Day 2 of Ladakh: A Dream || 9th July 2023

 

  Pathankot ---80---Samba---60---Udhampur----60---Ramban---45---Banihal---95--- Srinagar

    (Previous post: Day 1 of Ladakh: A Dream)  It was still raining in the morning when we woke up, not with the same gusto as the day before but enough to dampen our moods. That day we were aiming to reach Srinagar, the pitstop for our 2nd day, which was ~300 kms away. But thankfully, the clouds had run out of its water and the Sun played hide and seek from thereon to warm our hearts. We took the road that would take us through the city of Udhampur and allow us to bypass Jammu and save valuable 40 kms. 

    It was at a Dhaba named ' Jai Maa Laxmi Vaishno Dhaba' (near Samba) that news reached our ears that a section of road in Rambaan district, the connecting road to Banihal-Srinagar Highway,  had caved in to the raging Chenab, the day before and every news channel and Facebook page predicted atleast 2-3 days of time before the road could handle traffic. We frantically started to explore other options, other routes that would take us to Dal Lake. The only options that seemed viable at that point were

a) stay in Udhampur for whatever time it took to get the roads repaired,

b) go to Jammu and take the Mughal road that would also take to Srinagar without crossing the damaged section of road (we did not know the exact information about the pliability of Mughal road too),

c) goto Ramban and analyse the situation ourselves.

    The problem with option 'a' and 'b' was that it would mean curtailing our Ladakh plan by a few days. Also we could go back to option 'a' and 'b' anytime.

                        Video: Damaged section a day before

    The city of Udhampur was beautiful in that weather. We could already see the line of trucks hanging on one side of the hill. In no time we were standing before the cordoned off road. The process of getting the road open was at its full speed since it was a National Highway and we got to know that only half an hour ago a caravan of cars and bikes were let go to the other side. However, any further request was turned down by the officer-in-charge. We didn't want to take unnecessary risk and agreed to stay for the night at Ramban till the cloud of uncertainty clears. Call it a stroke of luck, as were hunting for the hotel, a local on his motorbike came hailing towards us 'khul gaya-khul gaya'. We rode past the officer-in-charge with a courtesy nod. It was already dark when we were in the town of Banihal. It would take a mere 1 hr to cross the 94 kms stretch between Banihal and Srinagar, told one local. Our engines were itching to rev and we were ready to fly. Our wings were clipped shortly after by the army jawans who instructed us in the way of life in Kashmir and guided us to Amarnath Basecamp at Banihal. There we were served hot food and warm beddings for the night, all free of cost. We were wary for our luggage, however, under the protection of Bholenath, sleep came easy that night.