Mahindra Monastery Escape 2015

We joined Mahindra Adventure on their annual pilgrimage, known as the Monastery Escape, for the journey of a lifetime – driving a Mahindra Thar through some indescribably beautiful landscapes.

“Much behind these mountains lies the spine of our country. A spine that doesn’t bend even in the most hostile of conditions. Not even in minus 50 degrees, where the bravest of brave soldiers guard not only the international border of India but also its honour.” These were the things that I was telling myself for the second time in one year. I had been on this same road last September, and, interestingly, my thoughts were perfectly aligned with what had I felt the last time.

The road I’m talking about starts way after Khardung La – the point where most of the selfie-taking, profile-picture-capturing crowd takes a U-turn. It starts from Khalsar, and goes all the way to Turtuk – the last village that a civilian is allowed to visit before the line of control. And when you’re on that flat bed of tarmac, you just don’t realise that this is the same road that connects India to Siachen – the world’s highest, coldest and costliest-to-maintain battlefield. It’s a war arena much older than Kargil – the last battle India fought in 1999. Thanks to Bollywood, Kargil has become more famous with a series of movies glorifying the bravery and sacrifice of the Indian Army.

It was Mahindra’s invitation to be a part of their Monastery Escape 2015 that gave me an opportunity to visit the Nubra valley twice in less than a year. For this year, the route was to start in Srinagar and end in Delhi after nine long days. What was to happen in between was to become a cherished memory. The car Mahindra had given us was a bright red Thar.

Travelling through Jammu and Kashmir, it’s clearly visible that there are many things that have ruined this beautiful state. Being no expert on government policies, I won’t comment on terrorism – but I can surely say that pilgrimage tourism is taking a heavy toll on the environment. Once you leave Sonmarg for Kargil, and start climbing the infamous Zoji La (pass), you can’t miss the settlement that lies in the valley to your right. This is the transit camp in Baltal for Amarnath pilgrims, and from the road it looks like a mini city. Thanks to the rain, we didn’t find much traffic on Zoji La. And being in a Thar meant that traction was the least of our concerns.

That day, we not only had a lot of distance to cover, but we also had quite a few scheduled breaks at places that are of some military and strategic significance. One such memorable break was the halt at the Kargil War Memorial in Dras, which makes most of us – people living in big cities and enjoying all the possible luxuries – feel so miniscule that respect comes naturally for India’s soldiers. An Army Captain at the memorial pointed at an array of peaks very close to us and said, “You see that one? The tallest one – that’s Tiger Hill.” I looked at it and thought of how anyone on earth could climb that peak, engage in a gunfight, and return alive?

After relaxing in Leh for an entire day, we were off to Hunder. On the same road to Siachen, we crossed the ‘mighty’ Khardung La – breathing heavily, and fighting AMS. Carrying on the same road, you cross Khalsar, take a left at the fork, and cross a stunning landscape of white sand before you drive along the Shyok river and head towards Diskit and Hunder. The other road from the fork leads to Panamik, which is the access to the Siachen glacier.

Like most places in that region, the sky puts on a stunning show at night and the stars look as if you can pluck them right out of the galaxy. If you like to play with your DSLR, then this is the one of the perfect places for night photography. The next day, the cavalcade drove back to Leh to carry on with the journey ahead – to Sarchu, Jispa, Manali, and, eventually, Delhi.

Leh to Sarchu is probably the drive you’ve seen the most in pictures. The road from Leh to Karu makes you wish for a hatchback with WRC capabilities and the skills of Colin McRae. Things remain the same from Karu to Upshi, except for a while when you drive next to a river surrounded by mountains on both the sides and roads that encourage you to close the gap between chasing disaster and adrenaline.

Over 100 kilometres from Leh lies Tanglang La, the ‘second highest motorable road in the world’ – after Khardung La. Stop to take pictures – but leave quickly, as AMS is a predator waiting to hunt you down the moment it finds an opportunity. Soon after you start breathing easy, you’re welcomed by the majestic More Plains. The vastness of this place will make you feel small and humble beyond words. To get some better shots, we decided to drive up a steep incline to reach the top of a small hill. It looked scary in the beginning, but once convinced that there’s nothing that the Thar can’t do, we engaged 4x4 Low and then watched some magic happen – it climbed up easier than we could ever have imagined.

Once done with the shoot, the ‘Red Riding Hood-lums’ were back on the road to Pang from where the road turns quite scary all the way till Sarchu. There were an umpteen number of ‘shortcuts’ for the overenthusiastic lot – and the fact that it was drizzling made it all the more challenging and exciting.

The next morning, we embarked on what was expected to be the last ‘adventurous’ day of the drive. I mean you can call the drive from Jispa to Manali exciting, as this is where the traffic starts getting thick and you feel sorry seeing what tourism has done to Mother Nature. Sarchu to Jispa was interesting in many ways – first thanks to the never-ending rains, and second because of the number of streams. Some of the streams were so forceful and deep that we couldn’t help but take a U-turn and cross them again. On this stretch, especially, the talent of the driver makes a difference – as the on-coming traffic makes it extremely tight on those narrow roads.

Jispa welcomes you with some greenery, which is usually missing post Leh. On a good sunny day, you must take one of the beaten tracks to reach the riverbank and relax for a while – just listening to the water and the serenity that surrounds you. Jispa to Manali is a usually boring routine – mainly because this is when you realise that the journey is coming to an end. This is also the road that gives you enough reasons to reconsider your decision to head back to ‘civilisation.’ Sadly, we all have things to take care of back home – and heading home is more of a necessity than a wish.

We reached Solang the next day, which was also the last day of this great expedition – which I was so glad to be a part of. A big cheers to Mahindra for managing such expeditions, and helping so many of us realize our dreams.