Awesome logs so far.
Deepan, I feel sorry for you man.Leh trip me sab luta aae
But yaad rakho vo barbaad nahi hue, Leh ki raah me shaheed hue hai

After seeing all these pics I really regret not visiting Pahalgam.
Hopefully next time.

sachin--remove xerox---where do you "remove" photocopy from ?????

LOL---nice going though & some brilliant captures as well--

tell deepan to fasten a pouch to stomach & put all things in it --waise bhi patla hai --pouch se mota lagega

Thanks Sagar. I am only able to write in weekends as thats when I get time.

There's always a next time...
You'll know the complete story about deepan in the next day's log

Mota nahi pregnant lagega

remove xerox-- lagta hai likhte likhte indianism finally aa gaya making me realise english is not my first language. galti se mistake ho gaya

Since some1 took a leave I was expecting update on the log but

@ sagar - I was not scared. Actually the truck drivers were scolding us as we were blocking thier ways.

Regards,
Deepan

Hooked to this thread! Keep it coming, excellent log and pictures

nice write up and amazing pics. the beautiful landscape can make photographer out of anyone...not taking anything away from you....waiting for more... one day i'll also be up in the mountains..don't know when but i will..

Lovely write up so far Sachin... eagerly waiting to read more.

I just read your log and it feels good on this day as its 12 years when we won the kargil war. The NH1A.

Great log man.

Wow!

Worth reading!

Thanks

Yes, It's not the photographer but the place that is making the pictures so good.

Even I thought like you that one day I ll go to Ladakh, Here I am today writing my experience on my dream trip.
If you can dream it you can Achieve it - rightfully said by BRO

Thanks Pratesh, This is embarrassing that I am not able to write the log in time even after so many days have passed by, I hope to continue writing my experience soon.
Proud to be an Indian, We spent a lot of time with Army officials they are very co operative indeed.
Thanks Raul

Wat happen'd Sachin bhai?? We're waiting...

Nice writeup buddy...waiting for the full write ups. Good Pics Punnet..

Rahul, I m not been able to devote time for my log from last week. Hopefully will start writing soon
Thanks

Day 6 - Pahalgam to Srinagar

Day 6 - Pahalgam to Srinagar

2nd June'11

Distance Covered - 100 kms

Today we were going to ride to Srinagar, yet another beautiful destination from our long list of places to visit in Ladakh trip. No matter how much we enjoyed so far, be it about riding in places we have only dreamt about riding so far or be it about beautiful valleys or deserted places every destination has a very special ambience added to it.
Time we spent on viewing these places were minimal as we have to see everything in certain limited amount of time. I only hope to return with more time in hand so that I can do justice to such wonderful places.
We began our journey from Pahalgam and as advised by DK we took a different route to Srinagar which passed through small villages, jungles. It was a completely different experience riding through villages where one can actually see the real India which is not possible to view if you go from national highway.
We kept moving on with odd people showing off how well they can ride by giving more throttle, by cutting lanes as if there are the only one's riding. We finally reached at a point where on both sides of the road where present huge trees covering the entire road in their shadow.
Once we passed the street roads we entered much more wider roads with plain tarmac. There were lot of factories and shops present at the roadside which made cricket bats and saffron. We entered Srinagar by afternoon and where heading as close as possible to Dal Lake. Srinagar was very crowded for obvious reasons as it was famous for its lakes, houseboats, shikaras & mughal gardens.
There are many places to visit in Srinagar like Dal Lake, Nehru park, Nagin lake, Shankaracharya temple (highest point of Srinagar, 5 km climb from boulevard), 3 Mughal gardens (Chashmeshai, Nishat & Shalimar), Hazratbal Mosque. Temple ruins of Avantipur are 29 kms away. Wish we had more time in our itinerary to explore Srinagar completely but we could only manage to enjoy Dal lake.
We decided not to stay in house boat as bike parking was far away and we had luggage to carry and for many more reasons. However Houseboats are a unique experience with hundreds of boats together on the banks of Dal Lake. For those who prefer a more secluded lake experience would prefer the Nagin side of the lake which is a little farther from the Boulevard area (from where one takes Shikaras to reach the Dal lake houseboats).

We checked in a guest house where we got one big room for all 4 of us. We quickly got ready to go out and here Deepan found his lost Ducati phone which he thought he lost at Patnitop I still wonder why does he keep losing things.
A quick lunch and we decide to take the famous shikara ride in Dal Lake. At a cost of Rs.300/hour we decided to have shikara ride for 2 hours. It is actually a decorated boat with cover. Shikara ride in Dal lake was a beautiful experience as it was surrounded by snow mountains, where you can cruise around the swimming area at the lake, floating garden, floating market, lotus garden and etc as claim by many travel agents but in fact it is all in the vicinity of the Dal Lake.
Frankly speaking, if you happen to be there and plan to tour the Dal Lake, just tell them you want to cruise for how many hours instead of naming so many places. The water in the lake is make up from melting snow from the mountains surrounding it. During the day, many traders by boat can be seen selling a variety of goods, from sundries to souvenirs items. I finally got a chance to drink the famous KABA and enjoyed it.
Dal lake actually came as a more beautiful lake than I ever could have imagined.

After a beautiful experience at Dal lake we went to lubricate our bikes as tomorrrow we had to conquer the mighty Zozilla. Night was spent drinking nice hot coffee in CCD followed by dinner and we spoke again with DK for tomorrow's ride and also wanted to check if we can finally start taking Diamox.