The Great Escape - Cliffhanger Kashmir / Valleys of Himachal / Mughal Road and much more.

I was driving on one of the world’s most dangerous road, carefully navigating through the curves, enjoying the landscape and sound of river passing 1000 meters below the road. 50 kilometers took more than 5 hours, still wasn’t tired.

Suddenly a vehicle comes from opposite direction with a big honking. Honking broke my sleep and I quickly got up and realized I was dreaming. Crazy isn’t it, it was 27th September 2015 the D – Day was still 3 days away, so after having a glass of water I went back to sleep again.

Well till the time i get up again, enjoy the teaser collage of the trip.


Lots of Details to be shared along with wonderful pictures. Stay tuned.

 

very nice buddy hooked please continue....

 

Wonderful collage, start the show pls.
Cheers...

 

Eagerly waiting for the pics, which place is it??

 

Okay, tell me where you are going, what are the sightseeing spots and places of interest.
I always got such questions from my friends, colleagues, parents, etc. Well it was very difficult to explain them, where I was going. Initially I told them, I am going to Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, their immediate response was Wow, Visit Gulmarg and Dal Lake in Srinagar, Rohtang Pass and Solang Valley in Manali. In Shimla, if you are lucky you will get to see the snowfall. Anyways all of you here can very well connect to what I have done.

1. Mughal Road
2. Sinthan Top
3. Cliffhanger Drive i.e. the road connecting Jammu & Kashmir (Kishtwar) and Himachal Pradesh (Khillar)
4. Killar to Gramphoo
5. Gramphoo to Batal (driving on rocks)
6. Chandrataal lake
7. Kunzum Top
8. Kaza Circuit
9. Golden Temple.
10. Husainiwala Border Post.

Now how to explain them, so I made them search videos on you-tube with Tag such as World's most dangerous road", "Road between Kishtwar and Killar" and told them this is where I am going.

It didn't go well with anyone so following are the further set of questions I got
1. Why you want to go here, what’s there to see in these mountains?
2. Why you want to take so much risk?
3. You would be driving whole day, what is the point of taking holiday?
4. What if car breaks down?

All the above points are valid for which I didn’t had any answer so I calmly listened to them and kept quite. There is no point in justifying, because people will fail to understand.

Answer to the above questions:
1. For me it was a matter of taking my driving capabilities to different level. For doing the above circuit lot of patience is required, you got to take care of yourself as well as your vehicle.
2. Risk????? It’s always there, each day, every day. Things can go wrong when you are commuting from Home to Office and vice versa. So that was never a worry.
3. For me holiday is exploring new places and driving.
4. Yes, this was the biggest worry, but a well maintained vehicle ideally should not give you problems. I was optimistic about it.

Here I was dreaming of driving on one of the world’s most dangerous road and the trip itself was still in dilemma.

What?????
Yes, the trip wasn’t sure till 27th September 2015. Below details will explain you why.

Why is the Name of Travelogue “The Great Escape?”
Everything happened which could have easily put the trip in shadows. I literally had to hold my nerves and calmly fight against the negatives. I knew the name of my travelogue from the moment I left my home for the trip. Following is the list of reasons which motivated me to keep the name of the travelogue as “The Great Escape”

1. Work Pressure.
2. Crazily hectic week before the D – Day.
3. One of the main drivers backing of the trip just a week before the D – Day.
4. No backup driver.
5. Convincing parents and brother for driving solo.
6. Convincing the friend of mine who was going to join me for the drive and making him understand his role in the trip.
7. Convincing myself for such a treacherous drive.
8. Zero preparation for the trip till 3 days before the D – Day.
9. To whomsoever I consulted for the drive and inputs, response were not encouraging.
10. Snowfall at Kunzum Top just 4 days before D – Day.
11. Rainfall in Jammu & Kashmir, closing down the Jammu – Srinagar Highway just 4 days before the D – Day.
But in spite of all this negatives we began our drive on 1st October 2015.

Few Teasers for your eyes only.

The road between Kistwar & Killar.



The Majestic Chandrataal


Starting point of Mughal Road.


Sinthan Top


That's Spiti Valley for you


Akhnoor


Golden Temple

 

promising log

 

Thanks Buddy.

Thanks Buddy. Yes. Will post the details soon.

This place is between Kishtwar (Jammu & Kashmir) and Killar (Himachal Pradesh). This road connects Padder Valley (Jammu & Kashmir) and Pangi Valley (Himachal Pradesh).

Thanks Sir.

 

Marvellous !!!

 

Blockbuster start... Hooked

 

wow..this has almost everything except Ladakh !!

Cheers

Anuj