Heaven on Earth - Kashmir

We reached Srinagar airport at around 3 in the afternoon and met our driver Ali there. Instead of going to the guest house directly, we thought of using the daylight for some sight seeing. We went to the famous gardens of Srinagar - Shalimar Bagh, Nishat Bagh and Chashme Shahi. We didn't spend much time there as in the winters there are no flowers and these spots are dull and have less tourists visiting. After this we went for a 1 hour Shikara ride in the beautiful Dal Lake. It was late evening, just before sunset, and the colours were beautiful. We then checked into our guest house and asked Ali to take us some place with good Kashmiri food. He took us to a restaurant which was not very big but was very popular. The food there was awesome and all of us loved it.

On day 2 we started at around 8am. On the way to Sonamarg, we stopped at Hazratbal shrine. According to legend, this place contains a relic which is believed to be the hair of The Prophet Mohammed and is hence considered as one of the most holy Muslim places in Kashmir. It was very peaceful there and we stayed for a very short while. We then proceeded towards Sonamarg and took a quick break for brunch. Sonamarg is a small town which receives heavy snowfall during winters. We had enquired about staying here for a night but all hotels in this town are closed in the winters. There is a Sonmarg Taxi Association and they don't allow outside taxis for sight seeing. So we took another taxi in Sonamarg for 5-6 hours sight seeing. We were the only ones on the roads there. We stopped at some places on the way. The Sindhu River was flowing parallel to the road and the mountains there were barren, slightly snow covered and very symmetric. We visited the starting point of the Amarnath Yatra. Then we went to Sarbal which is the last village of Kashmir and the Ladakh region starts if we drive further. The villages were all empty. The driver told us that all the inhabitants of these villages (including him) shift a few kilometers downhill in peak winters as their entire village gets engulfed in several feet of snow. Next we stopped at a semi-frozen lake and a bridge over the river. Next we went to Thajawas glacier where it snowed heavily and we enjoyed chai and Maggi. The driver then took us to a beautiful spot where many hindi movies including Satte pe Satta were shot. There was a bench and mountains all around. Definitely felt ON TOP OF THE WORLD.

Next morning we proceeded towards Gulmarg. We packed our bags as we planned tospend a night in Gulmarg. We stopped at a highway hotel for breakfast and enjoyed Kahwa and parathe. The hotel also had a shop from where we bought some stuff. Gulmarg is a small town and assoon aswe reached we started a hotel search. We checked into Hotel Hilltop and after a few minutes at the hotel went for the Gondola ride. We walked from the hotel to the Gondola start point. The weather was fine, not so cold and the sun was bright and shining. We reached the top in a few minutes and as soon as we reached it started snowing. It snowed even heavier than Sonmarg. Me and my brother tried our hand at skiing. The trainer tried his best but I don't know why I couldn't get a hold on it and kept falling again and again. But Raghav was doing good and enjoyed a lot. My parents enjoyed the snowfall and Iwas so happy seeing them playing with snow. The happy snowfall soon turned into a blizzard and there were announcements at the Gondola station to take the return journey as soon as possible. So we went back to the station and enjoyed hot coffee while waiting in the long queue. The return Gondola ride was picturesque. It was snowing heavily and the mountains which were brown and green just a few hours back were covered in white. We reached the hotel soon, spent a nice evening there and slept early enjoying our electric blankets. The next morning we woke up early to catch a glimpse of the rising sun. The sky was clear and the surrounding mountains were all snow-clad.

We started at 9 am from Gulmarg and proceeded towards Pahalgam. On the way we passed through Sangam which us famous for cricket bat manufacturing and we could see hundreds of bats in the highway shops. Next we passed through Pampore which is known for saffron cultivation. Saffron or Kesar is the world's most expensive spices and is considered as lucky as gold. It wouldn't be difficult to find people carrying 10 gram pure saffron in their bags for good luck. We stopped at a spices shop on the highway and my mother bought Kesar, someother dry fruits and Kahwa mix. Kahwa is a local favourite in Kashmir and is drink similar to tea, made of 11 spices. The shop-owner was very courteous and offered us Kahwa and tea. On he way to Pahalgam we came across apple orchards which were so vast and all the trees were dried up, no apples, no leaves. I could only imagine how beautiful there apple farms would look in fruit season. We then reached Pahalgam by afternoon. We took a pony ride to Mini-Switzerland. It was a steep and dangerous yet memorable ride. AT the top we had tea and Maggi and enjoyed the views. On the way back to Srinagar, Ali took us through a deserted village. There were very few people and the houses looked like they haven't been inhabited for long. He told us that these were houses of Kashmiri Pundits who were driven out of the Kashmir valled a few decades back. Some of the houses were taken over by Muslims but some still remain unoccupied, probably waiting for their inhabitants to return home. We stopped somewhere for garma-garam chai and yummy pakoras. We returned by to Srinagar by night and asked Ali to take us to the same Kashmiri restaurant where he took us on the first day for our sumptous final Kashmiri dinner.

On our last day in Kashmir, we visited the Shankaracharya Temple. It is situated on top of a hill and is a few centuries old. The drive to the top of the hill was very scenic and the entrance to the temple was heavily guarded by the army. We climbed some hundreds of steps (yes we counted but i forgot the number) and reached the temple. The temple structure was built in stone and looked very old yet very strong. The top of the temple gave a full panoramic view of the Dal lake and the entire city of Srinagar. It was strange to see army quarters and a lot of military personnel inside the temple premises. And thanks to our lucky stars we got mild snowfall here as well. After traveling downhill we went shopping on the banks of Dal lake. Finally we proceeded to the airport for our flight back to Delhi. There are a lot of thorough security checks at the Srinagar airport. As expected, our flight was a few hours late and we spent some quality time at the waiting lounge.