Road trip to Heaven... (Part 2)

Sep/Oct 2012

Kashmir Part 2

Three Exotic Destinations

Where, what, when at our destinations was G&R-ed by our colleague. So, the three exotic destinations were Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam. Beauty at all these places surpassed our imagination by big measure! End September - early October is a lean period between summer holidaymakers and Dasara/Deepavali holidaymakers which made our visit more pleasurable!    

Our earlier post Road trip to Heaven... (Part 1) has details on getting to these places by road. 

Srinagar – Venice of the East
"Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast"

Sunrise - Chai - Nirvana!

“If paradise is anywhere on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here!” is what Emperor Jahangir remarked while staying at a houseboat on the Dal Lake.

This perfectly describes our experience at the houseboat on Nigeen Lake. Early morning sun rays reflecting off the lake water while we sipped hot masala chai and Kashmiri Kahwa to Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia’s melodious flute rendition felt very close to paradise. Ah! One can get used to that life!

For us, Srinagar was all about houseboat and shopping. The city itself is congested and nowhere near what a state capital should be like. 

See

- Dal Lake – Dal, in my mind is the mascot of Srinagar. It is the biggest lake in the city with a  coastline of 15.5 km. You will invariably end up driving around the lake to get to the sights. Take a Shikara (row boat) ride on the lake. Shikara stand is on Boulevard road. You can hire them by the hour.

Glimpses of Paradise from Shalimar

- Mughal Gardens – that would be Chesmashahi, Nishat and Shalimar all laid around the Dal. The latter two being popular amongst tourists. These terraced gardens were Mughal Emporer’s idea of Paradise on earth, a place of rest, reflection and reminder of Jannat! The agenda would be a leisurely stroll followed by a leisurely coffee/tea session at the cafe. The flowers are beautiful, so, keep your camera handy.

- Shankaracharya Hill – the hill top has a 200 BC Shiva temple. Adi Guru Sri Shankaracharya visited this temple and ever since, the hill has been known by his name. You have to enter the hill near Shikara stand. Since the hill is maintained by security forces, you are not allowed mobile phone and cameras into the temple. It is a 15 mins drive to the top and a further climb of 200 steps. 

Floating Post Office

- Nehru Park Post Office – This is a floating post office which had almost sunk! Jump out of your vehicle while you drive on Boulevard road to post a postcard to yourself. It is ahead of Shikara stand as you drive from Dal Gate.

- The Hazratbal Shrine – located to the West of the Dal is considered to be the holiest Islamic shrine in Kashmir. It is believed that the Moi-e-Muqqadas (the sacred hair) of Prophet Mohammed to be preserved here. 



Stay
First question - Dal Vs. Nigeen for houseboat. Dal per se does not have houseboats. The Dal canals are where the houseboats are anchored. Dal houseboats are only a Shikara ride away from city/tourist center, therefore it is very crowded. Whereas, Nigeen is smaller, slightly away from city/tourist center, but you have the luxury of being anchored at the lake itself and is definitely less crowded.

Houseboat - Shikara at Wangnoo

For the less adventurous, one has hotels. The usual suspects; Vivanta by Taj - Dal View, The Lalit Grand Palace are available in the luxury segment. In the mid-range Hotel Dar-Es-Salam positioned as a boutique hotel is right on Nigeen Lake. For budget, Hotel JH Bazaz (Happy Cottage), Blooming Dale Hotel Cottages and Hotel Brown Palace at Dal Gate seem to have good reviews. JKTDC properties are worth checking out. 

Our recommendation would be Wangnoo Houseboats on Nigeen Lake for the beauty of the lake, excellent hospitality and food.

Shop
Your shopping list could look like this; 
- Phiran – loose woolen kurta with embroidery
- Shawls, stoles, scarves
- Saffron - grown locally
- Walnuts - grown locally
- Dry currants  - comes from Afghan
- Kashmiri tea if you are interested in learning and making Kahwah
- Rugs and carpets
- Cricket bat (don’t be surprised)

With Mr. Marvelous - my fav. Shikara vendor
Please note my new Phiran!

Shop at your doorstep

If you are staying on a houseboat, the floating market comes to you. Vegetables, fruits, saffron, shawls, flowers, flower seeds are brought to you by Shikara vendors. These vendors can be quite insistent and have a habit of settling on the houseboat balcony. In case you are not interested in shopping at 7 am, be firm and ask them to go away. We recommend you see the stores in the city before you buy from Shikara vendors. 

Shawls, Stoles, Scarves and Phirans
- Polo View Road: From our asking around and survey, we found Polo View road the best option. We found two shops suitable here as they were reasonably priced and had good quality products.  The two winners are G. M. Shah at the beginning of the road, and the 'shop-to-its-right' (as you face G. M. Shah). They have choice of handmade and machine embroidery, wool and pashmina. The 'shop-to-its-right' in addition to the GM Shah stuff, has a section for tailored woolen jackets, suites, hats, golf caps for both men and women in tweed, wool etc. which we recommend.

Exotic paper mache needlework on pashmina

- Nishat Harwan Road: Many shops are located on the road that connects Shalimar and Nishat gardens. The shop we visited was ‘Kashmir House’. This was a high end store which specialised in needlework. They also had rugs and carpets. Their shawls and stoles were 'exotic with a capital E'! The only reason I did not buy one of their shawl is because each of their 'exotic with a capital E' shawl was at least double our annual budget for clothing!

Let me not scare you away. They also have very nice pashmina without needlework, bright and burberry-ish stoles in high quality woolen, shawls and scarf with what they call ‘simple work’ which will not burn a hole and half in your pocket (Ya, yaa, I am owner of few of these!).

