DRASS- the pictureques land of J&K.

While staying at jammu , we got the opportunity to explore the extensive land of J&K and ladakh.... Though , each of the places i had been to across J&K ,has different angle of beauty attached to it in my mind but my most loved travel experience was our visit to Kargil & Drass via Zogilla pass.
Offcourse , Zogila Pass is always a travel enthusiasts dream journey but the extreme beauty is just as one ends their journey across Zogila. The landscape between end of Zogila pass & Drass , mostly known as PANDRASS , is just unexplainable & truely a Jannat.
 The name Drass , itself reminds us of the Kargil War...... the sacrifices of lives of our soldiers....the name Tiger hill ,Tololing peaks, ecos in our mind. I always longed to see this World's 2nd coldest place ie DRASS..... & so ,it came on a platter to me.... I knew the journey is definitely tough but its a memmory to be cherished ever.Zogila Pass drive thru' is beautifully canvased on my lens & whenever I watch those moments on my laptop , I just get shiver ......sometimes, i feel ,I will never again have the courage to traverse that journey again in my life.......I was totally exausted by the time we came to  the end of Zogila Pass..... But now began the extreme beauty of nature................Uff!!!!!just couldnot stop framing each & every angle of the region ,so called Pandrass.....................

What a beautiful landscape , Just mesmerised me .....................& then came Mushko Valley.... Just dont know , who created this unexplainable beauty............ Loved it truely . All my hard efforts to take on the Zogila Pass paid off . 

Mushko Valley.

Its was Drass now,.......................... The War Memmorial was just a treat to be there & may our homage to our brave soldiers who laid down their lives for Our India.

End of Zogila Pass.

White Peaks of TIGER HILL, Drass.

Kargil War memmorial  at Drass.

At my backdrop is the Tololing top at War Memmorial, Drass.

Kargil War Memmorial, Drass.

It was really a great feeling to be visiting the World's 2nd coldest place  -DRASS. My most memmoriable trip across J&K during our stay at Jammu ....
 Now its all memmories to cherish all my life as our jammu tenure ended & we headed back to our home Mumbai ................... So hence on it will be some other places across India to explore.

MY ADVENTUROUS DRIVE ACROSS THE ZOJILA PASS.

The name ZOJILA pass  itself brings severe and thrill  to every travel enthusiasts  mind. It's considered the steepest and the difficult and dangerous  amongst all mountain passes across the Himalayas. ...it was long wished for ,to drive across. Earlier, I had the opportunity to drive across kardungla, changla  passes in ladakh,  Sela pass in Arunachal pradesh , Banihal in jammu region and Rotang  pass in Himachal pradesh. ...but ZOJILA  had been alway a craze for me. Just had the opportunity  last month to travel upto kargil across ZOJILA  pass.....I didn't  wish to miss  this chance and reached Srinagar on 16th June 2015. We were to drive off to kargil on 19th June. ...but it was continous bandh  atmosphere across kashmir valley from 17th June onward. ...was very much worried for that...anyways,  we hired an inova  car  as it's not adviceable  to take zojila  pass in smaller vehicles....

We left Srinagar  very early ie 8am. ...We had prior info that the upward traffic  on zojila was allowed from 1pm...so we had to cross  Sonmarg and reach Baltal  by 1pm.Baltal is the place from which Zojila pass starts...lucky that we cross Sonmarg by 12pm and soon we were on high mountains. ...traffic  jam is very common on this way....We were hanged up at Baltal for almost  2 hrs approx . because of some landslide  little before Baltal. ....I came out of my car , and  what a view across....

At Baltal.
Oh ,  the traffic started moving...and we were on the move...now Zojila  though looked thrilling to drive but really every drivers nightmare. ....road hardly exists...snow melting had brought waters and mud all on the road...the road is so very narrow,  looking down  just brought shivers and as I kept filming my journey  on my lens , I was awstruck  by the treacherous  beauty of the Zojila. ...after a short time others in our vehicle were all started feeling drowzy  but I was not able to wink  my eyes even.....its so so beautiful. ...looked like I am travelling  in some other planet. ...just to the summit,  ie Zero point it's had been a very very difficult drive....above that those dusts and the difficult  twists and turns.....just crazy !!!!!!.....heart was beating very fast as it was really scary. ...
Many tourist who plans for halts at Sonmarg,  do plan for the Summit of Zojila  pass ie Zero point but often those tourist vehicles fool the passenger's and shows places close to Baltal and tells that it's Zero point...
By the time we reach Zero point it was around 3.30pm. ..we had a short stop over there ,  had tea and snacks in small temporary  shops there and watched other people taking on skiing,  snow sledging  and motor  biking on the snow....After the all refreshing  break we then headed for Pandras,  which is the end of the Zojila pass....after the Zero point , it's really picturesque. ....In my total journey  across ,to kargil ,  I loved  Pandras,  Mushkoh  valley,  Suru valley  and  Drass much more attractive. ....kargil town is just hyped by name of the kargil war , but I realised that the war took place in Drass area  in kargil district.......
I tried to canvas my journey  on my lens and the thrill is always to be experienced by one who takes on the drive.

COLOURS OF UNEXPLORED KOKERNAAG IN J&K VALLEY.

Kokernaag  is a sub district town in Breng  Valley ( The golden crown of kashmir).kokernaag  is at the ht  of 2000 mts approx the sea level..It is famous for its Botanical garden  and largest fresh water spring in kashmir valley. If one  takes his drive  across Sinthan pass,  kokernaag  is only 40kms drive.
As such it's quite isolated and off the route on NH1B,  but after visiting the place by the end of fall season , I can simply say, it's beauty is similar to Europe  in Autumn. The kokernaag spring gushes out of the base of a thickly wooded hill from where it divides into channels,  which resembles to the claw foot of hen.Hence ,  it's name koker  means "fowl " and naag  means "serpent". ....
The botanical garden is home to innumerable  species  of trees and bushes  , which in autumn  gets varied colours to the whole landscape..... I was just mesmerised  by the beauty of the place. ....jktdc  has hotel to stay inside the botanical garden complex but truely freezing  place to stay a night ,  so anyone planning a night halt here should come prepared.... The Sinthan pass only opens for 2/3 months  every year...so if one wants to enjoy the autumn colours , u cannot plan via the sinthan pass .
I tried to canvas the beauty on my lens ....