I went to Kashmir in July 2016.
Just before the holy month of Ramzan started.
With peace in Kashmir for last 5 years my hubby was the one who suggested the plan.
Ecstatic, we planned our trip.
Flying to Srinagar.Then Pahalgam directly.That’s the first part.of the trip I wrote about it here.
With my total obsession for nature travel problem starts, when looking for hotels in cities .Most places in the centre of the town didn’t have much greenery or views to satisfy me.
So we searched and searched.Then we found it.
Next to the Nagin, lake a beautiful boutique property,Hotel Dar Es Salaam.
But before I do that I have to tell you the total connectivity disaster we faced in Kashmir.
Everyone in our family carries prepaid sim cards.This is one of our money-saving measures.
And we carry a wi-fi dongle. My hubby’s phone and my tab additionally has 3G connection back up.Our car was partly paid for and was waiting for us at the airport parking.We had the drivers phone number. But.
After landing at Srinagar airport we saw all our phones were useless.Kashmir allows only local prepaid connections and post paid connection.With very limited Internet connectivity.It was a holiday in the truest sense.
But we still had a problem. How to know who is our driver.My hubby walked upto a security personnel and explained our problem and asked for a pay phone facility in the airport.
Guess what.The kind young man promptly offered us his own phone .Imagine our surprise at this unexpected kindness.
We definitely took up the offer.Contacted the driver.Thanked our angel and exited the airport.
The next surprise awaited us .
Our driver a kind middle aged Kashmiri, after hearing our problem,offered to help us. He told us to use his phone, to make calls.We just needed to recharge with appropriate value.
Such kindness towards strangers.That’s the Kashmiris hospitality towards tourists.
We arrived at the hotel.It was breathtaking.
The garden the lake the decor the ambience,food and service.I can’t stop raving.
I will start with the location.
Situated within 10 minutes of the city centre it’s a private resident turned boutique property.
It stands on the banks of the Nagin one of the larger lakes connecting with the Daal lake.Just like road transport Srinagar has an entire lake traffic.
You can take a shikara or boat from.Nagin lake itself and go upto the Daal lake.It’s a 2 and a half hours going coming trip.
There are houseboats too.
But I am confused about the sanitation of house boats .So that wouldn’t work out for me.Plus people are sensitive about these issues.
So couldn’t ask the questions I wanted.
The decor at our hotel is stunning.
All the rooms are gorgeous.You have lake view or garden view .
We had both from our room.Perks of being a blogger (plus it was available:) )
The food was a buffet at all meals
.But they help with requests for children and elderly.
We took trips by Shikara in the Nagin lake and went upto the Daal lake in the interconnecting
We had gone just before the holy month of Ramzan started .So the city was pretty crowded with locals and tourists.We really missed the local.site seeing except Daal lake as we had left no time for it.
Plans of revisiting .but time will tell
Kashmir is beautiful.Atleast what I saw. Going from Srinagar to Son marg, Gulmarg beautiful road views.
It’s picture perfect.
The people are friendly .But you detect an undercurrent.Like the one you get from your in laws ,after you get married.
Don’t know what to do,what to say,type gut feeling.
Tourism is the economic backbone of Kashmir so.they take care to make us feel safe.We enjoyed ourselves .Luckily it was all peaceful then.
But in Srinagar atleast you always have the feeling of being in a glass house.
Something which looks beautiful. From inside or outside.
But can break .
You get a feeling that too many questions make the Kashmiris feel awkward. That they are confused.In the marketplace they can instantly pick you as a tourist.If you refuse to be duped and call their bluff,they are not happy.
But that’s typical of all marketplaces. Not necessarily Kashmir.What’s different is your reaction.You automatically protest less say less.
People often stay over at Gulmarg .But our Pahalgam itinerary had left little time for such plans.So we made both Son marg and Gulmarg day trips.With about 2 hours spent at the place.
Sonmarg has huge glaciers.
After reaching the main junction you can either travel entire by horse or a combo of car and horse.
We chose the latter.Walking with a 4-year-old and a 63-year-old (my mom),is not safe with horses clip clopping past you.Unlike Pahalgam, Sonmarg even with glaciers isn’t very cold.Infact if the sun is up, your own woolens will do.You might even have to take them off! The locals don’t even wear that .But the weather changes in a jiffy here .You need to keep a watch on the sky, if travelling with children or elderly.
We had a blast playing on the glacier.
Carry water for yourself and children.You get water and food there. But it’s in makeshift shanties and quality may be a serious issue.
Gulmarg was a dampener.We missed booking the slot online (very poor wi-fi everywhere allowing only fb)
So could only go upto phase 1.From the car parking to the ticket counter you can walk .Otherwise take a horse.It’s not a problem for adults with moderately good level of fitness.Difficult for children and elderly.
There’s a line long enough, for you to wish to ditch this thing.But I heard the phase 2 view and snow is worth it. Since I missed that can only tell you second-hand news.
Another thing you should be aware .Even if you have tickets for phase 2 .You have another line waiting for you at phase 1.There are probably around 2000 tickets in phase 2 which is available strictly through the website.
An important note. It’s best to avoid angry words or any controversial comments with the touts and guides there. Their behaviour turned violent in front of our eyes when a Punjabi woman made certain comments. It doesn’t matter whether you are right or wrong.So be careful .
Promising ourselves a stay at Gulmarg phase 2 in the next trip.
Who knows whether there will be one.
A view of the beautiful Nagin lake and a “parked” houseboat.
The mountains here ,talk about the battles that were waged.
But the trees whispered about what men did to men.What more they are planning.
The lake shed silent tears.
The mountains here ,talk about the battles that were waged.
But the trees whispered about what men did to men.What more they are planning.
The lake shed silent tears.
A beautiful city Srinagar with its interconnecting lakes.
See all my Kashmir pics on Instagram
Why didn’t I write the post before.Within 10 days of coming back we heard if a terrorist attack at Pampour.The very place we bought our almonds walnuts,blackberries and saffron .The place where we tasted Khewa.A golden coloured Kashmiri tea full of pistachios and lightly flavoured.The place which sells saffron was under fire.I could see the face of the friendly young man who had refused to be paid for khewa because we were “meheman”.
The Kashmir I had seen ..was it a mirage?
Why should there be so much problems in a beautiful place .The people are beautiful and tourism is their life line.So how does protests and troubles help?
Isn’t it time to build a stronger Kashmir.
After waiting for the strife to end I realized this time the wait may be long.Prayers for the people who made my stay so happy.
At Pahalgam the stay was beautiful ,peaceful. It lived up to the Heaven on earth (Bhuswarg) description.
Srinagar has the beauty of a partisan Queen.Once breathtaking .Now still beautiful .But experience and time has made the lines on the face etched deeply.The iconic lakes and gardens, reminders of a glorious past.
But Hotel Dar Es salaam holds on to the essence of Srinagar . The immaculately restored antiques.Furnishing and decor are elegant but always comfortable.The garden and driveway is bursting with colours.
The service and food boast of Kashmir hospitality.
I would be happy to visit again.Even just to stare at the garden and the Nagin Lake.
Taking part in #UBC #Dailychatter with
Blogchatter Day 5