Day 1 (25th Dec. ’09): Me and one of my friend reached to New Delhi airport for our flight, which is at 12 O’clock in the afternoon and reached to Srinager airport nearly 2 p.m.
At the airport gate we met a guy named Yusuf who is the owner of two house boats at Dal Lake. I told me the government rate for cab from airport to Dal Lake is Rs. 450 but he will take us there for only Rs. 300. From there his son will pick us up to his house boats which per room cost Rs. 800/1000/1500 for 1 night.
A guy drove us to Dal Lake from there we got up to a Shikara (a small boat) to reach house boat. After we reached to the house boat the care taker took us to see the room there are only two types of rooms one costs Rs. 1400 and another costs Rs. 1600 per night including room heating and meal (breakfast & dinner only).
Beware of prices they may charge you Rs. 4500 onward per night for a single room which they have listed on an official paper says this is the slandered government rate (during pick season June to July you may have to pay that amount :-P).
After all bargaining we agreed to pay Rs. 1600 per night for a room booked for 3 night and 4 days (because it was a deluxe room and it has two separate beds) and deposited initial amount Rs. 2000.
We took rest for an hour and during that time they gave us tea to drink. After that we took a tour to Dal Lake on a Shikara. The boatman took us to Neharu Par, Kabutar Khana, Dal Lake old market etc. During your ride some people may come to you to sell different stuff like Keshar, Metal utensils, Kashmiri winter garments or just to take photograph in traditional Kashmiri clothes. Well, we did not take anything so, don’t ask me for prices. In Old market you can do shopping or you can do shopping from Srinager market in Lal Chowk, government emporiums etc depending upon your choice, need and budget.
It was nearly 2 hours ride during this time we saw beautiful sunset from Dal Lake and nice sceneries, but simultaneously we feel sad how badly Dal Lake became polluted by local people and tourists :-(. They throw almost everything into the Lake event the wastages from house boats.
We reached our house boat in the evening and paid Rs. 500 for our shikara ride (If you think the price is high you can and should always do bargaining).
After that we booked a cab for 2 days to visit Gulmarg, Srinagar local sightseeing and Sonamarg for Rs. 4500. It was a Tata Sumo, so, if you are travelling more people it would be cost effective. Toyota Innova and Chevrolet Tavera should cost you more. The individual break up for our Cab is as follows:
1. Srinagar airport to Dal Lake: Rs. 300
2. Gulmarg: Rs. 1300
3. Local sightseeing : Rs. 800
4. Sonamarg: Rs. 1800
5. Dal Lake to Srinagar airport: Rs. 300
We took dinner at night and went to bed. It was our entire day’s activity. You can’t expect anything more than that for that one when you are traveling other part of the country.
Day 2 (26th Dec. ’09): Next day morning we got up at 7 am in the morning to see the frozen Dal Lake. It was very cold and Dal Lake was covered with thin layer of ice. We tried to break ice using Shikara's Paddle. After that we got ready for our second day adventures. We took our Cab by 11 O'clock in the morning and firth went to Shankarachaya temple in Srinagar. It is housed at a height of 1100 ft. above surface level of the main city on the hill. Mobile Phones and Cameras are not allowed inside the temple premises. So, you have to leave it in your cab. We offered prayer to Lord Shiva. You can see entire Srinager and beautiful Dal Lake from the hill. After spending some time there we get back to our cab and began our journey toward Gulmarg.
On the way you could see Indian security force were patrolling in some places. The road toward Gulmarg is breathtaking, as we were enjoying our journey I could not realize when we reach to Tangmarg. From there we rent our snow boots. I cost our 150 rupees for each pair. The road to the Gulmarg was breathtaking.
We could see snow covered both site of the road. While we were enjoying our ride toward destination we reach to Gulmarg. At there we could see the entire place is covered by snow.
Soon after we reach to Gulmarg we are surrounded by tour guides who were asking for Rs. 500 for guiding us to Gondola Cable car. BUT BEWARE OF SUCH GUIDES!! It’s hardly 10 minutes walk from Gulmarg to Gondola Cable car ticket counter and it’s only one straight road to each there. They even ask you for sledge ride. It depends on you where you go for it or not, we didn’t.
. By the way we could not avoid them and had to take a guide. He took us to the ticket counter. We bought 2 tickets to Khilanmarg which cost Rs 300 each. You can go further height if you get Rs 500 ticket. But it was close by that time.
