Day 149-2011 : Paradise On Earth - Part 4

Day 4 was to be an early start, as we had to drive from Pahalgam to Gulmarg.  After an early breakfast, we boarded our vehicle (a TATA Winger) for a 5 hour drive!  The early rising part is what Priya hated about this day.  She could not understand why would anyone want to rise as early as 6 AM on a vacation trip.  Actually, even on a normal day, 6 AM is a bit too early for her.  She obviously loves her nine winks!  However, the promise of our first view of real snow (not ice) and possible snowfall, was good enough for her to sacrifice her sleep.

Pahalgam to Gulmarg was an uneventful drive, except for the fact that we stopped for refreshments on the way, at a cricket bat manufacturing factory.  By now, refreshments for us meant Kahwah!  Kahwah is a traditional green tea recipe made in the Kashmir Valley, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other places in Central Asia.  And it is wonderful, full of various herbs and dry fruits; very refreshing! The bat factory was basically a place where logs of walnut trees were being cut into bat size logs.  These were then stacked together for further processing to be chiseled as the bats that we see cricketers playing with.  Seeing and holding a 'Mongoose' for the first time, I just could not resist buying it.  Good willow, I hope I get to use it some time soon!  Not to be left behind, Suryanksh got one for himself too.

Father & son with the new acquisition - a Mongoose!

We touched the outskirts of Srinagar, on our way from Pahalgam to Gulmarg.  Before climbing the 'ghats' of Gulmarg, we stopped at Tangmarg, to hire / buy woollens for everyone to cope with the snow on top of the mountains in Gulmarg.  After checking in to the hotel in Gulmarg and having lunch, we were off on our mission to experience the beauty of Gulmarg.  Gulmarg is, by the way, in Baramula district in Kashmir and is very close to the Line of Control (LOC) between India & Pakistan.  We had to take the Gondola ride to get to the snow-clad slopes of Gulmarg.  The Gondola ride itself was very interesting.  It is the highest cable car in the world, reaching 3950 metres.  We stopped at Kongdoori station, where the Phase 1 of the Gondola ends.  Phase 2 of the Gondola takes you to the top of the Kongdoori mountain.  It had begun to rain when we were in the Gondola.  When we reached Kongdoori, the sight in front of us was breathtakingly beautiful; well worth the early start, Priya confirmed!

As if on cue, as soon as we reached the snow-clad slopes, it started snowing, something we had hoped for when we decided to come to Kashmir.  Gulmarg offers one of the longest and highest ski slopes in Asia.  Yours truly tried his hand with the skis and so did Suryanksh.  Myself and Suryanksh had a great time playing with the snow and making yet another 'bonsai' snowman!  Priyanksh was too tired for the fun and games and hence slept off!  Priya was of course, left holding the baby, literally!

After having a great time in the snow, we had to rush to take the Gondola ride back to the base and reach our hotel in time.  By now the rain was pouring really hard and reaching the warmth of our hotel was a relief.  Now, I have to mention here, the real struggle for resources, in hill stations like Gulmarg, to run our day-to-day lives, some of which we take it for granted in the cities that we live in.  It was freezing cold in Gulmarg, the water in the pipes was just short of becoming ice and guess what, the boilers to heat the water in the hotel could not work because there was no electricity supply.  The hotel was surviving on just one generator.  Usage of water was ruled out for the kids.  Moreover, most of the other things in the hotel also did not seem to work, right from the bulbs (which they replaced) to the television (which they couldn't)!  Thankfully, we were here only for the night and the gas heaters were great!  But, hats off to the locals, who actually live in such difficult circumstances.

After a good dinner, and an impromptu birthday party (for one of the kids in the group) in the dining hall, we were lulled into deep sleep by the warmth of the gas heaters!  Another day ended, actually zipped through.  And we had only a few more to look forward to.  More about them in the next post.

Take care.

Day 142-2011 : Paradise On Earth - Part 3

Day 3 in Kashmir and we find ourselves in Pahalgam.  Pahalgam is one of the most beautiful places in Kashmir.  The scenery, when I woke up in the morning and looked out of the window of my hotel room, was amazing.  The rising sun was shining bright on the snow lying on the mountains...radiant!

After breakfast, we headed out to a place called Chandanwari.  We did not know what to expect, but when we reached there, we realised that we are going to meet snow, point blank range for the first time.  It was a steep climb made a little dangerous by some of the snow slowly turning into ice.  And guess what, we made our first snowman here!  Now, making a snowman is not as easy a task as it sounds, especially without any gloves.  The palms of our hands started freezing after the first few scoops of the snow.  However, we finally managed to erect something that might resemble an emaciated and gaunt snowman!  Suryanksh was mighty upset (which is seen in the picture below) that we did not carry a carrot for making the snowman's nose, in spite of him telling us that repeatedly for the past one month!  Small twigs would have to do for the nose as of now!

