Very nice travelogue and beautiful pics..

Nicely compiled video.

How was the cam set up ??

nice log and beautiful pics. need more pics

Great write up, great pictures and now a video! Cant wait for more

Day 2 Compilation Video

‪Ladakh Ride, Day 2 , Samba - Udhampur - Srinagar‬‏ - YouTube

Thanks. I hope so too.


Thanks a lot buddy. I will write up the next day experience sometime today.

Never logged in to post here in tourer section,
Loved reading through your experiences,
Wating for more

I'm following. Silently.
Hoping the photos get better from here on.

Thanks a lot

Thanks man. You too.

Thanks Buddy Working on the next part of the log and also a compilation video if the journey so far.

Awesome pics !!!

The log is too good! Bring on the rest

And by the way Congrats to both of you for completing the dream ride!

P.S: Loved the title!

Awesome ride and lovely pics buddy! Kudos and keep riding !

Take Care & Ride Safe!

Good write up as always.. I didn't even take a look at the pics yet.. will do that in due course.

I had been reading the log all along.. didnt post anything earlier though... Congrats once again..

Day 2 : Samba - Udhampur - Srinagar

Day 2 : Samba - Udhampur - Srinagar (320 km)


We woke up early in the morning well on time, packed up and prepared to leave. But we needed some tea to get us going for the day. Unfortunately, the guest house didnt have any. The tea stall next to our guest house hadnt opened yet. So, we decided to have tea somewhere down the road. Thankfully, as we were loading the bikes, the owner of the tea stall appeared. We ordered some tea and after introducing some tea in our bloodstream , we felt charged up for the ride ahead.

The route we were taking would bypass Jammu altogether and we would directly reach Udhampur, saving us time and distance. (Apparently, there is a shorter route that forks out towards Udhampur even before Samba, we missed this completely). After we left the highway, the road turned very scenic. We could feel we were on the fringes of Kashmir. The mountains were suddenly bigger, the mountain passes stretched on for miles and the flora was different. Kashif took out his Go Pro for the first time (Will upload videos later). Not long after Samba, we reached a nice looking lake town, Mansar. It looked like a popular place with the tourists. Looking back, it would have been better to push on towards Mansar and stay there, instead of staying in Samba. Well, live and learn.





We joined the main highway to Srinagar. The day was well on its way and we got a lot of traffic coming to and from Jammu. Overtaking these vehicles was very risky, as this road is rife with blind corners and maverick car junkies. A potently dangerous combination for motorcyclists.

We were on the way to Patnitop when we realized that we hadnt had anything to eat since morning. We started looking for a place to eat. Luckily we found a nice place to eat. It was very strategically located and also surprisingly wasn't crowded.The name of the place was Chenani junction. I almost had a jaw drop after I misread Chenani as Chennai on the signboard. We ordered some Aloo Parantha's and some cold drinks to wash it down.








There was military officer there on a trip to Srinagar with his family. Turned out he was posted in Pune as well. We engaged in a friendly conversation. Also, the boy managing the restaurant owned a trucking company and had been to Pune many times. After finishing the breakfast and the conversations, we pushed on towards Srinagar.

As we got closer to Patnitop, the vistas got more and more beautiful. The air was much cooler, giving us some respite from the Jammu heat.We crossed Patnitop and were on our way down. We hit some traffic near Ramban. We also got to see some huge army trucks. The trucks were truly awe-inspiring.


Baglihar Dam Site












We reached Banihal and were soon lead to a heavily army fortified tunnel. This is the Jawahar tunnel which connects Jammu to Kashmir valley. Its a 2.75 km long tunnel. Unfortunately, we got stuck behind a truck and had to follow the truck right through. This felt like the longest 3 kms I have ever done. I felt like my eyes were playing a 2 second tape over and over again. After a long while we finally saw some daylight creeping in to the all consuming darkness in the tunnel. The tranformation from Jammu to Kashmir wasn't purely geographical. The landscape had completely changed. It was just beautiful. Jammu also had its beauty, but this was something beyond. We stopped at the side for a few pictures. It was also here that we got our first peek of snow clad mountains.









