Playtime at Zoji La in a Toyota Fortuner!

Zoji La is one of the toughest passes enroute to Leh from Srinagar.

^{Click for a higher resolution image}

The altitude at the summit is 11500 ft but it pales in comparison to a dozen other motorable passes in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. However this motorable pass is treacherous in few months of the year due to the heavy snow fall it receives resulting in knee deep slush and water logged deep potholes.

Early on in the travel season you will find yourself going between huge walls of snow. Some of them higher than 30-40 ft. You'll never knowing when an avalanche might knock you out around here!

On this drive I got stuck for hours on the climb to the pass due to a landslide that needed clearing. My colleague and I prepared coffee inside the SUV on our little stove to warm ourselves and pass our time. Temperature at the summit was around -10 degree Celsius at the time.

These pictures are from a late-winter drive to 'Ladakh' in a Toyota Fortuner SUV few years ago when I was working as an automobile journalist and road testing new vehicles.

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