Sonamarg, a popular tourist destination was where we started from. An incredibly beautiful place, traversed by a river with water from the freshly melted glacier and surrounded by snow-capped mountains on all sides, Sonamarg is simply stunning to look at. We spent the better part of the day just driving through the roads by the river. We simply couldn’t resist. Yes, we were driving to Kargil and that was something we simply couldn’t be late for. So, off we went.
The drive to Kargil would involve crossing the Zojila pass. It was going to be a challenge as the snow was melting and the resulting water had turned the roads unforgiving. Puddles of water hid enormous potholes. Thankfully, the Kwid with its good ground clearance and the peppy 1.0-litre engine made it a breeze. The tight roads on the pass were littered with rocks and manoeuvring around them was made easier by the tight turning radius of the Kwid and the wonderful grip on the Ceat Milaze tyres. The wet, slippery roads would certainly have been a challenge for most cars but not the Kwid.
Crossing the pass led us to the Drass valley. The fabulous work done by the BRO has resulted in the mountain road becoming quite the driver’s stretch. The Kwid’s remarkable handling ensured that we could reach Kargil in a hurry. And finally, there it was. We were in Kargil. The last corner that the Kwid had to conquer on the IndiaDiamondTrail. After more than 13000km and over days of driving through everything that Incredible India could throw at us. We had finally succeeded. Not that there was much of a doubt about the Kwid’s abilities.
We can now safely say that the Kwid can take on almost anything you can throw at it. After spending some time at the Kargil war memorial and paying our respects to the martyrs, we made our way back to Sonamarg.
Now, we head to Jammu on our way towards Delhi.