, had dinner and slept off early so that we can start-off early the next day.

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ttusharz

Now this sounds something different. Bring it on dude. Just few days back i had a discussion about this with few of my friends.

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Great Prashanth another amzing log it would be I am sure eagerly waiting for the updates..... subscribed

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prashantbhardwaj

Thanks Guys... Next Part coming up..

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prashantbhardwaj

Day 2: Shiv Khori – Trehta – Rajauri – Bufliaz – Poonch

We woke up quite early today and got ready for the ride. Before leaving, Archit thought of clicking the temple entrance and went to do the same. I on the other hand thought of having a tea and ordered one. Soon after, Archit returned with a disappointed look on his face. His camera had gone kaput due to the rains last day. Water had entered his camera and thus need repairing. We searched for any Camera Repair shop and found a person who was fit for the job. After a few hours of drying the camera under sunlight, we were finally all set to go at 12 in the afternoon.
In the meanwhile we inquired about the alternate and better routes to Rajauri and were not wrong in searching for one. These were the inner roads of Jammu and in a better shape than the highway. Somehow, these roads reminded me of Himachal Pradesh and we enjoyed riding on them. The inner roads led us to the Highway and we were around 65 more KMs from Rajauri and the butter smooth roads ensured that we reached Rajauri at around 3:30. Archit got the RedBull’s chain tightened while I simply inspected Mr.Dragon for signs of any care needed. Once done, we had our lunch and met a few locals.

On the Way to Rajauri:











Yet again, we were told of an alternate route via DKG, which in its own way seemed like a top to us… Once at DKG, the view was soothing and we spent quite a bit of time there. We just sat there, talked with Army, savored the nature around and smoked a bit…

Around DKG





The Pir Panjal Range:





Bufliaz was 10 more KMs from there and we reached there at around 6:00 in the evening. This was the first time that we met the rural J&K people. The experience we had was there to remain throughout the ride and even after that. They were humble enough to invite us to their homes, ask us about our ride, guide us through the route ahead and offer tea. We accepted all accept the first as we had to travel ahead. After a cup of tea, we thanked them and moved ahead.

On the way to Poonch:



The destination for the day was Poonch, 40 KMs from Bufliaz and surrounded by Pakistan from three sides. Poonch is also considered to be the ‘City Of Saints’ as there are innumerous Gurudwaras, Mosques and Temples here.

We reached Poonch after dark at around 7:30 in the evening and stopped at the toll-tax booth over there. The toll tax is only for the commercial vehicles plying in the region. We sat along with the guys over there and the first thing they asked was the place we belong to. Everyone was quite surprised to know that we hail from Delhi and rode all the way here on our motorcycles. After that, it was like a virtual private tour to the city of Poonch and the surrounding areas. Of all the things, we grabbed only one, the one which sent a smile on our faces: Indo – Pak border is 5 KMs from Poonch. After gathering all the required info, we headed to the city, searched for a hotel with Parking, as we did not want to untie our stuff.
Rest, we lazed around, found a wine shop and a nice dhaba to serve us food in the hotel room. Later we departed to our room, drank, ate and went to sleep. Tomorrow, we will visit the Indo – Pak border in the state of J&K, it was the only and a constant thought I had while I went to a nice, cozy sleep.

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xstunter

Now this is some interesting travelogue. Riders going towards J&K always go to Leh and very rarely does someone thinks out of the box. Thanks a lot for sharing this.

Regards,
Deepan

mav1234

Seriously, you people have come out with another out of box Travelogue.

Hooked onto it.

BTW, the picturesque surrounding is amazing. Bring more..