Chatpal: offbeat gem of Kashmir

"Feel free to stay as long as you can manage without electricity" was the memo. Chatpal was slated to be touted as mini-Pahalgam.

A fully furnished tourist bungalow built by the Jammu and Kashmir tourism department would be all ours. A caretaker would be sent with us. The catch - no electricity.

We would be the first tourists to visit Chatpal. The idea of being the"guinea pigs" for such an offbeat destination was enough for us to accept the offer.

A fairy tale - was our first impression of Chatpal.

A wooden cottage. A gushing stream next to it. Air so clean and fresh, it felt almost - unnatural!

It was a cold rainy day in Chatpal. Our first real encounter with cold in the Kashmir summer.

Thankfully, our caretaker had a stash of coal in the kitchen. And a couple of kangris - the traditional heater of Kashmir.

We slept in at least a foot tall layer of blankets and quilts!

We had walked through the clouds on our arrival in Chatpal. We had not yet seen the landscape over the horizon.

Around sunset the clouds cleared and it was magic.

The kids, as always, were a delight. Watching them race down a slope with their metal rings was exciting. We spent a long time with them.

They jumped off high rocks. Posed for photos. And reminded us to get the photos the next time we visit, before saying their goodbyes.

The next day it got severely cold. Heavy rains lashed all around.

For the better part of the day, we didn't dare get out of the blankets. Through the window, we saw some local construction workers play cricket in the heavy rains.

When we refused to step out, they teased us saying " Abhi to garmi ka mausam hai " (It's summertime, time to have fun!). Cold - we suppose, has totally different definitions for someone from the hills than someone from the coast!

It was a great time, having candle-lit dinners, then huddling under the layers of blankets with the kangri at our feet. No transferring of photos, no phone calls, no internet updates! Just us and nature.

Short trek in the woods around Chatpal

When the weather got crispy the next day, we decided to get out for a short trek. Shaukat, who we had met at our cottage earlier, agreed to be our guide.

Chatpal is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The mountain trails connect Chatpal to almost the entire Kashmir valley.

We crossed a quaint little bridge over the stream to enter a village called Thimran. Thimran was a slightly bigger village, situated on a hill slope. There were a few shops and even a primary school in the village. We walked through apple and walnut tree-lined paths. It was still a few weeks for them to ripen.

Soon after Thimran, the forest started. The mountains we had been seeing for the last two days seemed to have come real close.

There were only Gujjar settlements around now. We saw their nomadic mud houses and their flock. When hunger struck, our guide asked one such Gujjar family if they could give us some food.

That's when she came to our rescue. She was running a fever and had to walk 10 km to get to a doctor. But before that, she heated cups of namkeen chai and apologised for not being able to offer more!

Such hospitality was the biggest gift of our travels in the Himalaya mountains.

On our way back, in Thimran, we met this affable mother and her daughters. They hadn't seen people with a big camera walk through their village. They were bold enough to strike up a conversation, and even posed for a family photo.

This short trek in the mountain woods later proved to be of great help when we did the Amarnath yatra.

Later we couldn't help compare the crowded touristy Pahalgam with the virgin land of Chatpal. We felt it would be unfair to label Chatpal as a mini-Pahalgam.

Chatpal can stand on its own as an offbeat, quiet and peaceful destination in Kashmir.

While the northern part of Kashmir has beautiful valleys like the Lolab valley, the southern part has Chatpal.

There are no "tourist points" to sit on a horse and see, in Chatpal. There isn't a list of not-to-be-missed tourist attraction.

What Chatpal has in abundance is an untouched natural beauty. Where you drink water straight from the streams and breathe the pine-scented air.

Getting lost in nature, or within oneself is the star attraction of Chatpal.

Travel tips for getting to Chatpal

Chatpal is in the Shangus district, a short trek ahead of Chitergul. The route is mapped as Anantnag-Chitergul road. A "local" shared jeep from Achabal will drop you to Chitergul. Hire a "special" jeep from here for Chatpal. Achabal to Chatpal takes little over an hour.