Its a sunny morning. Not cheerful at all.
Firstly I have forgotten my tripod, and secondly, I do not really like to travel through Kashmir. Hotels are expensive, food isn't tasty. I know many swear by Kashmiri Kababs, but when you have been fed on the tastiest Punjabi butter chicken, Rahra chicken, tandoori chicken etc., everything else seems silly.
Other than that, I feel the govt there to be fleecy. There are toll and excise barriers which cost 130rs to get to leh, and then 130rs to get out as exit excise. If that was not enough, the "tourist towns" charge 50rs just to pass through.
Heck, they have a 30rs toll even on the Srinagar bypass!
If you get great expressways for the toll, its understood, but paying all this, and then driving on narrow roads, with potholes and crazy traffic, it gets to you.
Last but not the least, the taxi and truck traffic is hell.
Trucks usually move in convoys of 3 or 4 with few meters space in between. When you overtake one and try to squeeze in, they try to box you. Either you overtake all 4 of the JK numbered trucks, or you go at 10kmph behind the behemoths.
To add icing to the cake, you have army convoys. When you are caught amidst one, you have had it.
anyways enough of the rant.
We start around 9am, and scout for tripods in pathankot, but there are none. I also send an SOS to my friend in Leh(ajay), and he promises to arrange something if possible.
Meanwhile our POA is to reach srinagar, and shop over there.
So its 10am as we lumber on the NH1 among a million trucks.
A quick meet with Vaibhav and his friends, and we are on the Samba bypass direct to Udhamnpur.
thankfully, traffic is light, and we make good time to Jawahar tunnel. At around 15 minutes past 3pm, we are at the "Titanic Viewpoint".
Thankfully the army canteen serves great Dosa, and we have an omelette with it. What a combo!
The weather meanwhile has turned bad. Its cloudy, and drizzling
Soon we enter the valley, and though the roads are good, the rain is blinding.
If this continues even the Zoji la may be closed.
Somehow, we make it to laal chowk well before closing time, and fine a shop which sells tripods.
I buy the base Vivicam version for 900rs. For sure I know its available for 750 in chandni chowk.
But there is no choice.
Moreover, something has happened to phone networks, and I am unable to inform Ajay that I have purchased the tripod.
After that we foolishly head to Dal Lake front for hotels, and get rattled by the prices!
Time to head back to city, and find a lousy hotel for 1000 bucks.
Its already 11pm when we sleep.
alarms are set for 4:30am. We are getting the hell outta here, and definitely reaching the sonmarg checkpost before 8am
TO BE CONT.....