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Thanks for the approval Mod.

Im sure you had a great trip. Bring on the log for us

Guys,

Can anybody help me with pics upload in thread? All pictures are 4MB to 8MB in size and am unable to upload any of them thus unable to proceed with the log. The cover picture was the only one under 2MB and thus I was able to upload. I would like to upload full size pics rather than thumbnails.

Thanks

Upload them on Picassa and link them here

Thanks Satyen. I was thinking the same but unsure if those pics will be visible on the log itself (along with the text) or only links will show?

Here you go

awesome...Thanks so much

We are waiting for your story and pictures I am sure you had a great time of your life.

Even I'm waiting to get my log going. Just getting stuck with one thing or the other (firstly office work and now my laptop :-( ...going to update it ASAP along with loads of pics...You also need to give us the same

amazing pics....

Waiting for more....

Preparation or so it was...

They say that Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. So, we had the opportunity and the next thing we needed for a lucky trip was preparation. Months passed by since the 3 agreed for the trip and all we did meanwhile was to have casual discussions regarding our trip on our routine weekend outings. But I knew that it will take a lot, lot more than that to prepare ourselves for this trip and thus I was all active on the Ladakh preparation thread for 2012 and also was continuously gathering any piece of information that was posted on any of the related threads by experienced riders including route maps, weather, permits, documents, physical fitness, AMS, medication etc. I was also given the tiring job of preparing the itinerary since this entire trip was my idea.

First mistake -- Was when I thought that preparing the itinerary would be an relatively easy task since I have read so many travelogues and have made notes of the routes, places to visit and night halts, only to be proven wrong, terribly wrong, for little I knew that I would be spending almost a month and a half in preparing the final itinerary (1st one being prepared on 1st May) and even that won't be followed completely due to the uncertainty of the paths we wished to tread.










Car Service & Shopping



Rest of shopping was done by Marwah & Me in a single day. It included medicines, junk food, some more junk food and then some more. It was done from Pacific Mall in Subhash Nagar, New Delhi. We went there as there was a sale on junk food items and we picked everything that had an off percentage against it. It was a hilarious experience for never before have I bought so much potato chips packets, biscuits, soft drink cans & the life saver on the trip, our beloved Cup Noodles. It took us almost an hour to only get the stuff billed!!





Deal Breaker!!

Some random pics out of the 3000 that I have...




The start of Zozila pass...Beautiful roads to no roads to pure treachery in 15 minutes flat...



Minutes before start of the trip...


Me doing the final luggage adjustments...



First stop after a full night of non-stop driving...Mc Donalds at Hoshiarpur, Punjab 6AM




Sign board at Jammu



Enroute Sonamarg


That's me, just outside Kargil war memorial


Weather was beautiful @ Kargil war memorial


Tiger Hill


Inside Kargil war memorial with Tololing range in background


Two Sumit's (me in white tshirt. Other one is Marwah) on our way to Gulmarg from Srinagar


The Yezdi Road King...this belonged to a Yezdi group we met at Kargil War Memorial


Always remember...


Somewhere between Drass & Kargil


Road after Drass


Few kms before Gulmarg


We had start sensing Leh now but it was still far away


Me trying to capture some of Kashmir's beauty

So it begins...


The Gulmarg Temple


How do I start defining this part? They say that if you really need to learn, learn like a child, dropping all your premonitions. You must empty your cup first and then let the knowledge and experience soak in completely if you wish to understand something in totality. That’s how it should be for any other way would just not be right. But can humans really do that? I mean, who can just forget the past and remain unfazed of the future, living only for the moment? I don’t think I can but I would be lying if I say that I don’t want to live like that, live like a traveler, live like a wanderer. Live for the moment, for yesterday is gone and future is uncertain, maybe how god wanted us to live, cherishing each moment spent with family & friends under the beautiful blue sky and the endless beautiful world to see, travel & experience.

Date: 27th June 2012, Day: Wednesday

It’s 6 AM and my alarm goes off singing I am so high, I can hear heaven, Whoa, but heaven...no, heaven don't hear me…that’s my alarm tone for I don’t remember how long. That’s Chad Kroeger’s Hero, a song I just can’t get enough of. I mistake it for my usual 8 AM gym alarm and decide to let it snooze for the set 15 minutes interval promising myself to get up on the next Hero recital. 15 minutes goes quickly than 15 seconds and it’s time to get up. This time I do, experiencing a headache due to lack of sleep. Suddenly I realize that it’s not 8 yet but 6:15 and remember that I went to bed only at 2 AM after managing all the required trip documents. In a flash, something strikes my mind. Oh my god!!!
Today is the day. And I don’t know why, there was an insignificant smile on my face. I looked at my bed; it seems different, like asking me if I will miss him. Of course I will and with a promise to be back in a few days, I finally part with it.

Today I have changed my office shift from the usual 2-10:30 PM and was to reach office by 8 AM. My manager also allowed me to leave early that day so I planned to leave office by 4 and be back home by 5:30 PM so I could get some rest before leaving for Karthik’s house and do the final luggage adjustments. That day, while doing all my routine daily chores, something was different. I felt nostalgic. For 12 days I won’t see my family, won’t get my cozy bed to sleep at night, no TV, no movies, but I wasn't complaining. Just a strange feeling encompassing me, something words can’t describe. Is this happiness? There was no answer, only a feeling.

