‘ normal ’ life , enjoying the comforts and freedoms that we all do .
The Sonmarg Valley mesmerized with the snow-capped Himalayas . Sonmarg means ' meadow of gold ' and is fully covered in snow in the months up to April , it looks beautiful with the backdrop of snow-clad mountains , Sindhu / Indus river , and Thajiwas Glacier . Even the worst of photographers would end up capturing mind-blowing pictures of the landscapes being offered .
We continued our journey and reached Drass , the second coldest inhabited place on earth , which is also famous for the epicenter of the Kargil war that took place in 1999 .
Built on the foothills of the Tololong Hill is the Kargil War Memorial ( KWM ). Built in the memory of the Indian martyrs who gave the supreme sacrifice for their motherland during the three-month war with Pakistan .
The road we took to reach the KWM was the Indian National Highway ( NH 1 / 1A ) connecting Srinagar to Leh cutting through Kargil . As we rode , our memory flashed images of the Kargil war and how Indian soldiers foiled the plans of the intruders to capture the highway whose strategic importance was well known . 1
As proud Indians , we were getting goosebumps by just the images of the valiant effort put in by our soldiers , in hostile conditions and difficult terrain .
The path that lead us to the memorial was nicely decorated , surrounded by Indian flags , with a huge epitaph emblazed with the names of all the officers and soldiers who were killed . The fluttering sound of the flags provides a kick of patriotism , which cannot be explained . The KWM also displays a howitzer gun , MiG plane , and Bofors gun .
With moist eyes , we realised that our jawans 2 are the real heroes who
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