FAT Part Three

The next day of the FAT was going to be spent in and around the town of Dras. The mountains around this town are close to the Pakistani border and were the location of fighting between India and Pakistan in 1999. We loaded up the bus early in the morning and set out for Dras. The sign on the road out of Kargil said Dras was 56 km away. In the US, 56 kms can be covered in under an hour. In India, 56 kms usually means two to three hours. The road between Kargil and Dras was relatively good for being in the middle of nowhere, but there were still large bumps in the road which tended to be unannounced and unwelcome. The bus we were loaded into had apparently been devoid of shock absorbers for many years, so each bump caused those of us sitting in the back to be launched 6-8 inches into the air. I'm not sure if there's bus service to Hell, but if so I'm pretty sure this bus was on loan from Satan's municipal transit company. After three or four of these bumps, I felt it was wiser to semi-stand with my back against the seat rather than risk a spinal compression fracture. To make things even better, it turned out our first stop wasn't going to be at Dras, but rather we were going to the tiny outpost of Gumri which was another hour and a half past Dras. Four and a half hours and innumerable potholes later, we arrived at Gumri where we were treated to a five-minute briefing and the usual break for tea and samosas. After that excruciating bus ride, we were in disbelief that we had come all that way for a total of twenty minutes of activity. I was near my breaking point. Sensing the possible on-coming of an international incident, my sponsor student arranged for me to ride back in one of the SUVs accompanying the bus. I didn't argue. On the way back to Kargil we stopped off in Dras, our actual destination. We spent a bit more time there getting a full explanation of the 1999 conflict and I will give the Indian soldier credit for being able to fight at high altitude over very rough terrain. I'm still not entirely sure why these rocks were so important, but they fought bravely for them...

Worst...Bus...Ever

L: At the base of a glacial stream near Gumri
R: Local hut

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You may think this is a road to nowhere in the middle of the mountains. You would be correct.

Me, Riva, Amin, and Ali wait around for the next briefing.

Tea and samosa break number four for the day.

View of the mountains from Dras.

L: More mountains
R: Local yaks and village view on the way back to Kargil

We returned to Kargil in the early evening and got ourselves packed and ready to leave early the next morning for even higher altitudes...

FAT Part Two

After landing at the high-altitude airstrip at Kargil, we piled into some small jeep-like vehicles called Gypsies to drive to our next location. Our caravan of Gypsies wound their wind through the village of Kargil and up high into the surrounding mountains. We bounced along the steep dirt trails for about an hour until we reached an Indian Army outpost sitting on the mountain top at over 13,000 feet. Although the border is currently quiet, this location had been fought over multiple times in the past 60 years, and was the scene of fighting as recently as 1999.

From this outpost we could look out across the vast mountain ranges stretching north into Pakistan. We also received briefings from the local formation commanders on the important terrain features and troop locations. Looking back into India, we could see the town of Kargil and more mountains to the south.

After about an hour, we made our way back down into the town of Kargil to have lunch with some of the local officers. Here's a picture of Raj, Riva (Indonesia), the local brigadier, me, Ruwan (Sri Lanka), and Kumar getting ready for lunch at the Officers' Mess.

After lunch we hopped back into vehicles and drove out to Post 43, just a hundred meters or so from the nearest Pakistani outpost. We had the chance to mingle with the local soldiers and see the conditions in which they monitored the border. Pakistani soldiers could be seen watching us from their outposts.

Typical soldier's rooms at the outpost. Pretty spartan conditions.

Pakistani outposts lie on the other side of the river just beyond the treeline.

This room is a firing position with pre-sighted lines of fire at key Pakistani positions.

After returning from Post 43, we changed into our suits to have dinner and cocktails at the Officers' Mess. The Indian military always makes time for cocktails.

Riva, Raj, me and Zul (Malaysia)

After a long day in Kargil, we turned in to our rooms. On the down side, each room had only one large bed that had to be shared by two officers. On the plus side, we also had a dedicated servant to arrange our meals and take care of our laundry. The next morning we would get up early for the long drive our of Kargil to our next site, Dras. More to come...