We came down in a sledge when descending the slopes.  It is a bit scary (given that these are hand-made wooden sledges) but also an exhilarating experience.  It took us exactly a minute to slide down the slopes which we had climbed in about forty minutes.

On our way back to the hotel, we visited the Betaab Valley, christened so because the Sunny Deol - Amrita Singh starrer, Betaab, was shot on location here.  Again, more beautiful landscapes.  The locals have tried to maintain the landscape as it was in the film.

I have been asked to also describe my interactions with the local Kashmiris.  To be honest, for the first few days, I held back myself from picking their brains, just to test the waters.  Only after being comfortable of the fact that Kashmiris are not necessarily hostile to their countrymen who do not happen to be Kashmiris, did I open up.  The people were extremely friendly and helpful!  Kashmiris respect tourists, because their livelihood depends on tourists, at least for a vast majority of them.  There is acceptance of this fact peace brings prosperity.  I spoke to a shop keeper, who was very happy that the situation in the last five months has been relatively peaceful thus allowing the tourism industry to function.  Priya went to buy Rajma (imagine buying Rajma from Kashmir for taking it to Mumbai!!!!) in a grocer's shop near our hotel in Srinagar and the shopkeeper, after learning that she is a tourist from Mumbai, offered her tea and insisted that she have it!  It is a place where tourism drives a lot of things and there is no tourism for 5-6 months when it is snowing.  I was told that they lock themselves up in those 6 months in their homes and do nothing.  Hence the window to earn for their livelihood is drastically reduced.  It is ironical that in such a beautiful place, the people live a very hard and difficult life.  One or two of them though, from the younger lot, did come across as someone who considered themselves different from Indians, especially when they were negotiating for money!

After lunch and the mandatory afternoon nap that my better half has to have, we went for a visit to Aru Valley.  The drive to Aru Valley is so jaw-droppingly picturesque, I was spell-bound by the landscape.  It was a very narrow pathway and in fading light, especially while coming back, the driver of our Maruti Omni showed great driving skills!  I was impressed.

Another day had gone by.  As I was dozing off after dinner, I couldn't help but think that I had not bargained to be presented with such wonders of nature when I decided to come to Kashmir.  Little did I know that there was more to come.

Take care.

Day 137-2011 : Paradise On Earth - Part 2

Day 2 of our trip to Kashmir.  We checked out of the house boat to take our transportation for Pahalgam.  Unfortunately it was a very long wait on the banks of the Dal Lake in some very hot weather for our vehicle to arrive.  I am told it did arrive but was towed away by the J&K Police for parking besides the Dal.  After a long with it did arrive and we were off to Pahalgam.

As soon as we got out of Srinagar, the first thing that struck us was the landscape!  Amazing, picture perfect, fit for a post card etc. were the adjectives being used.  The long drive was interrupted a couple of times by barricades manned by village locals and J&K Police to check all the vehicles passing through that route.  One of those stops was very close by to an apple orchard!  Rows and rows of apple trees...but, unfortunately, no apples yet on the trees.  We also stopped half way through at Avantipora to visit the Avantiswamin Temple. It is a heritage site maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.  After another drive through picturesque fields growing mustard, glaciers carrying melted snow from the top of the mountains and beautiful snow-capped mountains framing them, we reached Pahalgam.

After lunch and a quick nap, we decided to go for a mountain trek on ponies to a place called 'Switzerland Point' known for its breathtaking beauty.  Though it was a good bright day and the sun was not expected to set before 8 PM, I knew we had started late for the trek (6PM).  We could see only people coming from the opposite direction and that confirmed my fears that we had started a bit later than normal.  After some normal pony riding, we reached a terrain where the ponies were now actually managing a steep climb with their slender legs, at a brisk pace!  It was exciting and dangerous as well, given that neither me nor Priya know anything about horse riding.  Of course we had a couple of men guiding the ponies through the steep climb, but you never know when the pony is going to decide 'enough is enough'!

We reached Switzerland Point in fading light, but it was well worth it!  Fantastic scenery and landscape, right out of Yash Raj Films movies.  After spending some time there we began our descent on the ponies.  The descent, it was turning out, was even more dangerous than the climb.  Add to that the fading light, and we had enough to worry about.  Suddenly, the pony on which Priya and Suryanksh were on, missed a step and buckled under the imbalance of its riders.  Priya and Suryanksh fell down from the pony.  Thankfully, there were no injuries but the fall did scare us all.  After this most of the steep terrain was traversed on foot by Priya and me in complete darkness.  Once we were on flat terrain, we resumed the pony ride and reached the hotel by about 8.30 PM.  

