The Longest two hours of my life

awesome (adjective: comparative more awesome, superlative most awesome)

Causing awe, terror and inspiring wonder or excitement.

1. The waterfall in the middle of the rainforest was an awesome sight.

   The tsunami was awesome in its destructive power.

Having spent 8 amazing days in Ladakh, having been on drive for most of those days, and being grieved in altitude sickness for a few of them, we were looking forward to a yet another amazing drive from Ladakh to Srinagar Airport, to eventually fly out to delhi and then to Hyd/Bangy. We did expect this drive to be exciting and wonderful, but we dint expect, that in the true sense of the word "awesome", it would also be inspire terror and awe.

The 14 hour drive from Leh began at 4pm, Saturday and we reached Sonamarg at 6 in the morning only to learn that our connecting cab to srinagar(I know, there is no such thing as a connecting cab, but everything has to be excused when you are in J&K) was not there and was stuck in a curfew in Srinagar, which was a result of 7 ppl dying a day before we reached Srinagar.

Ideas started pouring in:
Vijay: Dekho yaar, situation bohot dheeli hai. wapis Leh jaane ka matlab 14 hours ki driveback.
Chuchu: Haan sala, aur fir wahaan se doosri flight leke delhi, which will cost about 16k and then another flight from delhi to Hyd/Bangy which will cost another 6k. Or else, 2 days of beautiful but tiring drive from Leh to Manali, wahaan se one day drive to Delhi and then flight to Hyd.
Yashwa: Yaar, kasam se. Main to 2 mahine pehle hi Leh se aane ki tum logo se keh raha tha jab ticket 7k ki thi. Ab per head 25k ka loss, 8 logo pe 2 lakh ka loss.
Poki: Yaar, wapis hi chalte hain, bekar mein curfew mein jaane ka kya matlab. Log curfew zone se bahar nikalne ki fight marte hain... hum kyu ander jayein.
Me: Yaar, yahaan taxi union walo ka stand hai, wahaan se we can get another cab. It is risky, but yahaan se bahar to nikalna hi hai.
We went to talk to the Taxi union office.
Taxi union Guy: (Scary face, very loud voice) Jaan hai to jahaan hai. Aap log Upar se (Leh se) aa rahe hain. Aapko Srinagar ki situation ka andaaza nahi hai. Aaj yahi rukiye, raat ko 3 baje curfew 3 hrs k liye khulega, tab aap 2 hrs mein airport pahuch sakte hain.


Our old cab driver: Sir, mujhe to wapis jana hai jaldi. Yahaan wait karne se kya fayda. Bohot danger hai idhar.
Me: (to my friends) Aisi jegeh pe to ek din wait karna kya kam dengerous hai? Apne army wale bhaiya ko phone lagau? I think there is a chance we might be able to get a chopper ride to srinagar airport in something less than 1 lakh.
Vijay: Yaar, ek Sumo wala ready hai chalne k liye, wo bol raha hai wo saari galiyan janta hai srinagar ki.
Sumo Driver: (Big eyes, Harsh tone) Aap log bina time waste kare meri car mein baitho, main bas teen hazaar lunga, but aapko jaldi chalna padega.
Chuchu: Saala 2 lakh ka loss avert karne k liye jaan ka risk, kal jin roads pe 8 log mare, un roads pe drive karke jana padega.
Me: Yaar, we are more likely to die in a road accident, than in riots. Risk kahaan nahi hai yaar. Lets not waste time, abhi morning ka 7 hai. Din badhega to roads pe bheed bhi badhegi, aur dangerous ho jayega nikalna.

A veto was called on. Rules were laid. If atleast one person was willing to go back via Leh, everyone will go back via Leh. Incidentally, nobody objected and we agreed to move ahead.

Vijay: Hum hatte katte log windows k paas baithenge. Asati ko ander karo. Mujhe ek backpack de do. Poki tu bhi ek le le. Jahaan bheed dikhe, window pe laga lena, taaki koi stone sir pe nahi lage.

Thus began, the 2 hour drive from Sonamarg to Srinagar at 8 in the morning. The most beautiful, and simultaneously the most scary place I have ever seen, hence, awesome, in the true sense of the word.




There were no civilians on the roads at even at 8 in the morning. A long army convoy passed us, protecting tourist vans traveling with them. First time in my life, I saw trucks mounted with heavy machine guns. Military trenches at every 1-2 kilometer, Military truck at every 400 m, millitary jeep, and atleast 10-12 soldiers at every 100 metres, almost throughout this drive.
We were stopped by protestors at one spot which was not guarded well, who seemed to be wanting to torch down all the vehicles passing by, but thankfully, they let us go, realising that we were tourists.
We were stopped by police too, about 6-8 times, who allowed us to proceed, after verifying that we had flight tickets out of srinagar for the same day.

Another 10 minutes passed by as we drove through the villages on the way to srinagar, where if one looks out at the Indus river, the paddy fields, one would forget that he is in so much trouble, also if he sees the army movements, he would forget that he is in such a beautiful place.
Fati padi thi. I wished I had the guts to hold my nerve and take out my camera, just as when, incidentally, the following conversation happened.
Cab driver: Sir, Aankh lag gayi thi maeri to abhi abhi, ye neend bohot danger cheez hai.
Vijay: Bhaiya aap baat karte rahiye, aap so gaye to yahaan 9 log jayenge.

Being the one sitting next to the driver, I was asked to constantly talk to him.
Now, chatting with a cab driver is not a big deal. But with the scary situation we were in, with the army getting denser every mile we were getting close to srinagar, and the danger increasing compoundly, this became a very difficult task.
Being scared of curfew and protestors, and still trying to act strong enough to ask the cab driver if he has seen the shooting of film mission kashmir, or what is the best season to visit srinagar, I think I did a good job because the cab driver did not fall asleep again.
On the way to airport, we saw two different incidents where policemen were beaten down by angry protestors.

We drove through the beautiful Dal Lake, could spot a few shikaras, Shankaracharya on the other side of the lake.
The drive ended at 10 in the morning. We were delighted to see a direction sign that read, "Srinagar Airport - 2 kms". I let my head fall on Vijay's shoulder as I saw the airport gate. We got out of the cab and huddled together, to capture the moment, joyous to reach the destination safely, but still my nerves were not strong enough to take out the camera.

The rest of the journey was very smooth, though our feet were slowed down by the thoughts of an awesome tour coming to an end. The thoughts of next day being monday, pulled me back.
Shots of Leh, the mountains, the Indus River, the Zanskar rafting, the high passes, the pangong lake, the Manali-Leh drive all passed by, when I was waiting to collect my baggage at Hyderabad airport.

For my pictures of Ladakh visit visit this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=243756&id=683013798&l=78359c132e