Where is heaven? It is in Kashmir!

Before this trip Manali was my favorite holiday destination but, after this trip Kashmir has easily replaced Manali. This one week trip to Kashmir valley was best I've ever had. It was good to the extent of life changing experience. This is the fact that I've been forced to write this post and change my plans for this blog. Please read this till the end because, it was kind of a climax and best part is the ending. And one more thing, please please leave comments with your name.

Our journey to heaven started on 31st may, from Delhi to Srinagar by air. From Srinagar, we directly departed to Gulmarg as per scheduled. Now, as you know, Kashmir is a valley. Generally, while going from plains to mountains you witness smaller mountains first and gradually they increase in size. In Kashmir, nature had done away with small mountains. Gigantic snow covered mountains come into sight straight away from Srinagar. Journey to Gulmarg was quite exciting. The weather was cloudy and it started drizzling a bit. We thought that if it was raining in lower reaches, than it would be snowing in Gulmarg and Gulmarg is known for snow. Gulmarg is covered in more than 15 feet snow in winters. Nope it wasn't to happen in June. It was drizzling in Gulmarg too.

We weren't disappointed at all. The view that Gulmarg provides is simply awesome. Huge snow mountains in view 24x7. 25 degree C temperature in june, who wouldn't want that. We reached heaven and weren't dead.

Next day in Gulmarg was reserved for Gondola. It is the highest cable car in the world. Up we went to section 1 of that. Section 2 was closed because of some technical problem. Section 2 is the place to be, because it takes you to top of snow mountain referred earlier and to the frozen lake. We, were not lucky this time (read till end of this post). So, section 1 was what we had to be content with. We took a pony ride from section 1 to Khilanmarg. There was snow in Khilanmarg.
We enjoyed a lot there. Sledging was an amazing experience. Snow was not as white and young as you want it to be, but we were content with what we got. Gulmarg looks like a bowl from Khilanmarg.

Next was the local sight seeing on that day. Nothing special, there was Maharaja Hari Singh's house, a typical bhootiya haveli, View Point, which provides a spectacular view of valley, children park etc. Next day, we were going to Tangmarg and back.

A place called Dhrung in Tangmarg provides a serene view of Ferozpur Nala (water flowing through this nala is cleanest, its like a river). A little trek up from here takes you to wildlife sanctuary which is a jungle. Air here is so filled with oxygen that it makes you feel energized. This due to trees of pine, fur, deodar etc.(they are very tall indeed). Then there was Baba Reshi shrine, and fruit gardens. We saw some infant pears, apples and cherries. None was to be eaten.

Next day we departed to Pahalgam at 4:30 in the morning. This early departure was due to the general strike going on in Srinagar, to avoid stone pelting in Srinagar. This trip was going to be exciting I thought. We were going to see some riots and war like scenes. We crossed Srinagar with no hassles whatsoever. There weren't any riots. People were jogging on the roads as if nothing was wrong. Although, there was heavy military presence.

Pahalgam is the main hill station of Kashmir. Like any other place in Kashmir it provides some breathtaking views. Every variety of food was available there, whereas in Gulmarg there was not much variety. From Pahalgam there are three places to go namely, Chandanwari, Aru, and Betaab Valley. We went to Chandanwari and Betaab valley first.

Chandanwari is the base for Amarnath Yatra. There was a glacier here and dirtiest of snow. This glacier was huge in size. I managed to climb it, which was no easy job. Coming down from it was even harder. Some climbed and came down slipping, wetting themselves. I managed to come down, though slipping 4 or 5 times but, safely. We enjoyed to the fullest. Betaab valley named after Sunny Deol film Betaab is a beautiful park of sort with river flowing through it. Next day we went to Aru it is a very very beautiful place. Take a nice pony ride from here. It will take you to around the mountain. Then come back to Pahalgam and laze around in the market.

Next we went to Srinagar. Again no visible violence. We took a shikara to our house boat, which was situated quite far from shore. After getting fresh we went for a shikara ride. Weather was cloudy again and that made Dal lake look like (again) heaven. Everything in Dal lake is floating-people, markets, restaurants, even grass. After some adventurous outings through Nehru Park, we went to Mughal Gardens to view some beautiful flowers.

Strike was quite evident in Srinagar. Markets were closed, no newspapers, no basic supplies. There was an uneasy calm near the Dal lake. Markets opened in the evening though. It started raining again. This time hell broke loose. We thought to run to our house boat but, we could not. The boat was in water, you had to take a shikara. We got wet while reaching to our house boat. Lightning was ablaze in the sky. Several bomb blast like sounds were heard and the end part of this post begins.

Next day, it was still raining. We were supposed to go to Sonmarg-The meadow of gold. Will we be able to go there, will roads be all right, will luck shine upon us? Luckily(mark this), we had made prearrangement for for our trip to Sonmarg. We took of from Srinagar, it was still raining. All the roads were fine but, what we got to see was stunning. Fresh snow had landed upon the mountains in front of us. All the mountains in front of our eyes white from the top. 88 kms away laid Sonmarg. It was evident that there will be snow in Thajuriwas glacier which is a 2.5 kms pony ride from Sonmarg. Luck shone upon us like the falling rain. Sonmarg turned Snowmarg. And what we got to see in Thajuriwas Glacier was amazing. A proper snowfall in the month of June. It was the first time in Kashmir. It was -5 degrees there. Next day we came back to Delhi, to 40 degrees. A 45 degree C change.
"Oi don't switch off the AC!"