My Solo Car Trips - Leh- uffff -Srinagar

  The toughest drive of the trip — fear, patience, and finally peace. I started early from  Jammu  at  5:30 a.m. , skipping breakfast to make the most of the daylight. The hotel staff had warned me — the stretch near  Udhampur  was badly damaged and traffic could be chaotic. They weren’t wrong. Road Conditions Heavy Bpoulders Rocks Massive Stones Just getting out of Jammu took two hours of crawling through snarls. Then came the real test. At  Udhampur , landslides had ripped through the hills, tossing boulders the size of cars onto the road. Teams were clearing one patch while another collapsed nearby. For nearly five hours, I moved inch by inch. Officials and workers were doing their best, but the scale of damage was beyond imagination. Heavy trucks were parked for kilometres, waiting for days. Only small vehicles were being let through in controlled batches. Later I learned that traffic was being allowed one way on alternate days — incoming one day, ...

  After a stormy road into Srinagar, the city gifted me a day of peace, devotion, and history. (14th September) After the nerve-wracking drive into  Srinagar , the next morning felt calm — a well-earned pause. I gave myself the luxury of a late start, hiring a cab after breakfast to explore the city properly. Srinagar deserved a full day. The first stop was the  Shankaracharya Temple , also called the  Narmadeshwar Shiv Ling Temple , perched high on a hill with nearly 500 steps. At  Leh , even ten steps had left me breathless, but here I climbed steadily, without strain. The temple was peaceful, the view wide and humbling. I sat for a few minutes at the  tapo-sthal  of  Adi Shankaracharya , doing a bit of yoga and pranayama — a rare kind of calm that only sacred hills seem to hold. Temple by Shri Shankaracharya Narmadeshwar Temple  Shankaracharya Tapashya Sthal Sri Sharika Devi, Hari Parbat. Dal Lake Next, the cabbie drove me — rather hesitan...

  Golden Temple’s langar, Agra’s lost sheen, Ujjain’s divine night, and finally, home through storms. On  15th September , I left  Srinagar  at 5 a.m., aiming for  Amritsar . The road tested patience again — snarls at  Udhampur , long convoys of trucks, and nearly five hours lost. But by now, I was used to it. Late in the evening, around 8 p.m., I rolled into Amritsar and checked into a small hotel near the  Golden Temple . The temple was glowing under soft drizzle, the water shimmering in the lights. Devotees took dips in the sacred pond, chants echoed through the air, and the sound of  kirtan  floated gently over the rain. I finally fulfilled a wish left incomplete from an earlier visit — I had  langar . Simple, warm, and served with devotion. That night in Amritsar stays etched in memory. The next morning brought a small dilemma —  Jaipur or Agra?  With  Vani’s birthday  on the 19th, I had to be home by the 18th, s...

  Sometimes, the road writes its own story. Sixth solo trip. Planned for  Ladakh . Ended with  Srinagar ,  Amritsar ,  Ujjain , and finally, home. This was supposed to be  the  trip — my long-dreamed solo drive to  Leh, Ladakh . Bags packed, car loaded, spirit high. But nature had other plans. Roads washed away, landslides cut paths, and halfway through, I had to let go of the dream of reaching Leh by car. Was it a failure? Maybe. But looking back, I don’t think so. Because this journey gave me  Srinagar’s Lal Chowk ,  the Golden Temple’s langar ,  Mahakaleshwar’s midnight darshan , and even an unheard-of  Shobha Yatra of Daksha Prajapathi  at  Shivpuri . It gave me rain-soaked adventures, pitch-dark tunnels, risky night drives, and the quiet joy of returning home safe. I also realized one of the best decisions I made was  flying back to Hyderabad  midway — spending time with family during  Ganesh Navra...