the melting ice floating in the river..
also even till now we had not seen any vehicle had come from the other side. this meant that we could not be sure that the road was fully operational. So I wanted to wait for a day more. i would have been more confident in going after the army trucks had started moving. But Manik insisted on leaving with the election people and the thought of reaching home seemed appealing to me also, so we quickly packed our things and loaded them into the car. Manik had also bought 2 people to travel with us. this was a good idea as we would have man power in case we needed to push the car. also one of them was a local driver, so he could help us drive in the snow. but by the time we packed everything and came outside, the others cars had left and with them also the 2 people Manik had got. Our hosts suggested we still go on, so we got into the car, bid farewell to our hosts and with me at the wheel started towards Pooh. We drove with a big knot of fear in our stomachs and words of prayer on our lips. The road was still covered in snow and the melting top layer was still making it slippery.
oops.. where did this come from..
we were getting the hang of driving in snow. the trick was to keep driving at constant speed in first gear with no sudden breaking or acceleration. With ABS in the car, we had the confidence that at least our wheels will not get locked on breaking and we will not slide. After covering 8-9kms, at one incline the car got stuck. the wheels kept on spinning in one place and it refused to move ahead. I got down and looked around. I saw this was the same place from where we had returned to Chango 4 days ago. what rotten luck!! we saw a car some distance ahead of us. there were around 7-8 people pushing it up the incline. after the car crossed the incline, the people stopped to catch a breath. we called to them for help but in-spite of us shouting very loudly, they either dint hear or chose not to. manik was in a state on despair and panic. he couldn't decide what to do and was very worried and started walking towards the car to get help. but today i determined to move ahead. i started picking up dirt from the side and putting it on the road in front of the tires. then i moved the car over the trail of dirt and it started climbing. yipee!! but as the wheel crossed the dirt trail and came back on ice, it again got stuck. The climb was about a kilometer long and it was not possible for 2 of us to put dirt on that large a distance. The only option left was to return back to Chango and try after few more days. now another problem was coming into picture. we were running short on petrol and there was no petrol pump for quite a long distance. if we went back to Chango and again tried some other day, we might not have enough petrol to make it to Pooh. getting angry at ourselves for not filling the tank fully at Kaza dint help much.. with no idea we simply sat down there waiting for someone/something to come along and help us. Luck was on our side and soon a truck came. 4 locals got out of it.. they said that putting dirt was the only way to make the car climb.. they also had a shovel. four of them and me after lot of effort covered the climb with dirt. we crapped the ice from over the gravel on the sides of the road and dug out the dirt. then we put this dirt in a sack and spread it on the road. had we come a day or two later, the BRO guys would have already done this for us. manik was not feeling so good so he went to sit in the car. it must have taken more than an hour and at the end i left i so breathless that when i opened my mouth to spreak no words came out, only air. i drove the car over the dirt trail with manik and the truck guys pushing it. once it got the momentum, the car started climbing the inclines much more easily. if i had stopped to let manik sit in the car, i would have lost the momentum and would have gotten stuck again. so i assumed he will following in the truck and kept on going on. I got stuck again twice but the truck was behind me. But both these times, the car just needed a push to move ahead. Lesson learned was always have 4-5 people in the car, so that when needed there are people to push. The climb was over in a few kilometers. After that it was all downhill. the only possible danger was the Malling Nala but there the BRO had laid stones and i was able to cross it. but now another problem popped up. when the BRO JCB's put the dirt on the road, they simply scoop out a chunk of gravel from the hill and spread it on the road. with the mud many times also came big pieces of rock. but the JCB did not care about this as army vehicles are anyways pretty high. so when you drive over this dirt, there are big pieces of rock protruding out. if your car does not have huge clearance like a honda jazz does not, these stones scratched the underbelly of the car very badly. anyways negotiating these stones and in the process denting the car a few times, i reached the helipad near Nako. there i waited for Manik and the truck. after he arrived, we had some breakfast and started again. the road was now mostly down hill except one stretch. but we were confident as with ABS in the car, down hill on snow was not a problem. for the possibly tricky uphill stretch, we still had the truck behind us to help. by now manik was also relaxed and he resumed his duty of taking photos. we realized that both times in all the tension, we had forgotten to take the photo of the place where we had got stuck.
as we started to climb down.. lot less ice on this side of the mountain..
but still a lot on the road
as we went down.. these corners were tricky as the car was not too willing to turn. even on turning the steering wheel, the car continued to go straight..
but then the ABS would start working its magic and the car would take the line i wanted it to take..
the tracks made by other vehicles left a line of ice in the middle.. we soon realized that our car was lower than any car which had passed over these trails and hence was many times constantly scraping against the raised portion of ice. we had seen Altos pass, so our car was even lower than Altos..
going down and down...
we kept on going non stop.. soon we reached the Ka-Zigs..
while negotiating these turns i could slowly feel the resistance in the steering wheel increasing. soon it was taking a lot of effort to take a U turn.. it felt as if something was stopping the tire from turning. we stopped and got out to check.. the wheel arch's were completely filled with ice which was slowly getting harder. hence the wheel could not turn. we picked up some large stones and chipped the ice away..
there was this weird machine standing there which seemed like a road roller but dint have any rollers..
after the end of Ka Zigs the road got clear for few kilometers..
then after crossing the Khab bridge, we again encountered ice..
the sun had set by now and the ice had again gotten hard.. we were able to climb up the ice and without any trouble reach Pooh just as it got dark.. we went to the government guest house straight away.. we again had to beg the caretaker to give us room which were all reserved for election duty.. after waiting for some time he finally allotted a room to us.. there was no water but at-least there was light and warm food.. i saw these icicles hanging from the bathroom window..
the gangsta look...
after dinner when i went to bed, i noticed a new problem. It was very very windy outside. So much so that even after covering myself with 4 layers of blankets, i could still hear the rumbling of the wind. the tin roof of the building was constantly trembling as if it would fly away any minutes. under pressure from the wind, the windows were banging. The wind meant less chances of snow as it would blow away the clouds but such strong wind could cause loose rocks to fall, leading to landslides. here was no confirmation that the way from Pooh towards Rampur had been cleared, so we decided to wait in Pooh for another day. But every time i heard the wind, the fear that we will get stuck because of landslide increased. So much so that i could barely sleep at night..
Total distance traveled: 54kms
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