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Published: August 9th 2012
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Well now, this is about trip to Gulmarg, the crown of Jammu & Kashmir as the locals call it. It is getting a little difficult for me to explain in words. What a picture perfect destination is it!! Just cannot stop praising about its beauty. I had been there just a few days back in the first week of July & understood one thing, If you love beauty then you have to be here to witness it. A delight to one's eyes. This is a famous destination for winter sports as it is completely covered with snow in winter, but if you want to see it green then July is the perfect time. Why I feel that July is the right time because rest of the time it is heavily crowded and all you get to see is lots of people and less of scenery.
Gulmarg is around 2 Hrs drive from Srinagar, the capital city of Jammu & Kashmir. The road becomes picturesque once you start moving up towards the mountains of Gulmarg. The main peak in Gulmarg is Affarwat which is 4143M. Once you reach there, you need to park your vehicle at the parking stand & either
by walk or by hiring a pony do the sightseeing which are at a KMS walk. Gulmarg is also famous for its Gondola ride, which goes up to Affarwat Peak. The Gondola ride is 2 Kms from the Parking area which takes you to level 1 & level 2. We hired a local guide who got us our Gondola tickets and charged Rs. 500 over the Gondola tickets. Hiring a local guide is a good idea as the queue for tickets is too long and it is difficult for a tourist to get the tickets. Level 1 is the mid point of the gondola ride once you reach there the view is extremely scenic & Level 2 is the Affarwat peak the most famous amongst all.
As i had been there in the month of July, it was all green. We parked our vehicle at the parking area and after an hour long discussion with the Pony owner, finally decided to hire a pony. First the pony took us to the Gondola station, from there we boarded the Gondola & reached Level 1.We clicked some snaps of the beautiful scenery & of course of ourselves. The Pony was already
waiting for us at the level 1 & we moved towards Khilanmarg - the point between Level 1 & 2. What I understood about this place is that if you love nature then only you should be here. However ,in winter season it attracts people who are adventurous and love winter sports. It is a very famous ski resort and has different sports activities like Ice Skiing , sledge rides, ice skating, ice flyers going up and down and much more. But, if you go in July its only nature at its best.
Once you reach Khilanmarg you can sight the Himalayan mountain strings, some covered by clouds and different shade of color in each one of the cloud (depending on weather condition). This place offers an outstanding view of the Himalayan ranges and the Kashmir valley. When we reached, we were all excited to see the glacier as the pony owner's said that we can sight some. The sledge ride guy's came up to us asking us to try, but we were not really interested as the glacier was not a huge one to try it. There were also some ski guys who claimed that they could teach
us skiing in 10mins,wonder how would that be possible. No matter in whichever month you visit this place, the climate is completely unpredictable & can change any time. The Gondola operates only if the weather is clear. If you wish to go to Affarwat peak then you need to buy a level 2 ticket. As i did not go there I do not have much Knowledge about it, but the locals said that oxygen level in the air is low and one should be fit enough to go there & a medical camp is also available at the Affarwat peak. One can also try having Kashmir Kawa a speciality drink in the chilling weather of Khilanmarg.
After spending around 45 Mins in Khilanmarg, we headed back towards the gondola station at level 1 on our ponies & boarded the gondola to come down to Gulmarg valley. Again magic - magic our ponies were waiting for us to drop us back to the parking area. One thing I would like to add is that Gulmarg has a world's highest golf course. It is 18 holed & has a par of 72. If you wish to strike a ball here then
you need to contact the J&K Tourism board for information.
Gulmarg has very few hotels and there are some cottages as well but they are quiet expensive. If you do not wish to spend too much of money on stay in Gulmarg then a day excursion is advisable. Although I had been there in July still the weather was quiet cold. If you are not used to cold climate then its good to carry warm clothes. Once you reach there, vendors will run around saying that you will feel cold at Level 1 & Level 2 so you need warm clothes and ask you to take winter clothes on rent of Rs. 200. Just to share, I was convinced with the vendors offer and took clothes for a rent of Rs. 200. I wore it over the clothes which I was already wearing and after reaching level 1, the only thing which those clothes did for me was saved my clothes from getting dirty & not from the cold weather as it was not really that cold. Of course, if you go between Nov - APR then you definitely need those heavy woolen clothes.
Now talking about the
area , it has good facilities available like washrooms (pay and use), Parking, Pony stand (a little shabby and stinky & if it rains then its very bad), few food joints (small local shops), Shops for buying Kashmiri dress, shawls & other woolen stuff.
Sharing some other information , those who opt for a day excursion to Gulmarg from Srinagar usually leave by 4 / 5 Pm. so that they reach Srinagar during daylight. For those who stay overnights in Gulmarg they do not have to worry.
Some more info:
Nearest Airport - Sri Nagar 65 Kms.
Climate -
Winter : November to February extremely cold. (- 5C to 10C)
Summer : March to May pleasant weather (13 C to 29 C)
Monsoon : July & August.
Autumn : September and October.
Food In J & K - Most of the restaurants are such with both vegetarian and non vegetarian food. If a non vegetarian, then you will not have any problems about food, But if a veggie & have problems in eating at a " Veg Non-Veg" restaurant then you might have a little tough time. Pure veg restaurants are
very rare. However in Gulmarg there are only few restaurants.
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Anjali
non-member comment
Good
Got lot of knowledge about Gulmarg. Good photographs