Crossing The World's Highest Motorable Road
Climbing to Khardung La by road highest motor able road in the world at 18,380 feet gives a beautiful view of the surroundings.. Thanks to the HIMAL Road Runners of the Indian Army.
“Ladakh lies at the crossroads of the ancient trade routes from the Indian subcontinent to the great East-West trade highway or the ‘Silk Route.’ The traditional trade caravan routes traversed the passes of Zoji La (La means pass in Ladakhi), Namik La and Fotu La from Kashmir, and Baralacha La, Pang La and Taglang La from Himachal across the Great Himalayan and Zanskar ranges into the Indus River valley, converging at Leh.
From here it was possible to move to Tibet and Baltistan. Northwards from Leh, trade caravans carrying pashmina shawls, spices, opium and saffron cross the Ladakh range through the Khardung La or Chang La, traversed the forbidding Karakoram (meaning: Place of Black Gravel) range through the Karakoram pass and thence to the central Asian towns of Yarkand and Kashgar on the Silk Route. The caravans brought back precious stones, hashish, tobacco and silk.”
'Khardung La' (''la'' means ''pass'' in Tibetan) (elevation 5359 m) is a high mountain pass located in the Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The international spelling is used here, but it is locally spelt "Khardong La".
The pass on the Ladakh Range lies north of Leh and is the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys. The Siachen Glacier lies partway up the latter valley. Built in 1976, it was opened to motor vehicles in 1988 and has since seen many automobile, motorbike and mountain biking expeditions.
Maintained by the Indian Army's Corps, the pass is strategically important to India as it is used to carry essential supplies to the Siachen. Khardong La is historically important as it lies on the major caravan route from Leh to Kashgar in Chinese Central Asia. About 10,000 horses and camels used to take the route annually, and a small population of Bactrian camels can still be seen in the area north of the pass, mute witnesses to history. During World War II there was a futile attempt to transfer war material to China through this route.
Khardung La is situated 37 km by road from Leh. The first 24 km, as far as the South Pullu check point, are paved. From there to the North Pullu check point about 15 km beyond the pass the roadway is primarily loose rock, dirt, and occasional rivulets of snow melt. However, this pass is in better repair than many of the surrounding passes (Tanglang La, for example). From North Pullu into the Nubra Valley, the road is very well maintained (except in a very few places where washouts or falling rock occur). Hired vehicles (2 and 4-wheel-drive), heavy trucks, and motorcycles regularly travel into the Nubra Valley, though special permits may need to be arranged for travellers to make the journey.
Our trip to Nubra Valley took us via the highest motorable road in the world through the Khardungla Pass. We set off around 9ish, climbed up to Khardungla at 5603m - the highest we have been so far - and then down into Nubra Valley.
Of all the places I've been to in my life, I'd rate Nubra Valley as among the most desirable places to visit - of course, during season, because during winters it becomes bitterly cold and unapproachable if the road closes. Both the view of Leh town as we left it and climbed to Khardungla, as well as the beauty of Nubra Valley as we descended into it are etched in my mind.
The Shyok River kept us company as we descended into the valley - grey, wide, winding and breathtakingly beautiful. No amount of descriptive writing or photography can do justice to Nubra Valley, which, cliched as it sounds, has to be seen and experienced to be believed.
Numerous rhyming signs scattered along the Leh-Srinagar route helped to keep our minds off the treacherous roads. Speeding seems to be the biggest road safety issue in Jammu & Kashmir. This is even more worrying when you see the standard of the roads, but signs such as “Be gentle on my curves”, “If you are married, divorce speed” and “Mountains are a pleasure if you drive with leisure” gave us good chuckles between speeding Tata lorries and precipitous bends. The most disconcerting sign, though, is found along the Pak-Indo border just past Kargil: “Caution: you are under enemy observation.”
The drive over the Zoji La (3,500m) into the Sindh Valley (the Kashmir Valley’s largest tributary) took us into a green paradise after the dust and rubble of the previous one and a half days. Our first glimpse of the valley really was jaw-dropping. The U-shaped valley is vast, speckled with trees, lush grass and interspersed with exposed slopes of solid rock. Snow caps the mountain peaks and the scent of pine drifts through the window where before there was only dust. It finally felt like we were in Kashmir proper and the greenery flourished as we drove past paddy fields towards Srinagar.
Arriving in Srinagar after two days of dusty roads was like crossing the finish line of a marathon. Crinkling out of the jeep, we were guided into a shikara and paddled across Dal Lake to our houseboat. The shikara has got to be the ultimate mode of transport. There is nothing more peaceful in this world than being gently ferried through the lotus flowers with a mountain backdrop and dinner and a comfortable bed waiting!
The Royal Palace houseboat was our home for the next four days. Not bad eh?! This luxury houseboat is a throwback to colonial times when the British weren’t allowed to own land in Kashmir, although they could stay on the water. In typically British fashion, they went about making themselves as comfortable as possible by building floating palaces in which to live.
