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.
2 comments:
Would like to read more about the life of ordinary kashmiris. From the post, I made out that agriculture is still being done but beyond that what they do?
What they think about India? Do they feel part of that or its just a neighbouring country for them. I have heard Kashmiris are distinctive and they dont consider themselves as Indians or Pakistanis. Is that right?
Did you talk to anyone about terrorism etc?
Will cover these in the next post, Venkat. Me being me, I did dig into the psyche of the locals at every opportune moment. And the responses and views were interesting, to say the least.
Cheers!
Suresh
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