Speaking of the hotel, I thought it was a wonderful hotel for a far-flung place like Pahalgam.  It is called Paradise Inn and looks like it has been built very recently.  After the dinner, we just wanted to hit the bed after a long day!  The next day promised to bring us to the sights and sounds of some of the nearby places of tourist interest in Pahalgam.  More about them in the next post.

Take care.

Day 127-2011 : Paradise On Earth - Part 1

It has now been four days since I came back from Kashmir.  I still cannot get over the dazzling beauty of the place; I guess, I never will.

This is the story of my holiday trip to Kashmir.  Like any story, a good build-up helps.  So here goes.

It was a very late decision to take a holiday.  Myself and Priya had been mulling over where to go to, for quite some time.  One thing was certain: After 5 years of not taking any holidays, we were determined to take time off and travel to some place.  We felt confident that the kids were now big enough to take the risk!  Finally, we decided that given the time constraints and two sub-five kids, booking a domestic holiday package was the best option.  As to where to go to, we decided to start right at the top.  Kashmir!

The preparations began a week ahead of the departure date.  All the pre-trip shopping for the mandatory stuff to carry along was, to say the least, painful!  Finally, we are all set.

The itinerary was a shocker!  We learnt that we had to endure a five hour plane ride, departing at 6 AM (with 2 stops!) to get to Srinagar.  We got there on time though, after the two stops at Delhi and Jammu.  It was hot (dry heat) in Srinagar, when we landed.  Our first stop was a house boat on the famous Dal Lake.  A thirty minute drive to the Dal and a minute ride on a Shikara took us to our house boat; HB Young Light.

Now a house boat, if you have ever been to one, is an interesting place to stay.  It has an external sitting area, a common drawing room and a clutch of rooms (very similar to a hotel room) for guests to stay.  The number of rooms in a house boat depends on how big the house boat is.  The largest house boat, I was told, on the Dal was a 7-room house boat.  Ours was a 3 room one.  A comfortable contraption, it has all the amenities that a normal hotel room might have.  The fact that it is in the lake, takes some time to get used to.  One has to be very careful, especially if you have small kids, as you might actually step into the lake if you do not mind where your foot is!  Another irritant is the swarm of insects (harmless mosquitoes, we were told).  You need to cover yourself and use insect repellent creams.  One might also feel a bit claustrophobic in a house boat, but it is a great place to stay for a couple of days for city-slickers like us.

HB Young Light: The Common Room

I had been warned that the people in Kashmir might not be very welcoming.  I was happy that this was not the case.  The people are great!  The owner of the house boat, Muhammedbhai, insisted that we consider the house boat as our own home and give him a shout at any time of the day, if we need anything at all.  The owners of the house boats generally live at the back of the house boat itself.  Notwithstanding the earlier warning about Kashmiris not being hospitable, I think the people of Kashmir are realising that tourism is their lifeline.  Of course, in the evening, the owner produced multiple relatives who were selling one or the other thing.  Clothes, saffron & other herbs, handicrafts, etc.  The hard-sell was a great 'put-off' for me.  But, it was their livelihood.

The evening was spent rowing about in a Shikara all over the Dal Lake.  The Dal is one of the biggest lake that I have seen, next only to maybe, Loch Ness in the Highlands in Scotland.  Over a lakh households actually live on the lake!  The Dal has an economy and a community of its own.  It is huge!  I was amazed to see the little causeways in the lake which led to the different parts of it.  Everything is available on the lake.  Right from grocery shops, mobile photo studios (on Shikaras!) and handicraft unit to private farms on which vegetables are grown.  There are floating gardens on it too.  The Dal is infested by wild growth of weeds all over.  A huge investment has been made to continuously dredge the lake to take these weeds out which inhibit the proper functioning of this large aquatic body.  The Dal Lake really impressed me!  The views of the surrounding mountain ranges and the house boats, from a Shikara are spectacular. 

We did stop by the Nehru Park and a couple of shops on the lake.  Also, we did a mobile photo shoot (a first for me) in a Shikara wearing traditional Kashmiri costumes, the prints of which were delivered promptly in the evening. 

Thus our first day in Kashmir ended on the Dal Lake.  I did have a good night's sleep in the house boat.  However, when you spend hours together in a Shikara, you get the gentle swaying sensation of a boat even when lying flat on your bed!  It feels like you are sleeping in a 'thottal', if you know what I mean.

Next morning, we were to drive to Pahalgam, a 5 hour drive!  The next post will be all about Pahalgam and its surrounding places. 

Till then...take care!