Trip to heaven
This is all about my first
ever trip to Kashmir, trip to heaven on earth that is Kashmir,
नंदनवन as we say it in Marathi.
Kashmir is northernmost part
of India, a part of which every Indian is proud of, but afraid to go there.
And I wonder why?
Although I am going to
take you through the trail of our memories for the first when I see Kashmir,
but mind you since then almost every year I had made my trips to the place, now
I can say Kashmir is my second home.
Besides let’s go back to
2010
It was 23rd May, morning
we boarded our flight to Srinagar from Mumbai #Aamchimumbai and by 2pm we landed
to the heaven on earth. I was super excited for this trip, for two reasons one
was, it was my first trip to Kashmir and second is obvious my passion to
travel.
Since day one I was all
set to capture all the captivating sceneries all around.
It was Day 1, we came out
of airport and our guide was there to pick us up.
After not so long travel
from Mumbai to Srinagar finally we started our journey.
A Journey to Heaven
I called it journey, because
it seemed like one to me.
As we headed we saw Indian
army/crpf on both sides of road, on every 400-500m or so, and that really gave
me a sense of security. Sometimes I wonder what if we don’t have army. I could
not imagine it further, we might not see the next sun without them.
As far as we were entering
the city we saw everything usual like any other city, kids going to
school/college, people doing their daily business and if something was unusual
then it was calmness, fresh air, clean roads and greenery all around, because I
belongs to the city which never sleeps “the mayanagri-Mumbai”, I only have seen
my city (Mumbai) keep going.
Another thing astonished
me was the cold even in May, back in Mumbai you should forget about winters to
feel like winters and this was May I was freezing here in Kashmir.
Well, after this jaunt we reached our hotel, and I realized it was just 35 minutes travel but I already was impressed with this city.
Reaching hotel we rested
for a while and went out for shopping some warm clothes as I mentioned the climate
was cool and we did not expected.
Post shopping we had
dinner and a meet and greet ceremony with fellow tourists which were with us
for the tour.
Day 2
We went to Srinagar for
local sightseeing.
Our first and foremost
place to visit was Shankarcharya Temple
which was up on the hill, we had to
change our vehicle since we were almost 45 tourists carried in a bus and huge
vehicles aren’t allowed to the temple because
of the steep route. So we divided ourselves into small groups and got
the car to drive to the temple.
Shankarcharya as the name
suggests the temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva also known as Jyesteshwara
temple. The temple is at a height of 1000 ft. The temple itself is beautiful,
the grey rock makes the exterior very sober and calm.
The view from top is
breathtaking, you can get an ultimate bird eye view of entire Dal Lake and Nageen
Lake.
Though cameras are not
allowed to carry, yet you can capture the mesmerizing beauty in your eyes and
save it for the rest of your lives as a memory.
Also while coming down
from temple to city you can see the view of city from multiple viewpoints which
are at various heights and strategically placed.
After shankarcharya temple
we went to chashmeshahi garden, it is one of the Maughal garden’s build in 1632
AD by Ali mardan khan. Chashmeshahi the name derives from spring which was
discovered by the great female saint of kashmir Rupa Bhawani..
After chashme Shahi garden
we visited shalimar bagh
This garden is credited to
Emperor Jahangir and can be traced to 2nd century.
One thing which I remember
from this garden is I was taking photographs of various flowers which were
there and suddenly my sister showed me this small girl in angelic attire, she
was damn beautiful, she attracted the crowd within 5 mins. She was looking like
celebrity where all the people were in queue to take picture with her, my
sister also managed to take a picture with this little angel but I did not
cause I was busy in photographing, by this time selfie was not into existence
yet so that was a little angelic tale from my memory box of shalimar bagh
After that we went to
Nishat Bagh
This was third garden of
the day, well I was wondering why they have man made gardens when they have
natural gardens all around but when I entered the garden I got my answer. It
was gorgeous, the view from the garden was killing.
My personal favorite part
was to sit on the wall which is in front of the garden and just watch the
sunset over Dal lake…..same thing I do many a times at marine drive back in
Mumbai. Nothing is calmer than just sit still and look at the water, waves and
enjoy the sunset and the breeze
Looking at the beautiful
flowers in the garden my sister also bought some seeds from this garden where
locals were selling the seeds. Purpose was to plant them at our home garden...but
the purpose wasn’t accomplished. #lazyus
After spending our time at
this beautiful bagh we went for shikara ride (one must do while visiting the
beautiful city -Srinagar)
We did our shikara ride in
front of Nishat bagh and what to say about it, it was magical..
