Day 5 Srinagar – Leh 15/09/2012

we set off at 5:30 in the morning via a seven seater Jeep, we spent the first 40 minutes driving around the back streets of Srinagar picking up the passengers that we would be sharing the fifteen hour Jeep trip with. After picking up four Ladakhi's we headed east on the only road that winds uninterrupted for 480 km all the way to Leh. The first hour or so I spent passing in and out of consciousness so passed by in a bit of a daze as we passed through towns and winding upwards towards the mountains eventually finding the river that we would follow all the way to the mountain pass. The final ascent to the lofty heights of the Zoji La pass was on the nerve racking side as for an hour we wound up the sheer edge of a mountain, along a road that could barely fit two vehicles side by side at the best of times and a driver drawn to drive on the wrong side of the road. Having made it half way we were stopped at a police post and swiftly surrounded by three armed officers who were apparently not too happy with our driver. After some heated back and forth we made it up to the pass and were rewarded with some stunning vistas through the pass. There was a large military presence in the mountains as well as lots of mountain folk with large flocks of sheep with the two of them displaying what seemed to be a symbiotic relationship. Towards the end of the pass we stopped in a small Ladakhi town called Dras which was quite a run down town however we sourced a tasty breakfast before heading on again. Over the next few hours the landscape slowly morphed from vast green pastures to arid mountains with oases scattered through the many mountain passes all the time gaining altitude until we reached the highest point at 4700 metres. After this point it was a slow decent into the area around Leh. An hour before reaching Leh we stopped in a small town and the contrast to Srinagar was astounding, there Tibetan Buddhism obviously had a large influence on Ladakhi culture. The last hour passed relatively quickly, we arrived in Leh on time and quickly managed to find some simple cheap accommodation and headed out for a quick bite to eat before bed. As I drifted off to sleep I was looking forward to exploring Leh the next day...