Wading through massive Delhi traffic I reach my Noida office, which is a 45km commute one side. It’s 10 AM already. I rush to my seat, open my computer while praying for no work and no client emails. No sign of any of them and I am elated by the perfect start to this day. It’s a painfully anxious wait till 4 as the universe seems to have forgotten to rotate on its axis. Somehow I make it to 3:30 and start packing my bag. My entire team gathers to wish me luck for the trip (for them it was just that, for me it was a journey). They ask me several questions regarding the trip while giving weird expressions to my answers. Bring back lots of pictures they said. I assured them I will and then kept the promise by bringing back 17GB of pictures & videos from what they say is another world.

It’s 4:30 PM and I am late. Delhi traffic at morning and evening or any other time for that matter is nothing short of a nightmare. It takes me 3 hours to cover 45kms and I reach home only at 7:30. We were to move at 8 after I had some rest. Silly me, for underestimating the power of monotony to hold us back. For now, even the thought of this journey is tiring me no end. I look at my bed again and it has never looked more tempting. But there’s no time, not now. I start to get ready and ask mom to make her special strong tea for me. She was fine in the morning but looks concerned right now. Maybe now she realized that I’ll be away for 12 days and that too in the Himalayan Mountains!!! Call me after every 12 hours and don’t drive fast and be 1000 times more careful while driving in the mountains and the best of all “just cancel the trip and come back whenever you feel you can’t go on”. Don’t worry, I’ll be alright I said, knowing that it will be hard to give even 1 call a day. She pretends to believe. It’s 8:30 PM and I leave with my brother for Karthik’s house. I didn’t let mom come for some obvious reasons.

Karthik’s waiting and has done almost the entire luggage already. I do some readjusting while he gets some of his stuff. Some pictures taken and we are off within 15 minutes. We are to pick Marwah on the way and visit a temple for a moment of prayer to expect the gods to keep us safe on this nature espionage of ours. After the trip, I think it worked.

Plan was that Karthik will drive till Chandigarh and me and Marwah will take over that duty once the mountains arrive. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad driver but he’s certainly a new one. I have little experience of driving in mountains whereas Marwah was the most experienced.

It takes us 40 minutes to reach Marwah’s house due to traffic without which it takes 15 minutes. He stuffs some stuff in the already stuffed boot and we are off to the temple. While standing in the temple, I experience the same strange feeling I get every time I venture into one. A feeling of disbelief for which, I have my reasons like everyone else. Finally we move, with the gods watching upon us, or so we believed. Its almost 10 and we just started.

I am looking outside at the surroundings where I have been a thousand times before but something’s different tonight. Some memories crop up of times that have faded; people who aren’t there anymore. Nothing’s changed yet so much has changed. It’s a strange feeling. For few minutes I am lost, despite the music, deafening sound of traffic and the chit chat of Karthik & Marwah; I just keep looking outside, not a word.

Few minutes later, I get back to sanity, like waking up from a dream. It’s been an hour since we started and we are still stuck in Delhi’s traffic. Usually I get pissed in such a situation, but today’s different. I am just enjoying the feeling that going on this journey is giving me. I have dreamed of it for so long now and now I am actually doing it. It takes us 2hours to cross Alipur on GT Karnal road due to the massive traffic jam caused by marriage processions in most of the farmhouses there. It’s always nice to see the fireworks, people making funny moves & expressions which others mistake for dancing while the family elders gushing about how good her friend’s daughter-in-law dances when all she does is, well “funny moves”. Pardon me for my arrogance but being a diehard MJ fan, I have my parameters to call something a dance. There are hordes of people, clad in Gucci & Prada, dancing right in front of our car while the legendary “Band & Dhol” rivalry plays in the background. We shut our music system off and enjoy peoples march to chaos celebration also known as marriage, while checking out some good looking girls giving us a free dance show. After 45 minutes of entertainment, we get to move. Contrary to what we experienced till now, ahead we find empty roads, not even trucks, which is unusual. At night, even seasoned GT Karnal travelers are scared of the amount of trucks that ply on this route and that’s saying something. But at the moment, there are none, just few cars & bikes in the distant view and around. In moments, we experience a mood shift from celebration to loneliness. But with friends, you are never lonely. So, with MJ singing Billie Jean for us and some chilled soda bottles, we move ahead, into the night, en-route to a lifetime experience. We move to Ladakh. And I say to myself, So It Begins….


Beautiful Gulmarg


Dark clouds made it look even more beautiful


It rained and weather was very cold


Road from Jammu to Katra


Took a break after Patni Top..destination of the day was Srinagar




Enroute Srinagar


Were stuck in a massive traffic jam due to Amarnath yatra rush


First view of Kashmir Valley aka Titanic Point


Titanic Point




Were able to make it to Srinagar by 8pm only


Morning in Srinagar...streets were empty due to curfew


Enroute Gulmarg


Gulmarg mountains in the background


Almost 30kms to those mountains


Board at Ramban


Somewhere in the mountains


A bridge after Patni Top