Continued..
Banihal was crossed in a breeze where Manza, SX4 had stopped for some chai. Post Banihal it was a climb up to one of the most famous and most guarded tunnel in India, the Jawahar Tunnel.
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Jawahar Tunnel or Banihal Tunnel, named after the first Prime Minister of India, was constructed for round-the-year surface transport by Alfred Kunz and C. Barsel (both were German) between 1954 and 1960. The Jawahar tunnel has been operational since 22 December 1956. The length of tunnel is 2.85 km (1.77 mi), its elevation is 2,194 m (7,198 ft) and it has one lane road in either direction. It is situated between Banihāl and Qazigund on NH 1A that has been renumbered NH 44. The tunnel facilitates round-the-year road connectivity from Srinagar to Jammu.
Later the tunnel was renovated by the Border Roads Organization under the project BEACON in 1960. It was designed for 150 vehicles per day in each direction but the number of vehicles is now 7,000 in both directions. After renovations, the tunnel now has a two-way ventilation system, pollution & temperature sensors, lighting system and with emergency phones for any assistance from Border Roads Organization.
It is guarded by military round the clock, photography or videography inside or nearby the tunnel is strictly prohibited. Once the vehicle enters the tunnel, it has to maintain the same speed throughout the tunnel. CCTVs are installed in the tunnel for continuous monitoring.
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A sneak peak at the Tunnel entrance Video of the inside drive in the tunnel
Inside the tunnel even GPS stops working and My Tracks of Google shows a gap in the way without a connecting line before and after tunnel. Though I do not seem to understand what is the use of blocking GPS as knowing the starting point of the tunnel on either side is quite easy. As soon as you cross the tunnel, we ended up at the hands of Kashmir cops who was routine checking done. The checking went smoothly after some chai paani gandhiji’s exchanged hands.
The checking over and we were ready to roll
Once that was cleared we reached the “First View of Kashmir” point or also called as Titanic Point. The sumo did not stop here buit the rest of the 3 cars stopped to get ourselves clicked. After all not always you will get such a photo op.
The signboard that you cannot miss This is the view that greets you Manza and Duster at the Titanic Point A group photo, only missing are 4 occupants from Sumo Who says only trucks can have those lip smacking writings
With the photo Op completed we proceeded towards Srinagar at around 1PM. The pace was good as we were now just 80 kms from Srinagar.
Aha! The first sign board showing distance to Leh
While driving the Manza today morning I had already made plans of stopping at Srinagar TASS to straighten the engine guard which was bent due to last night’s adventure on the Samba route. It was touching the engine and vibrating a lot during acceleration. The same was conveyed to Doc who apparently also wanted to go to TASS for some fan noise issue that cropped up again after the Samba drive. So near Qazigund through Google search Hari was able to speak to Fair Deal Motors in Srinagar to let them know of these cars coming in.
Roads from Anantpur onwards are super cool with straight sections smooth as a tarmac but with a sudden narrowing of the road at certain sections. You will know you are nearing Srinagar once you see yourself driving amidst pine trees. Sorry no photographs with me on this section, if someone from our group has please post it.
We reached Srinagar at around 3.30PM and since two of the cars wanted to visit TASS, it was decided that the Duster & SX4 move towards Dal Lake for sight seeing while an empty Sumo & Manza will move towards Parimpore Chowk for Fair Deal Motors TASS. Now as soon as we entered Srinagar, my data connection stopped working and hence, we were without a GPS. Asking folks on the way, it became quite confusing but we were also constantly in touch with a SA from Fair Deals. After some 30 odd mins through Srinagar traffic, we finally reached the TASS.
Now let me dedicate this paragraph towards the attitude and service shown by Fair Deal Motors, Srinagar.
