The Road to Zoji La 1983

We travelled by local bus first to Jammu, the winter capital of the former Princely state of Jammu & Kashmir, where our hotel was right opposite the Amar Mahal, the former palace of the Dogra kings of Kashmir.

Amar Mahal, the summer palace of the Maharajah of Kashmir in the town of Jammu  1983

 After winding up to the tortuous Banihal Pass and passing through the tunnel, we descended into the delightful Vale of Kashmir, something I always looked forward to. In 1983 Kashmir was still peaceful. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Chief Minister of the State, who had maintained a relatively successful atmosphere of peace in the face of permanent tension, and at least two wars between India and Pakistan, had died the previous year. The political situation in Kashmir had not yet deteriorated into the chaos it did just a few years later. We stayed in the ever-popular houseboats on Lake Dal for one night before setting off on the three-day journey over three mountain passes to Leh, capital of Ladakh.

Flooded padis on Banihal on the road to Kashmir  1983

The first part of this epic journey was through the lovely valleys of the Vale of Kashmir to the small town of Sonamarg. This little town lies at the base of the Himalayan peaks and was a popular place for horse-trekking. It was a cold overcast day on my first visit to Sonamarg. Cloud enshrouded the neighbouring peaks when we stopped for lunch. The local Kashmiris had saddled up a several ponies in the vain hope that we would have time for a horse-trek. The commercial centre of Sonamarg then consisted of just a few make-shift wooden huts, with names such as Pamposh Agency where ‘fur coat, shoes, socks, cap etc Available Here’, or Boot Hill House where ‘Wunter (sic) Shoes/Coats are given at hire here.’ As I wandered around, I could see a group of men gathered in a circle about 50 metres from the huts. The centre of attention was a travelling performer with his dancing bear. It was an age-old scene with many grinning faces as the bear-keeper went through his routine of wrestling with the bear, then having it dance. There is a lot of controversy about this practice, but from my observation, his bears certainly did not appear to be starved or mistreated as, after all, it was the performer’s livelihood and so they had to be looked after.   

Trekking horses in Sonamarg, Kashmir  1983

        

Just out of Sonamarg our vehicles began the climb up to Zoji La, the first of the high mountain passes on the road to Leh. At an elevation of 3528 metres, Zoji La is regarded as the most difficult of the passes and the one which becomes heavily snowbound in the winter. At a place called Baltal, we were halted for a time on the first tour while there was some arguing and negotiating by our guides, drivers and other truck drivers with roading officials. It seemed that the Pass was not supposed to open officially for another couple of days. Arguments, and probably a little bribery, allowed us finally to proceed and the route up to the summit, along a narrow one-way track cut through snow drifts, was certainly spectacular and hair-raising.

The road to Ladakh through the snow banks of Zoji La 1983

 It was late afternoon when we passed through the small town of Dras which, at an elevation of 3230 metres, lays claim to being the coldest town on the Indian subcontinent, where temperatures can reach as low as -45°C in the height of winter. It was after dark when the bus crept into Kargil where we camped. 

Religious images & pray flags at Dras, said to be the coldest town in India  1983

Ladakh proper really starts at a small place called Mulbekh, which has the remains of a gompa or Buddhist monastery situated high above the town, and a large figure of Maitreya, the future Buddha, has been cut into the rock behind the ‘sub-post office’.

The Maitreya Buddha at Mulbekh, Ladakh 1983

© Neil Rawlins  text & photography

This excerpt is from my paperback  One Foot in Front of the Other - Full Stride now available from Amazon Books.