Dal Gate also has many shops. However, they seemed a little busy and touristy though!

Dry Fruits
G. M. Shah has a dry fruit store next to their clothes shop. We also purchased a fair bit at stores near Lal Chowk.

Lal Chowk

Cricket Bat
Cricket bats made in Kashmir is supposed to be of international standard. It is made from willow wood which was originally brought to India by the British. As you exit from South Srinagar to head to Anantnag en route to Pahalgam,  you will come across shops making and selling these bats!

Eat
Kashmiris are predominantly meat eaters, especially mutton. Vegetarians fear not. Vegetarian food is available widely and in variety.

You can request your houseboat to cook the meal you want. Our group requested for an authentic Kashmiri khana and were treated with Kashmiri Paulav, Yakhni, Kababs, Paneer preparations. Our request for lotus stem curry which is a delicacy in this region could not be met since the lotus stem season had gone by :( (talk about reasons to go back again!).

The crown of Kashmiri cuisine is Wazwan which is an elaborate thali predominantly of meat – mutton, chicken and fish. We have referred a restaurant in the Pahalgam section. Also, Baluchi at The LaLit offers Baluchistan cuisine (interesting). Jan Bakery at Dal Lake is supposed to be good. Hotel Malik Palace near Dal Lake and MA Road has Cafe Coffee Day. The latter has a food court with excellent chaat, continental and barbeque options.

Warning - All restaurants close by 9-9:30 pm. This must be a hangover from curfew days! So, keep a close watch on the clock while you shop!

Get There
You can fly from Chandigarh, Delhi, Jammu and Leh. It is more fun to drive down though. For details about our road trip to these three exotic destinations, please read Road Trip to Heaven...(Part 1).  

Gulmarg - Meadow of Flowers

Horses waiting to give you a ride!

Gulmarg translates to ‘Meadow of Flowers’ and I still don’t know why Yash Chopra has not shot a love song here! OMG, this place is not only beautiful, it is clean!

 Gulmarg is a base for skiers during snow (mid Dec to end Feb). In hotter clime it is an excellent place to either play golf or just do nothing........................................................................... (Hmm, that’s me day dreaming!). One drives through pine covered slopes, never ending green grass and chinar trees - on a road without potholes to get to this OMG place! You have to park outside the meadow and take a pony ride or hire one of the local hotel taxis to get in. We recommend you walk.

Hotel Highland Park

Stay
Any hotel on the meadow is perfect. Hotel Highland Park is a meadow scene out of Enid Blyton books. We had lunch here. The Vintage, Gulmarg  and Khyber Hotels have good reviews.

Do
 Apart from pony ride and leisurely walk, you can take the Gondola up to the mountain top. The Gulmarg Gondola is Asia's highest and longest cable car project. It provides a ride from Gulmarg Meadow at 8825 feet above sea level to Kongdori at 10,006 feet in phase 1. Phase 2 connects onward to Apharwat at 12,960 feet.

Get there

Please read Road Trip to Heaven...(Part 1) about how to get to Gulmarg.

Pahalgam – Village of Shepherds

Lidder River in our backyard.

Pahalgam is a valley in the sky at 7,200 feet above sea level. Pahalgam is surrounded by beautiful mountains and one gets the impression of being able to touch these mountains by jumping into the air! (Oops, that's me being dramatic. Sorry :P). Lidder river from Lidder glacier cuts through the town making it an angler's paradise for trout fishing !
We stayed at Himalaya House near the Golf Course and arrived late in the night. We could hear the water flowing in our backyard through the night! Walking on the banks of the river and putting our leg in the ice cold water, as early morning sun warmed our backs was absolutely delightful!

We recommend you stay at a hotel/B&B that is right next to the river. Himalaya House is an option but make sure they put you in a room which is closer to the river (they have a property across the road too) or any property near the Golf Course road is an option - Hotel The Mansion, Hotel Pine Spring. Yenas Lodge though slightly remote looks promising.  

Bone chilling water! Brrrr...

Pahalgam Hotel which is the oldest hotel in the city is a legend. They have a cool coffee shop called Cafe Log Inn and a restaurant called Trout Beat which apparently serves authentic trout recipes. The Almirah the souvenier shop and book shop at the hotel has needle work made by Gujjar and Bakkarwala women which you should check out. Kashmiri wazwan at Glacier Hotel has been recommended. 

Our only regret on this trip is that we could not spend more time in Pahalgam and go trekking into the mountains. All is not lost - Pahalgam is the base camp for Amarnath Yatra and I am sure we will return sooner than later to remedy this!

Do
- Angling and trout fishing
- Trekking and camping

- Picnic
- Visit Lidder amusement park 

- River rafting (April to August)

- Visit Amarnath

- Play golf

Shepherds of Pahalgam

Bakkar traffic jam

One striking aspect of the drive between Jammu and Srinagar at this time of the year is the frequent encounters with sheep and their shepherds.  Ahead of winters, the Bakkarwalas take their entire herd of sheep from the hills to the plains.  We are told they go as far down to the plains of Rajasthan and Punjab at times! The Gujjars apparently own small parcels of land and they come back to their land after the grazing. What catches your eye is the vibrant stitches  Gujjar and Bakkarwal women do on the saddle.

Get there

Please read Road Trip to Heaven...(Part 1) about how to get to Pahalgam.

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The trip has indeed been an education. We could not see, explore and experience everything J&K has to offer in a single trip. We hope to return, to go deeper into the mountains... We were met with warmth, love and beauty throughout our trip.  It is our only wish that our compatriots from this region soon find peace! Inshallah!!

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