Day 1 of Ladakh: A Dream || 8th July 2023

 

(Introduction) ...the rain played spoilsport. Alam clock was set for 2:00 am since our Day 1 was going to be long haul of nearabout 600 kms from Delhi to Jammu. When the alarm went off at its pre-decided time, it was raining cats and dogs outside and the idea of postponing the trip to the next day briefly crossed our mind. Never had I prayed so early in the morning before. After passage of about half an hour, it seemed like our prayers had been answered. At first, the downpour slowed down to a drizzle and then it completely stopped at around 4 am. We wasted no time stuffing the last remains of our items into our bags. It may seem easy but it's a herculean task tying two bags at the back of a motorcycle which were packed with clothes and daily use items that I was going to use for the next 12-13 days. Yes, we had 2 bikes and yes, each of us was to carry 2 bags. This completely thankless job took a good 1.5 hrs of our time and at that point we realised that it had to be done for the next 2 weeks. Phew...

    So, all in all, we were on our seats at 6.30 am and the map was set for Jammu. Weather was fine till just before the city of Panipat but ' Panipat ke Pani ne dho dala'. We didn't even have time to grab our weather coats before we were soaking wet from head to toe, so much for the waterproof boots we bought. From that point on and till we reached the city of Pathankot( ~100  kms before Jammu), where we stayed for the night, there was no respite from rain. Weather coat did a great job. It was however only waterproof and not windproof and we braved on. Don't feel sorry for us because I don't feel sorry for us, lying on the warm bed of our hotel in Leh, penning this down.

    Along the journey, we took short brakes for the craving of our stomachs  and shorter brakes for the hardships of our legs. We trimmed the journey by ~40 kms when we realised we need not go to Jammu to reach our second day destination of Srinagar and we took our night halt in Pathankot(There, for the first time on that day, we saw a red orb hanging onto the last thread in the distant evening sky). A distance of 500 kms was covered on the first day which is not a small feat considering the delay at the start of our journey and the incessant rainfall trying to deter our focus from the road. But we were going to the Ladakhi desert and so I said to the clouds " Bring it on and I will carry you over there".