By cable cab we reached to Kongdoor or Khilanmarg. The jaw dropping beauty of the place cannot be described in words. Can need to be there to really enjoy the extraordinary experience we went through. I can only put few photographs to give you an overall idea how amazing our world can be.
We got down from there before sunset. Our guide was waiting for us down at Gulmarg. He again guided us to the parking location where our cab driver was waiting.
Rather going back to house boat we choose to spend some more time there. We gave Rs 500 to our guide and let him go. We has asked our driver to wait the parking and we went to Maha Rani temple.
We were there till sunset. The blue sky and White Mountains turn red during sunset. It felt like haven came down to earth. I still cannot believe that I witnessed that moment.
After sunset we went back to our house boat and had our dinner at night and went to sleep. It was the end of our second eventful day in Kashmir.
Day 3 (27th Dec. ’09): Destination Sonamarg through NH 1D!! National Highway 1D (NH 1D), also known as Srinagar-Sonamareg-Kargil-Leh Highway, is a National Highway entirely within the state of Jammu & Kashmir in North India that connects Srinagar to Leh in Ladakh through Zoji La pass. Zoji La is 9 km (5.6 mi) from Sonamarg and provides a vital link between Ladakh and Kashmir. Even though our journey only confined from Srinagar to Sonamarg. We could not help us to mesmerize by the thrill of NH 1D.
As usual we got up in morning, got ready quickly and had our breakfast and started third day of your trip. We planned to cover all the three famous gardens of Srinagar on the way to Sonamarg. But honestly speaking it just waste of time to go to these gardens during winter.
For the sake completeness of your trip you can visit those places. On our way we could see char chinar (four trees in the middle of the Dal Lake).
First we went to Mughal gardens and Nishat garden but we skipped Shalimar gardens and started our actual journey.
As you journey progressed we got the first glimpse of Indus river. It flows site by side of the NH 1D and you can see the White Mountains. Scenic beauty of this place beyond any word could ever describe. One cannot believe how pretty nature can be until the person mark his or her presence there. As we moving closer to Sonamarg we observed unprecedented increase of snow on road, which you can easily realize by watching two different pictures of Indus.
Now, here comes the saddest part of our entire Kashmir trip , we reached to Gagangir, A place nearly 13 km away from Sonamarg. Due to heavy snow fall the road from there was closed. Soon after we were surrounded by the local people who provide horse ride, winter jackets and snow boots, they stated forcing us to sale their stuff. At last we agreed to take two horses with guide, two jackets and two pair of snow boots. It took total a sum of Rs 1500. And then the heartbreak! Sonamarg remains close during these winter months because snow on the road making the road sleepily for the vehicles to move forward. Even the pedestrian are not allowed going beyond Iceland Park, which is 3 km away from Sonamarg.
On horseback we reached to Iceland Park. But we broke the protocol and moved more than 1 km further from there. It helped us to take some of the extraordinary photographs. I could not see a single person except us and one of our guides, to whom we kept busy taking photos of us and shooting videos. He told us not to cover any more distance as it was prohibited. So, we got back to Iceland Park and spend some time over there. The bridge in the picture was so sleepily that I felt twice and hurt myself once (don’t laugh; I was not the only person who felt.)
Some photos toward Sonamarg I would like to share with you are shown below:
We rode back to Gagangir. There we enjoyed the bank of Indus, before that we had to pay Rs 500 to our guide for taking photos of us. Well, people would ask for money and which is unavoidable under normal circumstances. Now, it depends on you how you minimize your damage.
Our Kashmir trip almost ended. Now, we stated our journey back to Srinagar. We had our evening meal at Mughal Darbar restaurant and reached back to houseboat. On the way we saw Hazratbal Shrine.
It was the end of our third day in Kashmir. Next day we had to board our flight to Delhi. That day we were so tired that we felt asleep without having our dinner. But our caretaker knocked the door and made us wake up to server dinner to us.
Day 4 (28th Dec. ’09): Only activities we had done on that day were to pay to the owner of the houseboat, gave tips to caretaker, cook, driver etc. and return back to New Delhi. The security of Srinagar airport was very tight. I have never seen such security anywhere else. But if you don’t panic and cooperate of the security process then it should not be an issue. The fight was on time and finally we said good bye to Kashmir. We took photographs of great Himalayas from flight.
Kashmir trip was the most enjoyable and memorable trip of all time to me. I wish someday I return back to visit that place again. Probably our next destination of Kashmir will be Ladakh. :-)
