June 21, 2016
to Drass - 3057m: Headwinds along the "Line of Control"
We leave Kargil following the raging Suru River downstream for another 5 kilometers. Where the Drass River joins the Suru, we turn upstream along the Drass. The combined rivers continue as the Shingo River and flow into Pakistan only six kilometers from here.
The climb is gradual but relentless. A strong westerly headwind does not help matters: it is tough going. All along the road are memorials to soldiers that fell here during the many skirmishes and full-out wars India and Pakistan have fought in this area. We think being a soldier is probably a pretty good job for an average Indian, being posted up here might be less exciting. Several of the compounds we pass are surrounded with recycled corrugated metal, painted in camouflage colors and adorned with patriotic slogans like: “I wish I had more than one life so I could sacrifice them all for my country”. Stuff like that can only be made up by someone who has never been in a war.
The last miles aren’t any easier, we climb through irrigated poplar and willow “forests”, up a tributary river to cross it by bridge, then back down to the Drass River and the town of Drass. Gone are prayer flags on bridges and the giant prayer wheels, instead there are mosques.
Drass gets a bad rap in the guidebook, as the town is clean (for India), there are many people walking the streets and plenty of shops. There are a couple of places to stay, the JK Tourist Bungalow is our first target. A structural engineer who is staying here tries to help finding the caretaker, but that doesn’t work out. Patrick does have an interesting conversation with him about concrete mix designs. It seems very little cement is actually used in a lot of the work we have seen. Brand new pours full of gravel nests and crumbling. The engineer concurs, says it is a losing battle because everybody is corrupt and will cheat on the project. Another guy chimes in and says that if you as architect or engineer push too hard to get the quality specified it can be dangerous because the construction industry is controlled by the “mafia”.
We give up on the tourist bungalow and find a decent, but very expensive room for what it offers, at Hotel Danish. The promised hot water does not come from the showerhead and was not hot, but we do have TV and can watch some of the European and American football tournaments. The hotel restaurant downstairs is decent.
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Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 18,449 km (11,457 miles)
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