Proud moments at Kargil War Memorial

                         Our first spot for the fifth day of the ride was the Kargil War Memorial, located in the foothills of Tololing Hill, in Dras where I took halt the previous day. It is built in the memory of the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Kargil War. After taking the entry tickets we entered the memorial and the sight of the huge tricolor flag flying high on a 100ft long pole definitely stirs-up the feeling of patriotism and pride of the nation in every visitor. 

                        We first watched a 30-minutes long documentary which gave a glimpse of events happened in the entire Kargil war. One should visit the others part of the memorial only after watching this short movie. Only then he’ll feel the proper emotions this place holds.
                         The short pathway from the entrance lined by flags on both sides, leads to the Amar Jawan, where the flame flickers all the day. 





                        The memorial also has a huge wall that has the names of all the soldiers who lost their lives in the war engraved on it, and their number is quite staggering. The Veer Bhoomi has tomb stones laid in remembrance of each martyred soldier. Other sections of the memorial complex include the Manoj Pandey gallery, displays of military equipment and captured enemy bunkers and weapons, a souvenir shop and much more.
Veer Bhoomi

A captured enemy bunker



                         We continued our ride with the aim of reaching Lamayuru that day. The appearance of Himalayas in this route takes a completely different look from what it was on Sonmarg. Here it’s all brown mostly as the mountains is made of sedimentary rocks, because of which there were plenty of rock falling and minor landslide spots. As we near to Namika La, the hills take a yellowish brown and the evening sunlight added more charm to the scenes around.

                         As we were approaching the Namika La Top, an unpleasant surprise happened. My bike rear tire got punctured, out of the blue. Since we were riding on smooth and good roads this was least expected. I had to drive a few kilometers with the punctured bike and finally when I got it repaired it was already 9 in the night. So, we couldn’t reach Lamayuru and had to halt at somewhere in Khangral for the day. The whole experience of the puncture episode can be read here…

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