Rock And Hard Place

Few roads are spoken of in more hushed tones than this one. Dangerous often describes it. We had to see for ourselves

- Debabrata Sarkar

There’s a rather irate policeman glaring at me through the driver’s window. He cannot fathom why I should have trouble moving over on a stony track with a few inches of leeway on either side of my tyres to give him way. All the while, my hands are getting clammy, terrified from trying to make a choice between a rather steep unguarded edge on one side and a jagged rock face on the other. I finally resort to a sort of half-standing position on my seat, to get a better view, while the photographer has his head stuck out of the other window to keep watch. As the glare intensifies, I manage to squeeze into a crevice in the rock face, away from the cliff and the local policeman drives away in disgust, mumbling a few words of choice as he does. Boy, am I glad to be in the XC40, anything bigger would’ve possibly seen a scratch or my heart jump out of my mouth from all the manoeuvring.

Breathe in; breathe out.

It’s only my second day in the mountains, and I am far from able to reverse onto a ledge like it was a football field, even with the XC40’s compact dimensions, to let oncoming traffic through. Day one was a treat with smooth surfaces and clearly marked lanes. Today, however, is a different story as we approach a certain Sach Pass at roughly 14,500 feet. This is a corner of Himachal that is seldom explored. There isn’t any tarmac, no. Instead, the road has been made from the rubble that has come off these jagged mountainsides. The locals sure weren’t messing about when they estimated the drive to our next stop – Killar (70km away) – would take in excess of five hours. Without any stoppages that is. Good thing we stopped for a fill of rajma chawal and a good night’s sleep before attempting the next leg. Did I happen to mention, they had spotted a loitering leopard as well?