I hopped on my Suzuki V-Strom 250 and started riding towards the Sinthan Pass.
BHPian Windingroads recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
I had my own bucket list of places I wanted to visit one day. Since I’ve been based in Kashmir for two years so trying to tackle the list as much as I can.
So It went like…
Day 1 (12-OCT-2024)
Woke up early, completed my morning rituals, packed essentials, and hopped on my Tokyo (Name of my V-Strom SX). Although I was a bit late, still okay since I encountered only 6-7 vehicles until Sinthan Pass (riding from Kishtwar) and the freedom was exhilarating!
I didn’t stop at Sinthan Pass, as I’d been there many times before. Instead rode downhill towards Daksum, where I stopped for breakfast. Nun-Chai and an egg omelette there, then continued towards Anantnag/Islamabad (Anantnag is also known as Islamabad among locals, its historical name)
Visited Ancient Martand Surya Temple Anantnag
Having booked Zostel Pahalgam prior I reached around 14:00.
After checking in and freshening up, went to the common room and met a few fellow travellers (most of whom were solo travellers) and then I headed to Aru Valley with another solo buddy on his rented scooty.
We reached Aru, where there was a large crowd at the base, bought apples from a local vendor and hiked to a less crowded spot, where we enjoyed the apples and met a family of nomads and negotiated a deal to take pictures with the children – three packets of biscuits for a few photos!
Returning to the hostel had an amazing dinner time with the hosts and fellow travellers
Day 2 (13-OCT-2024)
Started early from the hostel and set my navigation to Margan Pass. I downloaded offline maps, which became a saviour later. I rode on the same route until Vailoo (Kokernag), then took a left turn towards Margan.
Rode across several villages, receiving thumbs-ups and smiles from the locals. Network coverage disappeared after a few miles, leaving me alone with Tokyo and the beautiful mountains. The roads were decent until I began climbing Margan Pass, where roadwork was in progress with few broken patches and fresh tarmac in patches. After climbing 12-15 hairpin bends, I finally reached Margan. Surprisingly there was nobody at the pass, so I rode further to partially constructed JKTDC huts.
Dropped my riding gear, changed into normal clothes with a fleece jacket, and then saw a Himalayan 411 approaching from Marwah Valley., A couple on the bike had been traveling for over a month in Himachal and Kashmir so we teamed up and started hiking towards Chaurnag Lakes (one of the easiest alpine lake treks in J&K, with a 6-7 km circuit trek).
Met a group of five local guys from Kashmir, who were also attempting the trek for the first time.
It was 3 PM when we reached the third lake, so I decided to head back. While descending, I saw a few tourists which were fine but only after a few steps, I saw some empty food packets and a plastic water bottle that weren’t there earlier. I was disappointed to see the litter and thought about hiking back to those people with the trash, but only settled for shouting a few abusive words (and it was intense as well and loud, I hope they have heard the words) due to the timing as I bit far away from my place and way back there was still 5-5:30 hrs with climb to Sinthan Pass so I collected the trash and headed back to Margan Pass, changed into my riding gear, and reached home around 20:30.
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