truck on manali leh highway
India

Roadtrip Kashmir – Ladakh


Bilder von meinem Roadtrip in Jeeps und alten Bussen durch Kaschmir und Ladakh. Immer hart am Abgrund und teils der pakistanischen Grenze entlang geht es durch tausend Kurven, vorbei an unzähligen Checkpoints und über mehrere Pässe auf bis über 5300 m ü. M. Es ist eine karge und in ihrer schieren Unendlichkeit überwältigende Landschaft.

Verschiedene Welten prallen hier aufeinander. In Decken gehüllte Schafhirte, mit den neusten Trekkingutensilien und Kameras ausgerüstete Touristen, Strassenarbeiter, die die Strasse nach dem harten Winter und dem Monsun jedes Jahr aufs Neue wieder in Stand bringen müssen sowie Soldaten der indischen Armee. Sie alle gehen denselben Weg und trotzdem könnte ihr Ziel nicht unterschiedlicher sein.

Wähnt man sich in Srinagar wegen der vielen Moscheen in einem muslimischen Staat, erinnert das von Bergen umgebene Leh schon eher an Tibet. Der Ruf des Muezzins dort, das Surren der im Wind flatternden Gebetsfahnen hier. Es sind beides wunderbare, exotische Welten.

Pictures from my roadtrip by jeep and old busses through Kashmir and Ladakh. Always at the edge of the road and sometimes close to Pakistani border we made our way through thousands of curves, past countless checkpoints and over several passes up to more than 17500 ft in a landscape as barren as vast.

This is where worlds meet. Shepherds wrapped in blankets, tourists equipped with the newest cameras and trekking gear, workers who have to prepare the road every year again after the long winter and the monsoon as well as soldiers from the Indian army. They all follow the same route but for different destinations.

Given the large number of mosques in Srinagar one feels like in a Muslim country while the mountain surrounded city of Leh reminds of Tibet. The prayer call from the muezzin there, the whispering sound of prayer flags here. Both are wonderful and exotic worlds.


truck on srinagar leh highway 1d
manali leh highway
car drives through flooded street on srinagar leh highway
car mechanic workshop along srinagar leh highway
car mechanic workshop along srinagar leh highway
truck in fog on srinagar leh highway 1d
glaciar along srinagar leh highway 1d

stupa leh ladakh
temple in the streets of leh ladakh
checkpoint on srinagar leh highway
curvy road manali leh highway
indian truck on srinagar leh highway
truck with flat tire on srinagar leh highway
indian soldier controlling pakistani border along srinagar leh highway

truck climibing manali leh highway d1
tourist bus on thangangla pass manali leh highway
sleeping passengers on bus on manali leh highway
manali leh highway

shepherd on srinagar leh highway
two shepherds meeting on srinagar leh highway
Dras kashmir
Mosque in trees along srinagar leh highway
Mosque in leh ladakh
leh ladakh
Market in srinagar kashmir
flowers park srinagar kashmir
family picture park srinagar kashmir
Construction site in leh ladakh
boy waiting along srinagar leh highway
curvy road manali leh highway
restaurants in tent on manali leh highway
power cable along srinagar leh highway
shepherd meeting modern cars on srinagar leh highway
arch on srinagar leh highway
tents along manali leh highway
manali leh highway d1
manali leh highway d1
truck crossing a bus on srinagar leh highway

sleeping dog leh ladakh
Monk painting statue in a buddhist temple in manali
mosque in srinagar
pictures of Dalai Lama in buddhist temple in manali
Women at mosque in srinagar kashmir
buddhist temple manali

rain on srinagar leh highway