JOURNEY FROM LEH TO KARGIL

                          LEH  TO  KARGIL : THE  ENCHANTING  JOURNEY

After spending a day at Leh covering the sight-seeing, we headed towards Kargil. The driver, a jolly and quite obedient one, would halt near beautiful landscapes so that I could take satisfying snaps. No need to mention that he had already understood how much a photography-crazy I was! I in fact was obliged to this jovial behaviour of him. The route from Leh to Kargil would take about 7-8 hours. We were to stay there at Kargil for the next day and then head back. 

The smooth NH1 stretched over Leh is very popular, number of films were shot there. The sultry, rough weather of Leh may put you down but the journey never will...It is one of the most beautiful route I have seen. All the way I witnessed a number of bikers with Royal Enfield --everyone's dream bike! And no doubt you will experience the beauty of Ladakh more closely and profoundly  if you hire a bike and zoom off along the road. You can halt wherever you want, you can take pictures whenever you want. 

There was also a "Magnetic Hill" en route. The driver pointed that out and left his feet from the accelerator and hands from steering, and with utter surprise the car was moving spontaneously with only the magnetic force. The picture below was taken beside the Magnetic Hill, its on the left side.

The next spectacular landmark was the place where the Sindhu and Zanskar riverflow gets blended, you can easily distinguish the two different colours of the different rivers. I had already taken a few shots from the running car but the driver halted beside the road and told me to get off the car and take some clear shots "yahan se acche photo aayenge" (you'll get good photos here). A few cars were parked nearby and tourists were standing at the edge of the road to capture some beautiful shots. The colour of the Zanskar river is bluish green while that of Sindhu is yellowish grey. I captured a few shots and got on the car...

The Zanskar river was a constant companion throughout the route...Afterwards it was crystal green, the reflection of the grey-brown cliffs fell upon the riverflow. Nothing could have been more magnificent than the blue sky, green river and grey cliffs --a perfect combo.

The route offers you both snow covered peaks, shaded grey cliffs, patch of greenery and the companion of riverflow in one pack. It's worth a visit to Ladakh.

There is this amazing structure en route called "Moonland". This sturucture is like plateau, with slopes and it is said that on full moon nights, the moon beams fall upon them making an exquisite beauty.

The route offered some different shots too like: 

With lots of pictures taken en route, and a feeling of peace in my mind, at last reached Kargil....

A road trip I remember....