TO LEH BY ROAD

---

LEH BY ROAD. The mountains of the North Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir have always facinated & enchanted me. Over the last three years I have been travelling to Srinagar very frequently on business. In June 2004 I was in Srinagar on business and invited four of my college time friends to come for a holiday. My friends were from the plains and were mesmerised by the natural beauty. We went to Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Pahalgam, Baramulla, Kupwara and many more beautiful places. It was then we decided to go to Leh, Ladakh for a vacation the next year. I had been to Leh once by Air but after seeing the moonscape thought driving to leh will be more excieting.

JAMMU TO SRINAGAR. 25th July 2005. We leave Jammu for Leh in our car. Our Car- Maruti 800. This is a small Indian car with an 800 cc engine. We are 5 full grown adults with baggage stuffed in a small car like sardines in a tin. reach Srinagar in the evening in time for a pleasent & quiet the SHIKARA (small boat) ride in the famous Dal Lake. enjoy smirnoff vodka in the shikara under a partially cloudy sky with moon playing hide-n-seek. The only sound we can hear is of water lapping against shikara and the occasional gud-gud-gud-gud coming from Ghulam's (the shikara owner) HOOKAH. Wow it is heaven. The shikara ride ended late in the night. next on our to-do list is to enjoy KASHMIRI WAZWAN (kashmiri delicacies) for dinner. we have GUSTABA, TABAK MAS, YAKHNI, RISTA, ROGAN JOSH, SEEKH KEBABS (these are kashmiri dishes) at the famous restaurant ADOO'S in srinagar. mouth watering ?? we head back for retiring for the night to our house boat LAKE'S CROWN.

---

Photos

Road to Leh
GOLU DID NOT LET US CLICK THIS PIC WITHOUT HIM BEING IN FRAME.

5 IN A MARUTI
5 IN A MARUTI - L to R Tidda, Myself, Jain Sab, Golu, Mota.