I think we slept for couple of hours and got up at 3am. The bathroom had a bathtub and the water was super-hot. Even the water coming from bum shower was hot. Somehow took the bath and the hotel guys had arranged tea and biscuits in the morning which was good. We took the small boat ride again and reach the dal gate boulevard by 4 am. However our transport didn’t show up so we started to call the driver and operator. On the road we were seeing lot of tourist either trying to get out of Srinagar or come in.

The transport arrived at 4:30 am and we just got into the traveller vehicle asap. The driver told us that we need cross a tense section to avoid any stone pelting . We saw lot of stone in middle of the road and glass pieces used for curfew as we were travelling. I think it was a very tense time as we didn’t want to get caught between a curfew. The driver was good and was hurrying in order to get out of Srinagar. We had to get fuel in vehicle and all petrol pumps were getting empty because of curfew we however got fuel in one of the station and we were good. As we started to move out of the tense area the mood in the tempo got nice as we started to play music and started to enjoy the landscape of Kashmir. The route goes from Sonamarg valley which is very beautiful .


We moved head towards Zoji la pass where we stopped at a point called 0 degree point and saw some snow. Since the weather was cold we decided to have Veg maggi which was nice along with bhaji plate. We then did ice sledge for 400 per person and it was good and bumpy experience. Later we realised we were ripped off and we could have bargained for less. Then we started our journey towards Drass were we wanted to visit the Kargil War memorial. Upon reaching we need to go through security checks before entering the memorial. There is no entry fees and on display we have original MIG-21 plane used in Kargil war. There are lot of artillery guns in display. There is a small memorial as well which displays all the brave soldiers accomplishments during the war. There is a war memorial with all soldiers name who lost their life during the Kargil War. We were lucky as we got to saw a war narration from solider who talked about how Pak Army took over the posts when in winters it is agreed not to have any army presences there due to the harsh weather. The solider explained to the entire crowd in an Army loud voice and gestures how the Tiger hills battle was carried out and how important it is to control these hills. We took names of Captain Batra who was instrumental in getting a victory.

We ate some samosa’s, tea and Ice cream in the Army canteen before leaving for our destination to Kargil City. We reached Kargil city by 1: 30 pm and checked in hotel Greenland which is in the market area. We had booked rooms in the new building which looks better than the old one. As everyone got refreshed we decided to go for lunch and had after few disappointing restaurants we went to a small hotel and order food which was good. We ordered chicken Wazwan curry which is a local curry dish. The food look lot of time to be served and people were very hungry as we completed our lunch by 4-4:30 pm. After lunch some of them went to take rest, however myself, Santosh and sushil decided to go for walk and we went to the river city which was flowing with high speed and the water was black in colour due to the soil I guess. We asked around and got to know that kargil is a dry city and there is no wine shop and drinking is prohibited however our hotel manager told he can arrange for a bottle for a cost. Namita was not feeling well so we called her Mumbai doctor and brought medicines from the chemist store. The dinner was Veg only with paratha, paneer, dal and rice. It was tasty though and custard for sweets. After dinner everyone went to sleep since we wanted to start early for drive to Leh tomorrow.