Dras! A Road That Is Less Taken!
‘With what comes next to our view, we get withdrawn with every passing dew.’
When the path we choose to drive is leading us somewhere to the most romanticised places of the bookish world, The places that poets write about, the places that artists paint, the places that capture our mind and stay with us for a lifetime, that becomes a journey to explore, to expose what is within. Dras is a journey that will keep your mind untamed and the lustrous view will not let you take your eyes off the place.
A journey is not complete within itself, if we dare not to drive the ‘road less taken’. Planning a trip is not hard, many can decide to go to cliched places like hill stations and beaches, but he, who dares to go to a place that is avoided by many become a rider, a leader of his own will. (And that’s what drives the passion right?! Being your own hero!). This exploring of the roads, just don’t keep you bounded within the roads, it helps you explore yourself within.
Visiting a place where many soldiers gave their lives to defend our country, a place just 60 km away from the land that still holds the blood of warriors who fought in Kargil, gives a feeling incomparable to any other. That makes you patriotic once again, a feeling that many of us have left behind. A feeling which is there in our hearts and mind, but is not much spoken of until and unless it is some national celebration like August 15 or January 26.
Last year and the last decade of a century that has gone by, came with a billion surprises, one of them is coming to lime light is the world’s second coldest inhabited place (If you are wondering which year, again? It is 1999!) is Dras. Dras is situated at a height of 3230 m. or 10990 ft. and is known as the ‘Gateway of Ladakh.’
Facts that renders it interesting!
- It is situated at an astonishing height of 3230 m. or 10990 ft. (That’s way too high man! Driving up that height! Goosebumps anyone?!)
- It is now a base for 3-day long trek from Mushku Valley in Dras to Tilail in Gurez of Kashmir. (Just in case you want to join in!)
- It is the world’s second coldest place to live, after Oymyakon, Russia. (That means your bike be all loaded with jackets and warm stuff)
- Lowest temperature recorded was -60 degree celcius in 1995. (Wish it will happen again soon!)
Road that gets us there!
- It is a city well connected to the roads of Jammu and Kashmir and even Himachal Pradesh. It is not that tough to reach Dras.
- From different cities, the route to Srinagar is enchanting and its beauty is nothing less than a personified fairy from the tales we have heard from our grandparents.
- From Srinagar, the beauty enhances, welcoming us with wide arms and the route to Dras starts here.
- From Srinagar, Dras is just 150 km (approx.). That won’t take you more than 3 hours to reach.
- Taking the Srinagar-Leh highway, crossing Palang, Chiner, Gund, travelling on the sides of Sind river, Kullan, crossing Thajiwas Glacier, you reach Dras. (The 150 km route in itself is the beauty.)
- While crossing by, don’t forget to take a short stop near Thajiwas Glacier and make your trip more memorable.
- Dras is a mystical beauty and it will leave you spell-bound.
Why Dras?
- The picture-perfect scenes that you see in Bollywood romantic movies set back their origin here.
- The road that leads us to Dras, looks more like a road to heaven, which is no less than a dream come true.
- The legend has it all they say. There’s a local folklore story that surrounds the place of one of Pandavas (Bhim) remains being there in the form of a rock, and the grass around the rock is said to have healing powers.
- And finally – Why not Dras? Who would want to miss this merging of patriotism, beauty, and the weather like nowhere else.
- Now with all that said, one thing that we would want to ask you is-
- ‘What is it that has still kept you waiting? Come-On! Let’s get moving.’
Also Read-
9 Best Road Trips That Almost Take You Through Every State Of India
7 Secrets To Ultralight Packing On Your Tour
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