Less travelled roads in India

Route 1 : Jammu - Srinagar - Leh - Manali highway

Day 1 : Jammu - Srinagar, 293 km
Day 2 : Srinagar - Kargil, 204 km
Day 3 : Kargil - Leh, 230 km
Day 4 & 5 : Leh - Manali, 475 km with Sarchu (Kashmir - Himachal State border)/Keylong night halt.
Day 6 : Manali - Chandigarh, 312 km, 10 h

The route is motorable only for 3 to 4 months due to snow. There is a direct bus from Delhi to Leh via Chandigarh, Manali, Keylong and Pang camp.

Jammu

Winter capital of the state, Dogra art gallery and Mubarak mandi palace, Ranbireswar temple, Raghnath temple, tombs, Bahu fort.

Vaishnodevi temple (1700 m) - Major Hindu pilgrim centre, 12 km trek from Katra (40 km from Jammu). It is a cave with a length of 30 m and a height of 1.5 m.



Raghnath temple, Jammu

PATNITOP (111 km on Srinagar route) - Hill station.



Jammu - Domel - Udhampur - Kud - Ramban - Banihal (2.5 km long Jawahar tunnel) - Qazigund - Anantnag - Srinagar (293 km).



Jawahar tunnel at Banihal, the door to Kashmir valley.

Amarnath cave pilgrim route

Amarnath Cave (3900 m) with ice Shiv lingam which waxes and wanes with moon, Pahalgam to Chandanwari by jeep, trek to Panchtarani via Sheshnag and then to cave (40 km), Return to Baltal in 4 days; Baltal (100 km from Srinagar) - Base camp for trekking to Amarnath cave (15*2 km, in a day) near Sonamarg. Season : July to Sept.



Pahalgam : Hill station, fishing, picnic spot. DACHIGAM wildlife sanctuary - season : April to October. Base for treks to Kalhoi glacier (5485 m), Amarnath cave etc.

Route : Anantnag - Pahalgam. Pahalgam to Aru (11 km, jeep), trek to Lidderwat (11 km, PWD rest house) to glacier (3350 m, 13 km). 35 km trek from Aru : 3 day. Lidderwat - meadows in forest and camping site.

Srinagar - Kargil road

Srinagar tourist places : Dal, Nagin and Anchar lakes, Sri Pratap singh Govt. museum, Mughal gardens - Chashmasahi, Nishat, Shalimar, Pari mahal, Shankaracharya temple on hill top (4 km, 300 m), Hazratbal mosque - Hair of Prophet Mohamed is kept here, Charar-i-Sharif (28 km) , Khir Bhawani temple (27 km, in marble); Wular lake (47 km) - largest fresh water lake in Asia, scenic beauty, fishing.

Gulmarg (46 km from Srinagar) - Meadow of flowers, winter sports : ice skating/ skiing, 2 km rope way to lift Ski enthusiasts, Tangmarg camping site (6 km), scenic beauty. Season : April - June.

Srinagar - Ganderbal - Wayul - Kangan - Gund - Kulan - Sonamarg - Baltal - Zoji la (3530 m) - Matayan - Drass - Kakshar - Kargil (204 km).

Drass, World's second coldest inhabited place, in 1995, - 60oC temperature was recorded.

Kargil war video