CLC: Chapter 5 Haunting Zojila

Finally Zojila opens at 2:00 PM clock after two days of wait. We were being sent amidst high warning that the roads are still not good. We could say we were among first 20 vehicles to go.

Zojila welcomes us with huge steep where our tire almost slips, We were expecting the worst but really didn’t know what’s waiting for us. Within few distance we were passing through slush because of melting snow and washed away roads. Couple of smaller vehicles going ahead of us were stuck. We did help one of them by giving them excess water for their radiators.



But our struggling progress didn’t last for a long time. Our vehicle got stuck in mud and was totally out of control. Adding to the worst we were ascending the slop and we had to step on the accelerator. Most of the time the vehicle would loose traction, two of us would get down and manage either by pushing the vehicle or by placing stones under the tire.



As we were climbing close to 13,000 ft pushing the vehicle was also becoming tough. Out of control means a catastrophe. Once we crossed with mud pool we though the worst was over but we were wrong. We were now passing through 20 feet of snow on the both the sides and good amount of snow on the road. The vehicle was again loosing traction on snow, Most of the time only driver used to sit and others would help in pushing the vehicle or make passage on roads. As few vehicles have already passed there were pathway in someplace but we werent sure if the middle path had fresh snow.



If we got stuck by a mortar in axle it would turn be a disaster in such condition, we were cautious, we were anxious, we were also exited to cross Zojila. After struggling in similar condition for more than hour we finally crossed the haunting Zojila pass. By this time our shoes and socks were completed socked in mud/snow and wearing those means hyperthermia



We saw huge line of trucks standing after the top pass. As the pass has just opened the officials were not allowing truck traffic to get in. Poor truck guys,they have been waiting for four days now, We were sure they would be still waiting for two more days. We could easily spot at least thousand trucks.

After a haunting experience we started enjoying the scenic beauty of the valley lying after the dangerous pass. We had no doubt that it was worth an effort crossing such passes for seeing this unique beauty. We then traveled a good amount of distance in no time while drying our shoes. The roads were really good. Thanks to BRO (Border road Organization).



After hundreds of kms we reached drass, famous for indo-pakistan war back in 1999. Few interesting facts which we didn’t know were it’s the second coldest inhabited place in world, temp dropping -62 C in 1995. Honestly we never knew this fact. We were totally taken back by “Tiger Hill” which was last point Indian army took from Pakistan during the war. Army guys are really super human to fight is such an extreme condition. Tiger hill was all covered by snow. Imagine people fighting at 22000 feet , highest battle field in world.



This is was also our first meeting with Madras regiment people of army. Few army guys were so happy to see us,they recognized us from our vehicles number plate . They were so happy to see civilians from their place thousand of kms away.

We made sure we visited the War memorial. It was an emotion journey reading though the stories of each brave men who lost their lives. Photos of Smiling Captain Vikram Batra just before dying left an everlasting feeling in our heart. Every citizen of India should truly thank these brave men.

After an emotional journey we headed towards Kragil , another infamous place of 1999 India Pakistan war. On the way we spotted few Buddhist monks struggling with their car. We helped them fix their headlamp as they were struggling to drive in dark. One of the person from them was Tashi , he was from leh and we said that we would meet him in couple of days. Tashi made sure he gave his number and requested us to call once we reach leh.




It was already getting dark we reached kargil late in the evening. As they were lot of passengers who had to stay in sonamarg would be resting at kargil which is a big town before leh. We were little skeptical weather we would get a place to stay. We didn’t need a fancy place we were ok even if it’s just to stretch our legs. We spotted few bikers whom we saw in sonamarg and luckily we got a room to stay. The place was decent enough to spend few hours before we started again.