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I would like to quote and Rajesh will agree with me that the kind of attitude and customer service shown by Fair Deal Motors, Srinagar, an authorized Tata Service Center, was exemplary. In fact, I had the engine guard straightening plus wheel alignment to be done, while Rajesh had that fan problem. Despite coming towards the end of the day, both the cars were out in 40mins flat without any hassle. Plus, the way the SA was able to identify the root cause of the fan issue in the Sumo was lightning fast. No product pushing, no delays, no golmaal. I was simply amazed. In fact we made a new friend name Yousuf who was probably the head service technician there, he was kind enough to help us locate our fellow group mates when they were lost.
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Here is a map of the TASS if any Tata folks traveling in Kashmir or towards Leh want to utilize.
While we were winding our vehicle checks, the other half of the team were having a gala time at Dal Lake. Though it was overcast, the beauty of Dal Lake does not fade.
The first view of the lake(pic courtesy Mohan/Narsi) A B&W perspective of the lake and its quintessential Shikara(pic courtesy Mohan/Narsi) Chaddi Dosts Man trying to go over board (pic courtesy Mohan/Narsi) An ice cream vendor on a Shikara (pic courtesy Mohan/Narsi) The above ice cream vendor picture has a funny little story which I learnt later. Apparently Manoj had some interesting conversation with him not sure about the complete thing. But the ice cream seller requested not to post his pic on internet as his GF knows him as a jeweler . He also wanted a cigarette and Manoj after giving one got an ice cream for free in the bargain.
With the Dal Lake party over, and after some haggling with the route to come to Parimpora, where Rajesh, Venkat and I were waiting for them, we finally got together to proceed towards Sonmarg. The reason for us not going towards Dal Lake even though out work got over early, was the fact that there was an easier way out of the city from where we were standing through Bandipora, Sumbal road that later on meets with the NH 1A.
However, as soon as we got together, all was not rosy. If you remember the earlier morning counselling session, well its effect was wearing off and plus it was not fair for Rajesh to keep Sathya in his car and acting as a counselor. So once Sathya got the wheels of the Duster for Dal Lake he was not about to let go. Now what ensued was a serious issue wherein we had two travelers Narsi & Mohan not willing to travel in the Duster if it was driven by Sathya and were ready to catch a flight back home from Srinagar. A lot of us tried to pacify and tried to arrive at a solution but the issue was spinning out of control. It was sad that due to personal issues there were folks ready to move back. But then the group was also delayed to move towards Sonmarg as it was already starting to get dark. In fact we spent some 1 hour trying to resolve the situation but to no avail. Finally, Narsi & Mohan came to say their byes, it was a sad moment for me as I hate for any traveler to go back like that but there was nothing we could do as only 3 of them could solve their own situation.
So the 3 cars Sumo, SX4, and the Manza slowly left the place leaving the Duster and its 3 occupants to decide. If Narsi and Mohan decided to fly back, then it was left to Sathya if he wanted to travel alone to Leh or turn back as well. However, there was a surprise in store of us after few kms of leaving that place.
Venkat’s phone started to ring after some 20kms inside the Bandipora road, it was Mohan, and apparently he was asking Venkat for directions of how to proceed to the Bypass as Duster was again restarting their journey with 3 on board. Well, the 3 of them trashed it out among themselves and finally after most of the things was clear they were back on the road with none having to fly back.
With that good news, we joined the NH 1A near Wayul Barsoo road and proceeded towards Sonmarg. The convoy had a uneventful and steady drive up the mountains in the dark towards Sonmarg. We reached there at around 10PM, took the first hotel we saw “Hotel Snowland”. Being off season it was not much of hassle to get proper rates. Rooms were nice and cozy with electric blankets. Dinner was at the hotel restaurant, consisting of Wazwan Chicken, dal fry, mutton and naan’s. It was a nice finish to a grueling day for men but it was a day where we stuck together for most parts and hopefully solved our ego issues for good.
Distance covered: 261 kms
Time Taken: 13.5 hours
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Next day was scheduled to start at 8.00am. It was a big day for us as we would be crossing our first and the most dangerous mountain pass “Zojila”. Did we have it easy? Did we reach Kargil our scheduled halt?
Find out.