Tale of a solo ride into the dreamlands and the lifetime of memories- Entering the dreamlan

Day: 5 Amritsar to Udhampur:

The start to the day was chaotic. The traffic in Amritsar was so ugly, it took me lot of time and sweat to get out of there. The fact that I forgot my phone in the hotel did not make things easier and I had to go through the same hell twice. The roads were good, but the driving or riding habits in Punjab got me nuts. I have even told people that I will never drive or ride in Punjab again. People will come in front of your nose and expect you to avoid them hitting you.

Any ways enough ranting about traffic, let’s talk about food! There is only one word, amazing. The paranthas, lassi and all the delicacies, they feed you enough to make you sleepy and then offer you place to sleep too. Hospitable people and the saving grace for a frustrating ride.

Udhampur toll booth brought in lots of joy to me, I was waiting to see this board from 4 days and here I was in front of it, being enquired by people on where I was from and if I am in the right state of mind to do such things. From here I changed my answer for are you alone from yes, to no there are people coming behind, I reached a bit early.

I had to visit my Aunt in Jammu and it was already noon and I rushed a bit to get there. The roads were nice and Jammu came soon. Had food there any bid good bye to them.

Here is my little sis who wanted a pic of me in full gear 

Now the roads turned awesome. For the initial part, the roads were curvy and single lane. Please be careful In this stretch. There were lots of stones kept on the road, probably from the vehicles that broke down and saw an alto lose its front bumper and screech to halt with a big stone stuck to its front axle.

Tawi river accompanies the lone traveller

Stopped at Udhampur as it was turning late and it was getting cloudy. The first hotel I checked said 2.5K for a night, second one was better and offered 1.5K. I went into the third and got a room for 600Rs and settled for the night.

Day: 6 Udhampur to Aru:
It rained heavily in the night and the rain had become a drizzle in the morning. Went to the nearby shack for the morning tea and met this old uncle. We spoke about politics, money and lots of other things. He is a retired policeman and he refused to take money from me! He said that I am coming from such a long distance and I am his guest in his place and money is not important but love! Please do visit his shop, it’s a torn tent kind of structure, left hand side of the road in front of Singh Shine hotel in Udhampur.

This man was a stark contrast to few other people I met and who demanded 60Rs for a cup of tea!
Patnitop was the next destination and the fog was so thick, even the vehicles coming with their headlights on would be visible only when they reached within your arms length. Rode carefully and clicked a few pics on the way towards Srinagar.

Had a traffic jam due to couple of land slides and the roads were full of mud and slush. Met a group of riders from Chennai and we rode together till Titanic view point.

Misty morning in Patnitop

Beautiful scenery all along

Got stuck in Batal for over 2 hours in the noon. There was a man who had blocked the road in protest of his dad being hit by a policewala and was blabbering some stuff sitting on top of his jeep. After lots of thoughts, we pushed our bikes through a small gap and fled the scene. The whole road was empty and had a blast riding through them.

My lifes first snow capped peaks

Beautiful Kashmir valley:

Titanic Viewpoint: 

It was getting late and I was riding towards Pahalgam. It was getting dark and rain was showing its presence slowly. When I stopped for asking directions, one army guy asked me to stop. He was pointing to my rear wheel when I asked him what happened, and I was looking if the tyre was flat, or if the saddle bag was touching the wheel. Then I met an army jawan from Hubli who was posted in Pahalgam for duty. We had a long chat; he forced me to have biscuits and even offered stay in army mess if I did not find accommodation ahead. He was so courteous to invite me for lunch the next day in the mess. Thank you sir.
 

Reached Aru by 7 and found a good place for stay. It was cold and I ate what ever they gave and dozed off.

Up next : Beautiful Aru valley and valley of flowers