Day 12. Scorching under the sun even at 2500 meters. But loving it.

TOYOTA Leh Jayenge
Day 12. Scorching under the sun even at 2500 meters. But loving it.
26th May 2010, Wednesday.
Route : Srinagar to Pathankot via Udhampur. 385 Kms.

Woke up to another wonderful day in Srinagar and we all had caught up with the deficit by now. After a leisurely shower and a lavish breakfast at Raghvendra and Rakhi’s, our ever gracious hosts, we left Srinagar at 10.10 am, with Shekhar at the wheel. It was a great feeling to be back in shorts and T’s.

Most of the drive was through hills and we had to be vary of traffic jams and hold ups. We would be crossing Udhampur and Patni top. Jammu would be by passed as we would take the second part of the fork after entering Udhampur right next to the fuel station.

The drive was good in terms of the road but the traffic was extremely heavy and we had to negotiate some jams and holdups which put us behind the clock by almost an hour. After about 90 kms at Banihal, Vijay took over from Shekhar and it got hotter as we descended. It was now almost 42 deg C, and although the Fortuner was comfortable and chilled with the effective front and rear air conditioning. At around 2.30, we stopped at a JKTDC restaurant at Ram Baan, for a very basic lunch. The heat was at its sweltering best and we felt the blast each time we stepped out of the car.

Nisheeth was behind the wheel now and with his hourly stops reasonably reduced to longer intervals ( perhaps the weather had a part to play, rather than his intake of water), so it was smooth sailing. In fact, we had a consensus over the fact that Nisheeth had been the most accommodating out of all of us and we would even constitute and present him with an award! We crossed Kudh and some very green and red Anardana fields which blended beautifully with the lush green stretches which accompanied usWe highly recommend Kudh for a good break for anything if it is enroute as the infrastructure there is better than most places around. We stopped at a cute Dhaba, New Greenland, for our favorite Chai and Onion Pakoras.

We took the road to Sambha from Udhampur as planned and the track was picturesque with wild life protection measures taken all along the route. It was getting to be dusk and as we reached Sambha, Nisheeth handed over the wheel to me. AS we hit Sambha, the highway construction activity put paid to our intentions to reach earlier. The J & K roads were pitiful, especially near the border checkpost. When we reached the toll gate on the J& K and Punjab border, Vijay opened the window and asked the man incharge to pay us Rs 1000/- instead of charging us toll, for suffering the pain of traveling on roads that did not apparently exist. The hung jaw of the guy said it all. He then smiled and understood what we were trying to get at and told us he was just doing his job and sympathized with us.

It was dark now and we finally entered Pathankot city through the Cantonment, at about 9 pm. We were booked at Hotel Venice in the heart of the city which although a decent hotel was located close to the railway station and the approach was painful thanks to closed railway crossing. But Post a quick meal in the restaurant in the Hotel and were ready to go to bed. The next day was another long stretch to Chandigarh and getting hotter. We were lucky to have been away from these oppressive temperatures, but had to acclimatize again.

With Vijay ( Jahanpanah)and Nisheeth in their eternal role of the chaperone and chaperoned, constantly creating the lighter moments, it was on a happy note that we said our good nights. Some shopping at Ludhiana was also in store as was the famed Lassi that had been eluding Nisheeth. So Chandigarh here we come. We had kept an extra day at the Taj in Chandigarh ( also our co-sponsors in through their Vivanta brand) so we could catch up with some sleep as well.

Signing off. Catch you in and enroute to Chandigarh!