Climate was awesome, sun
was setting over Dal Lake and it started drizzling
And I was with my family
what else you need in life. (Enjoy the little things)
So that’s how our second
day was over with rosy sun set
Day 3
On 3rd Day we went to
Gulmarg
Gulmarg means Meadows of
Flowers.
Gulmarg is popular skiing
destination because of the smoothness of snow.
In winters lots of
foreigners visit this beauty for skiing expeditions.
It is also famous for the
gondola rope way and it is said to be one of the highest cable car system
in the world where you will find 2 levels.
From base if you take
gondola then you will reach kongdoori (phase 1)
Where one can enjoy snow
related sports, one can also visit khilanmarg by horse etc and for more
adventure you can always take gondola to top at the Apharwat peak which is at
4390meters from the sea level where one can find snow almost round the year
Once you reach the top you
will feel that you are on top of the world. View was enthralling and inspiring
from the top.
I got a sense of achieving
something when I reached up there.
I would like to give just
one suggestion.
When you are visiting the places like Afarwat peak which are
above 12,000feet don’t get much excited or run, as the oxygen level is
less at this height you might get headache or you may feel altitude
sickness, well drinking lots of water
and avoid running will make your enjoyment thrilling, as you know precaution is
better than cure.
Also while leaving from Gulmarg we also visited matarani temple which is nearby parking area, the
temple which lot of us has seen in the song Jai Jai Shiv Shankar the famous
song of Rajesh Khanna.
So that was our excursion
to Gulmarg. After sightseeing we head back to Srinagar.
Day 4
The Day we set for Sonmarg
Sonmarg means Meadows of
Gold
While going to Sonmarg we
also took photo halt at Sindhu River which is also called as Indus River from
which the name of this country is derived.
After small snap stop and
a mandatory tea break we started our journey towards Sonmarg,
It is also called as
Gateway to Ladakh
Lush greens landscapes and
Glaciers in Background
Just Woowwwww…….that’s
what I said.That was my initial reaction after watching this place.
And I was reminded again
why this place is called the heaven on earth.
After arriving at Sonmarg
we had our early Lunch which was included in Package and after lunch we head
out to explore this beautiful place called as Sonmarg
At that time you had 3 options
to reach the Thajiwas Glacier
1st by foot
2nd by Car
3rd by Pony (horse)
Out of which we chose the first
option and hiked our way through small hills, water crossing, and thick forest
till Thajiwas Glacier.
Back then in the month of
may end also we found lots of snow. We enjoyed snow rides and how can I forget
hot Maggiiee which we had there in that cold environment (Heaven)... It was a
topping for me.
After enjoying snow we
took few snaps and left for Sonmarg, this time by car( as our legs were paining
like hell while playing in snow)
Evening we reached back to
Srinagar and check into houseboat. I must say I was enjoying my first time
every now and then, again my first houseboat stay gave me an adrenaline rush.
Our Houseboat was at Nageen
lake.
Only word that can
describe those houseboat is “LUXURY”
And I was living that
luxury haha. I sat late at the ladders of houseboat outside, looking at the
water, feeling the warmness of city and relaxing, with me time.
Day 5
The day was well planned
for Pahalgam. I had searched for Pahalgam on google and went through the
pictures, it was amazing and I was pretty excited to visit this amazing place.
En route to Pahalgam we
visited bat factory
Kashmiri willow bat
are famous. We saw how the bats are made in factory, learnt the process of bat
making.
Soon after we carried our
journey towards Pahalgam and suddenly one stone was pelted on our bus and it
broke the window of our Volvo bus but fortunately glass was only broken not
shattered but somehow one piece of glass dropped on my head but nothing was
happened and after this incident without stopping anywhere we went to our hotel
in Pahalgam. This incident took place 40-50kms before Pahalgam.
Later on we came to know
that there was some sort of rape incident happened in that village and old man
was arrested for the same, stone pelting was aftermath of that situation and
nothing else..
