Advertisement
Published: April 16th 2023
I had heard how beautiful Kashmir was and had always wanted to visit it. So, when my first leg of photography trip for the Holi Festival was completed, I decided to extend my trip and headed to Kashmir, along with my two friends.
The flight from Delhi to Srinagar took only 1.5 hours, much shorter compared to 3 hours of being in the airport prior to departure due to lengthy security check. Once we landed at Srinagar airport, we were greeted by our driver, Museeb, who suggested that we drove right away to Pahalgam. It was an easy and comfortable drive as the road condition turned out better than what I had expected. In the contrast to the week earlier where I saw lots of women wearing colorful clothing everywhere, I hardly saw any women on the street, let alone wearing colorful attire. The colourful things on the street was public bus, most of which were built in the 70s but still in operation. As expected, the road heading to Pahalgam was tightly guarded as there was presence of military personnel every few kilometer as we drove. We even took a picture with some during our tea break at the
rest area by the river.
Heading back to the car, I spotted Bob Marley’s sticker at the back of the car, and once inside, I realized there were weed stickers on the dashboard. Curious, I pointed at it, and with a smile on his face, Museeb nodded. The real adventure then began! It must have been my friend Maya‘s lucky day, as she got to chance to try it, and of course, with Bob Marley’s “One Love” music on.
By then, our driver confessed he had a few names, most popular of which was “Alibaba”. After a few puff, he – who looked older than his 32 years of age – shared his life story, and how he was broken hearted once. The father of his high school sweetheart was against their relationship as he was a cab driver; it was his choice of lifestyle as he – an outdoor enthusiast - could use his free time spending time trekking and camping. His family then arranged marriage with his cousin. His wife, heavy built, was a former wrestler and often challenged him to fight – without much defense. Imagining the scene, I couldn’t help smiling at the wonder
of what the magic leaf can do to you.
As we continued our drive, we passed by fields planted with rice, saffron and mustard and when we passed apple orchard, we got the chance to taste the sweet juice from freshly picked apples. It’s the best apple juice that I have ever tasted! When we reached closer to Pahalgam, our eye sight was pampered by the beautiful far sight of the mountain on both side of the road. On one side, we could see snow-capped Pir Panjar Range, a chain of mountains in the Lower Himalayan region, and on the other side was Zanskar mountain range, part of the Himalaya.
Before entering the tiny town of Pahalgam, we passed by beautiful Lidder Valley, and drove along the Ridder Valley. At 2,400 meter above sea level, Pahalgam is an ideal destination for holiday goers during winter given the scenic sight it offers. It is also a popular spot for trekking and camping during summer.
By noon, we reached the sleepy town of Pahalgam and had the first taste of Kashmiri food at the local restaurant. Coming from a strictly vegan town, Vrindavan, a week earlier, it’s interesting to
be at a place where main local dish was primarily mutton. It’s said that the district has the highest mutton consumption per capita in the entire subcontinent!
After lunch, we left for Betaab Valley or “Little Switzerland”, which to our surprise, was passable only by horse! After haggling with the price with the horsemen, the three of us started our horse-riding journey. Initially, the ride seemed manageable, but as we reached the higher ground, it became challenging as the trek was not only steep, but was also muddy and slippery. I felt sorry for my friend, Sarinah, who had never ridden any horse in her entire life and had to go through this life threatening experience. Interestingly, our skillful horse managed find their way in a narrow path, shared with other horse riders; some even carried small children and babies – without realizing how dangerous it was!
While enjoying the beautiful scenery of the pine forest, I could not help thinking what would happen if the horse slipped and fell through the ravine, but thankfully, we arrived safely. Little Switzerland is a grassland plateau, with snow-capped mountains as the backdrop. Our horsemen encouraged us not to stay too
long, so after sipping our masala tea, we headed back to town.
Next destination was Aru Valley, 12 km from Pahalgam town. The drive was more interesting than the final destination as along the way, we were treated by the picturesque sight of the Himalayan-mountain range. Before heading to our hotel, we stopped by at Sifar Café, which played chill music; the three of us could not hide our excitement and soon moved along with the tune, only to be surrounded by onlookers!
By 5 pm, we reached our hotel, ITC Pahalgam, located at the Rajwas Plateau, overlooking the Lidder River. It was an ideal afternoon to have our tea time outdoor, only to learn that there were many monkeys roaming around at the hotel garden. This time, my friend, Maya, got a welcome surprise greeting from a monkey which jumped and landed on her shoulder. In panic, she ran, and so was the monkey.
The hotel, whilst beautifully constructed reflecting the traditional Kashmiri’s design, didn’t have much activities once the sun was down. Post dinner knowing that the monkeys would be asleep, we went to have coffee outside, and noticed a group of people were preparing
barbecue with loud, joyful music. We could only wish we would be able to be near the warm bon fire.
As we chatted, a gentleman from the group walked towards us and invited us to join the party with his family; what a heaven sent invite! Without thinking twice, we accepted it and met the friendliest family from Raipur who treated us like long lost friends. We were grateful for the food and companion offered to us to celebrate the Holi Festival.
The next morning, we drove towards Gulmarg, another winter destination. Once we reached, our local guide, Neezar, asked whether we would like to be pulled by sledge to the cable car entrance. We didn't realise it was to be pulled by men! Hesitated, we were explained that these were a group of people, among the 13,000 people managed by local union, whose source of income was solely from tourism. Torn whether or not we should go on foot or take the sledge ride, reluctantly, we went for the once in a lifetime sledge ride.
The wait for the cable car ride was endless; to make it worse, a few people tried to cut the line.
I wished the local tourism authority offered an express lane at a premium that we could purchase. The cable car was built in 1988 linking Gulmarg and 4,390 meter above sea level Apharwat Peak, called the second phase, which receives heavy snowfall during winter and remains covered with snow throughout the year.
We had prepared ourselves with winter gears as we’re told it was going to be freezing at the top, but once we reached the highest point, The Second Phase, by cable car, the temperature must have fallen below 0 degree celcius; combined with the strong wind, it was unbearable for us. I got high altitude sickness from the fast elevation as well and decided to return immediately. Five minutes into the ride, the cable car stopped at midair due to power failure, and at that kind of altitude, it felt like the longest five minutes in my life!
On the last day at Srinagar, we visited Nishat Bagh, a Mughal Garden filled with blossomed almond trees, just like in Japan. The difference was the color of the flower was white. It’s the second largest Mughal Garden in Kashmir Valley. It was designed in 1633 by the
brother-in-law of Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal.
Next destination was Dal Lake, the jewel of Srinagar. There were many migratory birds in the lake, in transit from Central Asia, China and Japan where they spend the winter in the waters of the Himalayan valley. Had I come with my photography group, I'd have woken up at 4 am to capture the sight of these birds at sunrise.
Most visitors who came to Srinagar would have stayed at the houseboats and ridden Shikara or the local gondola, of which activities we skipped and went for last minute shopping at Djin Brothers Jewellers, next to our lunch place, Lhasa restaurant. The final stop before heading to the airport was a little cute café Le Delice Patisserie near the lake where they serve good coffee and great quality of cakes. The cake must have done some wonder as it was only then we found out that the name of our driver was Umar! Indeed, he was a man with many names and interesting life story. It struck me whether he had told us the truth or fairy tale, and whatever it was we had fun and memorable trip!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.202s; Tpl: 0.024s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.1663s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
