One reason to go ahead with a visit to Kashmir was the recently
revoked travel advisory by Germany asking its nationals not to visit the valley. This year the valley has registered an extraordinary increase in tourist arrivals and an all-time drop in insurgency levels.
On 1st September we descended the skies observing the Kashmir valley cocooned by hills all around and hit the tarmac at Srinagar around mid-day with the announcement that the outside temp was a cool 21C. After the stifling heat of Delhi this was a welcome relief and soon we boarded our Toyota Qualis with Nayeem at the helm. He was to be our driver/companion for the whole of our trip. He would also advise us on Do’s and Don’ts throughout in his Urduish Hindi.
As we drove past Army and CRPF establishments, we found the road/s leading up to our Hotel to be very good. We reached Comrade Inn. The Welcome was pleasant and we were soon in our room and quickly out of it to start our tour of the gardens in Srinagar which has been the backdrop for many a Hindi movie song. “ Dafli Wale”…for instance was shot in these gardens. To reach the Nehru park and the gardens from our Hotel we had to go over a bridge spanning the great river Jhelum. I was taken back to school days when we would remember the five rivers of Punjab i.e., Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas & Sutlej by saying Jesus Christ rose before sunrise over and over again.
More about the gardens now.
Formally laid out lawns, vibrant flower beds, fountains, surrounded by the vista of Dal lake in front of them, the gardens are captivating and delightful to behold .Creative use of the landscapes and the heady mix of colors, textures and plants present a sense of bliss. The Mughal gardens of Shalimar, Nishat and Chashmeshahi are exquisitely carved lawns with stepped terraces and rich water bodies.
Shalimar Gardens was laid out by Emperor Jehangir for his wife Nur Jahan in 1616. Shalimar Gardens are the magnum opus of Srinagar's many gardens and parks.
Nishat Bagh is smaller than Shalimar Garden, but is more beautiful. Was built by Empress Nur Jahan's brother. Nishat is celebrated for its stately chinar trees, imported to Kashmir from Persia by the Mughals.
Laid out by Shah Jehan, the gardens of Chashmeshahi, is so named because of a mountain spring that waters it. The gardens include three terraces, an aqueduct, waterfalls and fountains. mmm
The entire town was assembled in these gardens having an outing, celebrating Eid with their friends and relatives. We were amidst a vibrant crowd of local folks, young & old, in pretty hand worked SalwarKameez, pink complexioned sharp featured belles with their heads covered and bearded gents, playing, laughing, singing…Sumee in her Jeans and Top and without her head covering was a source of amusement, to these girls, many from adjoining villages, brought up under a different code…but there was no scorn or scoff.
It was a very pleasant evening that we spent amidst this crowd. We then drove off going around the perimeter of the Dal Lake to Hasratbal mosque.
Hazratbal's specialty is the fact that it houses a hair of the prophet Muhammad. This is displayed to the public on religious occasions, usually accompanied by fairs. Hazratbal is also remarkable for being the only domed mosque in Srinagar; the others having distinct pagoda like roofs. The shrine – mosque is situated on the western shore of the Dal Lake opposite Nishat Bagh and commands a grand view of the lake and the hills beyond.
In the dining room that evening we were reminiscing our pleasant outing and the fact that the valley has been shamed by politics and undue media coverage. Outbursts of violence instigated by warring factions have dealt tourism a big blow and they are smarting from it. Tourism and the accompanying sale of all things “kashmiri” are the only means of livelihood for these people, who seemed pleasant and courteous with a smile on their faces. This year’s improved traffic signified a state of euphoria amidst the uneasy calm
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We go to Sonamarg…the Meadow of Gold
A pleasant drive of about 2 1/2 Hrs from Srinagar the next morning took us to Sonamarg which is situated at a distance of 84 kms on the Srinagar-Ladakh Road. The drive to Sonamarg through the Sindh Valley presented a spectacular facet of countryside Kashmir. Situated at an altitude of 2730 m, Sonamarg has, as its backdrop, snowy mountains against an azure sky. The Sindh River that meanders through the valley abounds with trout. Ponies can be hired for the trip up to Thajiwas glacier, which is a major local attraction during the summer months. Sonamarg is the take off station for the drive to Ladakh across the Zojila, a major pass in the Himalayan Range, through which the Srinagar-Leh road passes. Sonamarg is also a base for undertaking the yatra to the holy Amarnath cave.