Mean time we checked in to
our hotel and had our lunch.
Our hotel was near the
Lidar River
Snow clads mountains at
the back of the river, also it started raining, the smoky aura made me fell in
love with this place called Kashmir..
Just imagine you are having
lunch
With the sound of river which is flowing at
back side of the your dining area, snowy mountain, slow rain it’s heavenly..
After lunch we went to
pony ride with my sis and friend siddhesh and his sis
Both of them we met on
tour they were also from Mumbai.so four of us went to horse ride in that rain
Where we saw multiple
point but the most amazing was baisaran valley point also known as mini Switzerland..
We had tea and Maggie over
there as it was raining so it was must
And one more thing which I
remember from this pony ride was the other guy whose horses we were riding was
speaking Marathi though it was not much but he was able to speak few words
of Marathi and listening Marathi from him was unexpected yet much more awesome.
After this small excursion
we went to hotel
Had dinner and went back
to sleep.
Day 6
On 6th Day we went to
Local sightseeing of Pahalgam by Car and visited
Beautiful Aru Valley,
Betaab Valley where lots of Movie scenes were shot but it is famous for the
shoot of betaab the movie hence people started calling it as Betaab valley and
third one is Chandanwadi or Chandanwari
From where Amarnath yatra
begins (Approx June End -15th Aug) every year.
You can also visit Amarnath
from Baltal which is situated in Sonmarg.
After sightseeing for
almost 3-4hrs. We had lunch in hotel and we were given free time for
shopping and in evening it was river rafting time which was
obviously optional few people did it that few people did not includes me as I
don’t know swimming so I avoided rafting and was busy in clicking pictures and
eating Maggie.
Next day we had to travel to Katra as Vaishnodevi was also
in our itinerary so slept early so that we can wake up early in morning for
long journey..
on day 7th we
checked out early in morning and we had our breakfast En route to Katra.
By late afternoon we arrived in Katra we checked in our
hotel and rested for some time, as we had free time on that day in evening we
left to explore the town of Katra with my new friends where we shopped for
local traditional Jammu and Kashmiri stuff. After our shopping we had dinner in
our hotel and went to sleep as tomorrow we had booked helicopter seats for our
Darshan at Mata Vaishnodevi.
Day
8th we woke up early had breakfast and left for
helipad at around 10-11am but after reaching helipad we learnt that due to bad weather
condition the services were temporary suspended and will had to wait till the
weather gets cleared. After 1300 hours weather got cleared and helicopter
services has started again…
I was excited as it was my first helicopter ride. It was
short but I was looking forward to it..
In just 4 to 5mins we reached sanjhichaat from where we
walked down 2.5kms to reach the main Bhawan. The aura was spiritually
beautiful, we had nice Darshan.
Post Darshan my biggest worry was to get back to Katra as
we did not made returned tickets by helicopter yet we were fortunate enough to
get on time bookings from window outside the Bhawan.
Without losing time we booked pony ride to helipad, I was
afraid of this pony ride though since the route was steep and these ponies were
very thin I was afraid if I fell down hehe yet we reached safe and sound to
helipad and made our return journey to Katra. And yes, we did not made it to
Bhairav Nath since we were not aware of the essence of doing Darshan of Bhairav
Baba.
An important note: Before you start your Yatra, it is
compulsory to get your yatra receipt. Without it, you are not allowed to get
the Darshan, the receipt is valid for 6 hours.
Anyways our temple experience was very smooth due to both
way helicopter ride. Highly Recommended.
So it was evening till we arrived back to our hotel.
Helipad to hotel was around 3-4kms approximately.
We had dinner and it was our last day also so we all played
playing cards till late night.
Next
day the 9th day
We ought to return back to our chores. Though the last day of
the trip has always been a sad day for me yet I keep it as inspiring to haunt for
and explore my next destination.
Kashmir has been great, I have no words to describe the
place and the beauty.
Also I would like to tell you a little secret about this
trip. I bet every guy have some notions about their honeymoon and I had too,
during this trip I decided that I will bring my wife to Kashmir especially
after Pahalgam for honeymoon and no, I was not married back then hehehe, though
now I am and unfortunately we did not go to kashmir for honeymoon but both of
us explored Bhutan the another heaven I have seen so far…..