Travelogue

In the past few years I have travelled to some tourist locations like Leh, Dharamsala, Mcleodganj, etc. With this trip, I realised that I have now become a frequent traveller. What adds to these escapades is an account of the trip shared with an audience. With this thought comes my first travel blog :-)

• Dal Lake : Day 1 , we arrive at Dal Lake and lounge at a houseboat 'Lake Victoria'.

Shikara(boat) ride was the most pleasant experience of the entire travel. Shikara takes you around a city built on water with a floating market, vegetation fields and lots more.. What truly amazed me was the fluent english (with an American accent)that the vendors on the Shikara spoke..Not even a call center could train that well....!
Travel Tip : Living in houseboats alone can restrict movement around the city at late evenings , hence Alternate your stay between a hotel and houseboat. Houseboat stay includes breakfast and dinner which is cooked by the tenants themselves ..Delicious Kashmiri dishes cooked at home are to die for.The stay is priced between Rs.700 to Rs.1500 depending on the houseboat and the season in which you choose to visit.

• City Tour : You can give this a miss unless you have a fetish for flowers.. Famous for it's gardens(Shalimar, Moghul to name a few..), in spring it offers a varied range of display of unique flowers and Almond Orchards. The religiously inclined can visit ShankarArcharya temple and Hazaratbal Sharif Darga. On the way to Pahalgam, you will come across Saffron fields where you can buy dry fruits, saffron, etc. for optimum prices from a local store called 'Zamindar'.

Travel Tip: It is said that if you have an unfulfilled wish, you may tie a thread at Hazratbal Darga for it and once granted you would have to return to untie it. I had a wish too, have had it for years now :-) But let's save that for another blog... Caution for the acrophobics, you need to climb 270 odd steps before you reach Shankarcharya temple.

• Gulmarg: The most commercial destination of Srinagar.

• Snow-clad mountain ranges around, this place offers every source of entertainment from Sledge pullers to a Gondola ride. Gondola ride is a cable cab ride to the mountain basepoint charged at Rs. 300 per person.

Once you reach the base, there is another Gondola ride charged at Rs. 700 further up. We chose to chill at the base point. For foodies , you have restaurants in the midst of snow. I recommend Aloo paranthas here :-)

Travel Tip: I thought sledge pulling was a bit inhuman as the sledges were manned. One needs to be careful of exhorbitant prices quoted for skiing, sledging and tourist guides in this area. They tend to quote one price and later demand another. If you are not carrying enough warm clothes, you can get 'snow boots' and 'jackets' on rent for about Rs.100 per person.

• Sonemarg: This place gives a distant view of Amarnath Cave and it's geography is defined by glaciars and mountains. We could not reach this place as the road was blocked due to snowing but what made up for the loss was a horse ride uphill with cold winds lashing against my face. The road to Sonemarg is on Srinagar-Leh highway and passes through Kargil before you reach LEh.

We stopped at the foothills of Sonemarg with mountains around and a stream flowing through. Camped there with Nazir Bhai and his gracious wife Tahira who packed some home cooked Kashmiri food for us. Bless them :-)

Travel Tip : Do some research about the roadblock before you get there. Usually the snow melts in June and the way to Sonemarg uphill is about 10kms on a horseback. Vehicles are not allowed there..
We wrapped our visit to Sringar the next day..A special tip for the ladies, carry extra cash for the precious stones sold here..Hope this helps your visit to Sringar..wish you a pleasant journey!