It appeared that a welcome party of Ponies was awaiting our arrival. As suggested by Nayeem we bargained with them for a couple of ponies to take us on a trot through the valley up to the location of the glacier. We snaked through Cherry trees, grazing sheep in the meadows, trekkers who had set up tents and through fresh water streams. The boys who lead the ponies gave us a complete account of the movies that were shot here, a taste of wild cherries and views that were truly spectacular. One of the boys was an eager and adept photographer and shot many pictures on the way. Much later we alighted near a dried up glacier and engaged in Sled runs for fun. We lunched on Maggi and some refreshing tea and returned to the site of our car by 5 PM. After offering a generous Tip to the boys we were on our way back to Srinagar.
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Gulmarg…The Meadow Of Flowers
A huge cup shaped meadow, lush and green with slopes characterizes Gulmarg which not surprisingly has been the venue of several films.Countless colorful Bluebells, Daisies, Forget Me Not's and Buttercups dotted the meadow which stands at 2,730 meters, 56-km south west of Srinagar. The valley itself is about 3-km long and up to a km wide.
A circular road, 11-km long, runs right round Gulmarg through pleasant pine forests with excellent views. All around are snow-capped mountains, and on a clear day one can see Nanga Parbat is one direction and Srinagar in another. It's a popular day trip from Srinagar to Gulmarg, although many people extend their stay or use it as a base for trekking. The road from Srinagar rises gently towards the lower slopes of the range, passing through rice and maize fields. Gulmarg boasts of one of the most famous Skiing resorts in Asia. Come December, and the green slopes of Gulmarg are blanketed with snow, forming some of the finest natural slopes for ski runs of all levels. Gulmarg also has one of the world's highest green golf courses, as well as a clubhouse.
After picking up our tickets for the Gondola ride from the office of Tourism at Srinagar we were driving towards our destination along a busy road abound with new construction of residences giving way to rice and maize fields. We climbed up to Gulmarg after a stop for tea at the foot hills.
It was not winter yet and nor were we in a mood for Golf. We explored the “Gondola” ride or quite simply the cable car ride which is built in two stages by a French engineering company with local participation. The first stage built in 1991 goes up to 3200 meters and the next level commissioned in 2005 scales 3800 meters. The ride through pine clad slopes was exhilarating. We cooled our heels at these altitudes, soaking in the scenery and taking pics. We got talking to a couple, youngsters, who had just been to Leh-Ladakh and considered it the best experience of their lives. Soon the clouds gathered and a storm brewed and we descended to ground level and were caught up in rain. We drove to the market place where Sumee befriended a teenage Kashmiri girl from a village nearby and we got talking over a hot cup of tea. She invited us to her home and all that. Our plan of catching up on a long walk around Gulmarg was put to rest by the incessant rain that evening. We were content taking pics of the assortment of flowers that were teeming in the gardens of Grand Mumtaz Hotel where we lodged
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Gulmarg to Pahalgam … a longish drive
The air was cool as we braced ourselves for a short walk along the perimeter of Gulmarg valley before breakfast…a last view of the bowl before we embarked on our drive to Pahalgam via Srinagar. As Nayeem said, you cannot wish away the capital for long, for wherever you wanted to go you had to pass through the city. So we did passing by the very modern edifices of the High Court and Secretariat, unlike the Victorian style counterparts in the other Metropolises of the country. Leaving the city behind we were once again on a highway dotted with Rice and Saffron fields, miles and miles of them. Suddenly we saw Cricket bats hanging like lanterns outside shop cum factories where they turn out some of the best bats made out of Willow. Then we passed through a tunnel of trees and Nayeem said this is where Rajesh Khanna’s so and so song was filmed for the movie so and so. At Mattan we saw a Gurudwara, Shiva temple and a Mosque standing cheek by jowl and a number of devotees gathered to spend their Sunday listening to Bhajans, Allah u Akbars and readings from the Granth Sahib while volunteers were distributing food under a large Chinar tree. What a wonderful sight and a welcome break.We were now on our last leg of our drive and the air was turning cool as we started climbing towards Pahalgam
At an altitude of 2,130m and about 95-km from Srinagar, Pahalgam is probably the most popular hill resort in the Kashmir valley. At the slightly lower altitude than Gulmarg the night temperatures do not drop so low and it has the beautiful Lidder River running right through the town. Arguably one of the most beautiful places on earth, the town of Pahalgam (Village of Shepherds) offers you breathtaking views.
There are many interesting tourist destinations around Pahalgam. Amongst them are the surging pastures of Baisaran. The huge meadows surrounded by thickly wooded forests of pine present a beautiful spectacle. The hill station of Pahalgam has eight tiny villages inside it. One of the villages is Mamal, which houses an ancient Shiva temple dating back to the 5th century. Pahalgam is also associated with the holy yatra of the Amarnath cave. Chandanwari, 16 km from Pahalgam, serves as the starting point of the Amarnath yatra. The yatra is organized every year in the Hindu month of Sawan (July to August).
