Kashmir

For the summer vacations, we had decided to go to Kashmir. This was about five years ago (time slips so fast!) so pardon me for any mistakes or misinformation. We had taken a flight from Delhi to Srinagar.

View from my window seat.

Our driver took us to our guest house in Manasbal (which was about an hour and a half’s drive away from Srinagar.) Manasbal is known for the Manasbal Lake, which is so deep that nobody has been able to measure the true depth of the lake, as the locals said. I believe that the place was, although so beautiful, yet so forgotten that nobody had cared. Kashmir had the Dal lake to boast after all.

We enjoyed the scenic beauty, and ate lamb kebabs. I don’t know if I should mention this in my blog so explicitly, but being a North Indian myself, this is a warning to all fellow North Indians: Do not try non vegetarian food in Kashmir. Just do not. Not even the Wazwan, the Kashmiri delicacy, not even from the best restaurant. You have been warned! (I heartily apologize if any reader feels differently, or finds this write-up offensive.)

We also met a beautiful Kashmiri family there who were cutting grass for feeding their animals.

The Mother.

The daughter.

Isn’t our guest house amazing?

The next day, we headed with our driver, MD, to Hazratbal, where the locals say that a strand of hair of Hazrat Sallalahu Alliyi Wasallam, or Prophet Muhammad, and many other relics of his are kept. It was located near Dal Lake.

We also visited the Shalimar Bagh, which had flowers of literally every colour present on earth, and created by God Almighty. Trust me, everyone found their match, and got pictures clicked!

That is my mom, by the way.

We were very tired, so the next day, we visited the Chashme Shahi, where people were bringing and drinking fresh water from the natural spring. Some locals told us that it brought good health to the people. Some tourists told us it brought prosperity. I had it too; it tasted very normal to me and nothing ‘prosperous’ has happened to me yet. (Yet.)

We also went to the Dal Lake to sit in the beautiful boats, and decided against renting a houseboat or ‘Shikara’ because the huge lake was beautiful, very charming indeed, but boring. There are hills surrounding the lake, and the bustling town surrounds the beautiful lake. We ate food in a restaurant called “Delhi Da Dhaba,” apparently the only food outlet that helped me survive in Kashmir.

Early in the morning we headed to Sonamarg, which took us a very long time to reach since the roads were so picturesque I literally asked our driver to stop at every five minutes to click pictures. Initially he was very willing, but later he treated me as a nuisance, and grew very reluctant. Hence, I had to take pictures from my car window. And I did not own a DSLR back then. Sad story.

Sonamarg was very beautiful. It was June, so there were many tourists. We hired coats, and boots (you can also bring your own) and instead of hiring horses, decided to trek up ourselves. The track was common for horses and humans so it felt like a medieval path with horses trotting beside you. It had rained, and unfortunately, all the dirty snow had come down. Hence, when we reached we got to click pictures in the brown snow.

We were very tired, but still headed for Gulmarg the next day. The Gulmarg “gondola” as the locals call it, or the ‘ropeways’ as the world knows it, is the major tourist attraction there. Warning: Pre-book your two phase to and fro gondola tickets from Srinagar itself. You can also do it online now. The queues are staggering, and we had a very terrible experience in there. There is a time period for which you can use the ropeways, so, thanks to the long queues, by the time we had reached the first phase, the second was shut down. I still have a craving for going there one day.

The second phase is a great skiing spot, and you can also see the border from there; but I have not been there.

Heading to Pahalgam the next day, I was still upset about the Gulmarg episode. But Pahalgam was even more charming! We met my friends Shirin and Sanya, who too had, by chance been in Pahalgam, and staying in a beautiful guest house. They took me to a little zoo above their cottage, where I clicked pictures of animals!

Right picture, wrong focus.

In Pahalgam, you have to hire horses. They charge according to the number of spots they show you. We decided to visit all of the spots, as a result, they charged us pretty high. But it was a BLUFF. In reality, there was only ONE spot, Baisaran. The locals call it ‘the Switzerland of India.’ It was very, very, very, very and very beautiful. Worth all the ass-aching horse ride, and worth all the money. Baisaran is worth all the time in your world! It is a relief to the eyes!

Baisaran

During our return, we decided to sit beside the rocks. We met a few children there, who were locals, and told us that they shot in the movie ‘Rockstar’ starring Ranbir Kapoor for a song. I clicked them too!

My father also met his friend, a local, and we visited a Kashmiri home! (A true traveller experience!)

My brother, Danish, is on the extreme left.

Here are some other pictures that I clicked, and I think are worth uploading:

Kashmiri dog, lazing around in the morning.

I should have blurred the background, but I am lazy.