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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
I thank all the kind visitors to this blog, for the good response to my post HOW TO PLAN A SUCCESSFUL ROAD TRIP TO KASHMIR/LADAKH/LEH ..... wish you had left a few encouraging comments though! Sigh :(
Anyway, I now want to take that earlier post further and give you a few pointers on what you should be prepared for, on this road trip.
1. I was pleasantly surprised on entering the kashmir border (particularly entering Srinagar), to find none of the horror tales of former visitors to be true. There was no uncomfortable luggage or body check by security personnel, no rough questioning and no hostile glares by the local populace. The security was just appropriate, the personnel polite and the locals warm (I must have asked atleast 30 people on the road for directions, during the course of my road trip, and every time the direction given was correct and the person friendly.)
2. The quality of the highway though, is a completely different story. In patches (loooong patches!), you will rough-ride through pebbled and potholed and slushy and narrow and avalanched roads!!!
Image copyright-jaya bhargava mahajan
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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
Image copyright-jaya bhargava mahajan
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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
Image copyright-jaya bhargava mahajan
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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
3. When you are heading out of the Kashmir Valley towards the Ladakh region, cross-check with your hotel staff or local policemen, whether or not the road is shut-down for a few hours, to smoothen one-way traffic on the narrow highway. You will be on National Highway 1 (NH 1) for this trip.
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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
4. Watch out for big stones that can come tumbling down on the road, due to being loosened by recent avalanches. There are warning boards on the highway before every such road-patch; take the warning seriously!
Image copyright-jaya bhargava mahajan
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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
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| kashmir-ladakh highway - copyright -jaya bhargava mahajan |
5. If you plan on going camping to beautiful spots like Pyongyang Lake (as I did) then be warned that it is very isolated, with nothing enroute to sustain your food, toilet or medical requirements. So go well-equipped (for details read my post HOW TO PLAN A SUCCESSFUL ROAD TRIP TO KASHMIR/LADAKH/LEH).
6. Last but not least, there are certain permits required to be obtained for a hassle-free road-trip to Ladakh via Kashmir. Any travel agent operating in the region can help ( maybe I will elaborate more on this in a later post; Watch this space! ).
Adios then! If you have queries, ask away in the comment box....cheers!
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