Day 5 – Kargil to Leh
We started off from Kargil at a little after 8 am post breakfast and headed in the opposite direction towards the Kargil war memorial at Dras. The memorial is built in memory of the soldiers that sacrificed their lives for the country during the 1999 India-Pakistan war. A stroll in the premises takes you to another dimension and it is a very overwhelming feeling. A large wall has the names of all the martyred soldiers and also hoisted is a large tri-colour that weighs 15 kg. An army officer gave us a presentation and low down on the war and he showed us the various peaks that our army conquered during the war. We even got a glimpse of the famous Tiger Hill. Additionally, there is a video room and a souvenir store as well.
The convoy started rolling towards Leh soon after, while the Advance team collected packed lunches for the group from our hotel. We stopped by a river side for a relaxed lunch session and photo posing. Post lunch, we resumed our drive to Leh and I have to say the roads by the BRO are a dream to drive on. Full black tarmac roads and mountain twisties make for a driver’s delight. We crossed two passes that exist between Kagil and Leh, the Fotu La and Namik La before arriving at the Lamayuru Monastery. It is one of the largest and oldest gompas in the Ladakh region.
It was a non-stop drive post Lamayuru passing some lovely moonscapes as the sun set over the mountains. We finally reached Leh at around 9 pm and checked into Hotel Glacier View, our abode for the next two nights. I headed straight to the dining hall before even seeing my room, in fact the whole group did, we were that hungry. Everyone was in a relaxed mood as the next day was going to be free day to explore Leh. Went up to my room to catch up on the Formula 1 race before dozing off.
Contd…