We were blessed to be put up at the Mountain View Hotel with a room that had great views of the Lidder river passing right by and disappearing under a bridge and just beyond were the hills. What more could we want. We roamed the vicinity of the hotel, got caught in the rain, had Chai, met a young Kashmiri family on vacation and once again were overawed up by the majestic flowers of all hues in the Hotel lawn and parks nearby. We avoided the Ponies and depended on Nayeem to take us on short drives through some villages and to the old Shiva temple of which I talked about earlier. Surprisingly, the temple was opened for our view by a Muslim Kashmiri who also offered us Prasad. Shops selling Rugs, carpets, shawls, cloaks, dry fruits all choked the marketplace hoping for footfalls.
We spent two relaxing days at Pahalgam enjoying the serenity of Lidder and its environs, the views, the hospitality of the hotel staff and the cuisine.
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Pahalgam to Srinagar and Dal Lake
It was not without trepidation that we set out on our return journey to the city. The Hurriyat chief had declared a hartal in Srinagar and there could be sporadic violence some one said. But Nayeem allayed our fear with “ No, problem Sirji. Aap Befikir rahiye.Mai Hoon Naa” and then embarked on a story of how he brought two honeymooners to the Airport during a dawn to dusk curfew time a few years ago yadda yadda yadda
On the way back we changed direction and came to an Apple orchard teeming with red and green apples, many of them ready to pluck. Here we met the owner and his daughters who were kind enough to let us taste some and buy some for later consumption .Many had dropped on the floor and were wasting away. Seeing so many apples at one time took my breath away.
Dal Lake has rightfully become an icon of Kashmir tourism. A Himalayan urban lake, it has five basins and a number of channels that are well linked with each other. The sparkling quiet waters of Dal surrounded by snow-capped mountains on its three sides, undoubtedly mark it as one of the most beautiful lakes of India Houseboats form an indelible part of the scenery of the Dal Lake that are always ready to provide tourists with a romantic abode amidst exquisitely created interiors in wood. There are Shikaras that are smaller versions of the gondolas of Venice that offer ferry rides to and from the banks of the lake to the houseboats and also take tourists and honeymooners on a relaxing ride around the Lake.
Nayeem put us down at one of the Shikara stands and loaded up the Shikara which ferried us across to our Deluxe houseboat “Anarkali”. Soon we were climbing the short set of steps to our houseboat where the keeper met us and invited us courteously into the very spacious and grand accommodation. It is like a 5 Star hotel Suite. A large drawing room, a dining room and 4 en-suite bed rooms in the interior. Wall to wall Kashmiri carpeting and all that. The kitchen operates out of an outhouse on the shore behind the HB
In the afternoon I got talking to someone from the owner’s family about the how and why of HB’s in Dal Lake. This is what he said
Close to the end of 19th century, Kashmir was opening up to outsiders again. And the outsiders, mostly European, were pouring into the valley. And they needed a place to stay for their long holidays. Buying a piece of land and building a house was out of question, Maharaja Ranbir Singh would have none of it. No outsider could buy land in Kashmir, no outsider still can. A couple of years later, even Vivekananda had to return empty handed when he came looking for a place to set up his ashram. With a restriction like this, the tourist business wasn't going to take-off.
The idea of a 'floating house' was first floated in 1886 by a sport loving Englishman named M.T. Kennard. And the idea was also given a shape by him. For a longtime, till the name 'houseboat' caught on, Kashmiris used to call these boats the “boat of Kennath Sahib”. By the year 1906 their number in Kashmir was already in hundreds.
Today there are around 8000 in the lakes of Srinagar!
We had a relaxing 2 hour Shikara ride in the evening and took many pics. Wherever we went there were vendors in Shikara following us. After a sumptuous meal and a relaxed night we got up early to catch the sunrise over Dal.
In the morning after breakfast and checkout from HB we drove to the Shankaracharya temple.
This temple is situated at a height of 1100 feet above the Srinagar city The name of the Temple is after Shankaracharya who visited the valley about ten centuries ago. The Temple is built on a high octagonal plinth approached by a flight of 250 steps. The summit of the hill is crowned with a picturesque edifice. Some are of opinion that the temple at the top was originally built by King Sandiman (2629-2564 B.C.). There were 300 golden and silver images in it. About 1368 B.C. King Gopadittya founder of Gopkar repaired it and bestowed to the Brahmans of Arya Varta.
Today the temple is under the strict supervision of CRPF who have kept it clean. Photography is strictly not allowed
We drove from the Shankaracharya temple to the airport saying adieu to Srinagar and Kashmir and all the wonderful time that we had had.
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I do not remember much of him as I was 9 years old when he passed away.
