The drive started from – where else – the capital city, Delhi. Accompanying me was our newbie photographer, who was even more excited about the drive than me, this being his first experience of a travelogue (and what a place to travel to). A delayed inbound flight pushed back our planned departure time, but we knocked off the 600+ km to our first port of call, Jammu, in a shade under 12 hours. Progress was seemingly slow, but bear in mind that we departed during peak traffic hours, and thus jostled for road space with tons of vehicles in each town we drove through. For quicker progress, always leave early and beat the rush. Roads were great on this leg and we trooped into our hotel a little after 10.00 pm.
Our drive was planned such that the daily distance to be covered was not too much, to allow time for photography and for visiting important spots on the way. We expected Jammu to be cold, but it was actually quite hot. We headed towards Patnitop, and on the way we got our first taste of twisty roads and crazy drivers, seemingly straight out of a hill race from the ‘Fast and Furious’ series. Be cautious on such roads, as you never know what might pop out from around the next bend. We also hit our first (of many, as we would find out over the next few days) traffic jams, caused by a trailer carrying a train bogie down the narrow mountain roads. Thankfully, we managed to reach Patnitop before it got dark.
