Got up early on Day Two (31st May), had a shower & got ready for the next part of the expedition. The night security guy who had kept an eye on The Beast was obliging enough to volunteer to give a quick wash & I was only too happy to accept his offer. At 7 am, we rolled out of the TRC and made our way back to the highway towards Srinagar. First halt was planned for breakfast at Patnitop, still a fair distance away
But first - a 15 minute halt for Diesel & Tyre pressure check-up.
Total Distance travelled - 679.3 kms, Diesel filled - 62.46 ltrs, Mileage obtained - 10.88 kmpl. Good going!
We crossed the Katra fork & then Udhampur and Kud. We were in high spirits because we'd hit the mountains & were climbing! We approached Patnitop at 10.21 am & had an argument with the guy at the Patnitop gates about paying the entry fee of Rs 50 (simply because the JKTDC resort was inside the reserve area) - a bloody rip-off I thought. After a quick breakfast of Masala Omlettes, Toast & Tea, we carried on
We kept company with the river way below us & crossed Batote & Ramban and then
Khuni Nullah which we remembered vividly from years ago! Memories, though a trifle hazy......
We stopped at the Tourist Bungalow at Banihal for lunch - they were kind enough to open up a room for us to freshen up. Nice picturesque surroundings but we still had some way to go so we moved on after a 50 minute halt
Next on the map was the 2.5 kms long engineering marvel of the Jawahar Tunnel - endless
Had to dish out 70/- as Toll at Lower Munda - a hopelessly complicated and confused bunch of idiots who made you run from one window to another. I finally hit gold on the third window and was able to get going after a wait of
7 minutes!!!!!
The familiar names & scenery from yesteryears were coming up in front of us - Qazikund, Khanabal, Awantipura & Pampore. The roads were a hell of a lot better now & one could floor the pedal
We made good time & entered Srinagar a little after 5 pm. Our Hotel was located on the Boulevard overlooking the Dal Lake and we reached and checked in at 5.14 pm. A Deluxe Room with a balcony overlooking the Lake - definitely nowhere near as spacious or VFM as the TRC room at Jammu but the view made up for it
Total Distance Travelled - 303.7 kms; Total Driving Time - 8hrs 15 mins
After freshening up, the consensus was to take a shikara ride on the Dal Lake & see the standard four or five points that they show you. It took us an hour and there was a chilly wind blowing on the lake by the time we got back
Back to the room & relaxing on the balcony and then it was dinner time. Wazhwan food was much in demand but we'd have to go to the Lal Chowk for that. So we decided to walk to a restaurant next door which did have some great kebabs. It was a trifle overpriced but - what the heck!
The Safari had a little over half a tank full of gas so I decided to fill up next morning. Made enquiries multiple times & was reassured each time that there were multiple pumps around the corner who would be open. There were a few Liquor vends in the complex and I noticed they were quite crowded. Saw notices saying that the next couple of days would be dry days but didn't really bother to ask them why. After Srinagar, it would be "dry" for me anyway till we reached Manali.
Throughout the evening, the Boulevard was packed & the noise level was really high. It was a relief to find that it had emptied out by the time we came back from our dinner. Hopefully, it would be as peaceful when we left the next morning. Time to hit the sack, though it wasn't as early as I would have liked. And that brought the curtain down on Day Two........the next day would bring the first real challenge,
Zoji La, so many stories we'd heard about it, now we'd actually be
driving through it in our own 4x4 Beast!!! Big time insomnia hit me - adrenalin pumping, stomach knotting, settled down eventually to a few hours of slumber.