We hit some traffic as we descended the pass and entered the villages. The villages themselves were so scenic that it was quite unbelievable. We came to a junction on the road. The right lead to Pahalgam and the left to Srinagar. Unfortunately, we had dropped Pahalgam from our itinerary so we took the left towards Srinagar. We were really hungry and thirsty. So we stopped at a small tea stall. I ordered some cold drinks. Kashif also had some tea. After settling everything, we left towards Srinagar.

Here happened the first (and the last) mess-up of the day. While leaving, Kashif went ahead. I left a few seconds later. We generally slowed down to let the person behind catch up. So I went after Kashif, overtaking one vehicle after another. Srinagar was about 25-30 kms now, but I still did not see Kashif anywhere. So I picked up my pace and I was now really ripping. But even after, 10-15 kms, there was no sign of Kashif. I thought "Boy, he is in a real hurry!". I soon came to a junction where the signboard said take the left for Baramulla and the straight road to Srinagar. The junction was crowded. I looked to see if Kashif had stopped, but he was nowhere to be seen. Now I was really pissed off. I took what I thought was the straight road but about 4 kms down the road I started seeing milestones for Baramulla so I turned around and went all the way back to the junction. All this was really getting on my nerves. Also, the end-of-the-day tiredness (add to that the hunger) was feeding the fire of my frustration.

I managed to reach Srinagar, when the road suddenly split up into multiple forks. There was no sign of Kashif still. I knew if I went further into the city it was going to be very difficult to find each other. I stopped at a circle and tried to call Kashif. Both his numbers were not reachable. This was really frustrating. He should have stopped for me or atleast slowed down to allow me to catch up.But he had just zoomed off and his phone was not reachable. I waited another 15 mins and tried again. Thankfully , this time the call went through. Synced up with him, barely keeping my frustration in check. We finally managed to somehow find each other.

So I asked him the reason why he didnt even bother to stop for me. Poor guy, he told me, he saw me overtake a car and I had failed to see him because he was behind a car. Both of us had been trying to keep up with the other.He then missed me at the junction because I had taken the wrong turn to Baramulla. Anyway, all's well that end's well. We laughed it away.

Srinagar is a big city and very crowded. We started searching for a hotel. We wanted a hotel near the lake so we headed directly to Dal Lake. There is a very heavy army and military presence here. Its a common sight to hear police sirens sounding and army vehicles running about in a hurry. Needless to say the hotels facing the lake were insanely expensive. We went a little inside from the lake side and managed to find a small guest house for Rs.500 only. The room was very small and basic.No fan or AC. The owner assured us that we would not be needing it.

We freshened up and left for the lake on foot. It was overcast and seemed like heavy rain was imminent.Our first priority was food. We were really really hungry. We didnt see any decent places until we saw a sweet shop (Nathu sweets,also famous in Delhi) facing the lake . By this time, it had also started raining. So we sought cover inside the shop.The shop looked like a nice little place, had an extensive menu and was quite crowded.We finally ordered some Dosa, Pav Bhaji and sweets. A nice change from our Dhaba routine.

Nathu Sweets


Hunger quelled we left for a walk by the lake as soon as the rain had stopped. The sky had opened up now and we could see a beautiful sunset by the lake. We removed our cameras and got to work.













It was already dark when we decided to turn back. We saw some stunters on the narrow road creating a lot of menace for the tourists. One guy on P-200 was constantly trying to pull of a stoppie and failing. Not surprisingly, they did NOT have any safety gear on. Not even helmets. The dinner at night was a pretty boring affair with normal Punjabi food. After dinner, we went to an ATM and withdrew a bit of cash. We wont be seeing a lot of ATMs where we would be going.

A thing of note I forgot to mention. We booked the room however, after unloading our luggage we noticed that the room did not have a 3-pin power outlet. We tried to look for a converter in the market but were unable to find one. So we could not charge our devices that night. This was a defining point because, after Srinagar, everytime we surveyed a room, the first thing we looked for was a 3-pin socket.

Anyway, after withdrawing some cash. We went down to our rooms and immediately went off to sleep.The owner was right about not need a fan because it had gotten really chilly and we soon reached for the blankets.
Thus ends day 2 of our journey.

Yes, I have been caught up in work and other stuff

Thanks buddy. The next part of the log will be up today.

superb pics dude, bring on the rest.....