Jul 3
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Experience: Sonamarg / Nilagrath
We had reached Nilagrath village, four kilometers away from Sonamarg. Not much more than 80km from Srinagar. The guard at check post refused to let us through citing road maintenance. So at 4:30pm, our day was wrapped up. A whole day’s riding was 80km! I felt ashamed of myself as I’ve done 600+km in a day in the plains, so at least half seemed like a feasible target in mountains. My odometer was screaming “Not even one sixth!” at me.
After our plans for reaching Kargil were flushed down the glacier’s wet end, we were wondering what to do next. The first thought was to go back to Sonamarg from the check post and spend the night at some hotel there, but the memory of crazy tourists and horses and their… anyway, that plan didn’t smell right. So we asked owner of a small shop there if we could stay somewhere nearby. He nodded, smiled and pointed to a room next to his shop.
Though the room was small, lacked nearly everything but a 40 watt incandescent bulb, a plug point for phone charger and a few mattresses. Oh, it also had a window! Still, this was better than what we had experienced in previous stays. The room was next to a roaring river, had a toilet next doors and was barely a shout’s distance from the check post that we had to cross next day.
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For me, this was a blessing in disguise! Finally, I could be near nature and away from the clutter of towns. Wherever I looked, I saw photography-worthy scenery, even the village across the road was pretty. Heck, the road itself looked gorgeous!
Did I mention that the mountains overlooking us were demanding admiration? Well, now I did ;-) have a look…
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None of the plants were shy to show off their gladness that summer had finally arrived!
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Well, all was fine up till here. Until Shrenik had the fabulous idea to wash his clothes in the icy cold water. I protested, Yogesh and Sumedh joined me. Shrenik was adamant to get his clothes washed. We protested some more. Now he turned his eyes to our clothes too! This wasn’t going to end well. We looked on helplessly as he washed everyone’s clothes. Then accepted the fact that our clothes were all wet and dripping, so we helped him wring them and get the chilled water out.
Tied a rope across two poles to create a makeshift clothesline.
We were glad it was finally over!
Shrenik was mighty happy that he won against three of us.
Our bikes were watching over the clothes as we went away for an evening walk…
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Right through the check post, on to the road we would ride tomorrow…
Looked back at the sunset, what a beautiful sight! Soldiers were playing sports on the helipad by their post. Villagers were watching from the road that was gleaming in the last sun rays of that day.
I noticed movement on the path below… the horses that had scared me from staying at Sonamarg were returning home, along with their humans!
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We walked a bit more. While I was shooting a panorama, a curious villager was observing me. I started conversation and chatted with him for a while. Then everyone joined in. Later, we used the tripod for a group shot.
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Made a few more frames of the mountains and walked back to Nilagrath…
Moon was rising just as the golden rays of sun lit up the ice capped tips of the mountains. This had to be photographed :-D
Catching the infection, Yogesh and Shrenik got into the mood for photography…
It was fairly dark by the time we reach back. I changed over to a faster lens and shot a few frames of kids playing cricket.
Civilian truckers were also waiting at the parking lot beside check post. Some of them had already started cooking their dinner.
We had a cup of chai to fight the cold that was now getting to our bones. When we ventured out in the sun, it was warm and cozy however as soon as the sun went behind the mountains, cold winds took over. We were quite chilled by the time we got back.
We went back to Sonamarg at night for dinner. Ate some more Kashmiri Wazwan food: Rogan Josh. After returning, I took the tripod and went shooting some more after everybody had cozied up in their beds.
Here’s a shot of the stream flowing by the side of the place stayed at. It joined a bigger river a little ahead. The roaring noise was menacing yet soothing. Full moon illuminated the landscape with ample light. A truck coming up form behind the next turn created a nice glow in the center and the stars put some nice bright spots in the blue sky! The quick river’s speed was tamed by a slow shutter, turning it into a very serene, almost silky surface.
I dozed off after this. ZojiLa was waiting for us tomorrow and we had to leave early to make it to Kargil and if time permitted, all the way to Leh as we were lagging behind schedule now. I couldn’t sleep too well, neither could the other guys… it was too cold, the beds were just mattresses laid down on floor and a mattress/”rajai” each on top. We also used our sleeping bags, but not being able to sleep in one position too long kept waking me up as I tried to move and the sleeping bag restricted all movement. The day had been relaxed, the night was testing for each one of us. The last thought as fatigue finally took over me was… “It’s nearly early morning now… will we wake up on time?”
Again, great pictures!