Awesome 1 week Kashmir trip comes to an end

Back from a 6N/7D trip of Kashmir. Kashmir is indeed the most beautiful place i have seen in my life.
I would recommed all Kashmir goers to try authetic Kahwa in Kashmir. I loved it the minute i took cup in my hand with safron and badam aroma . Try kahwa on the way to pahalgam at a small shop next to Noor Mohamads dry fruit shop.

I was very concerned about the hotel stays and all but evertyhgng turned out to be just great and above my expectation.

our little one (6 mnths old) liked shikara ride alot .

Thanks all for this awesum forum as it provided lot of information on everythng.

please let me know if any boyd wants any details on anythng.
I encountered lot f rush in pahalgam as it was one weekend before ramadan and lot of locals had come to pahalgam for sightseeing.

Give trip report so that who all are going like me will come to latest of kashmir.. what are charges you have given all over the tour like hotels, cab, ponywalla, shikara... Which things must visit, which can be avoided ( + - whatever about trip)
I am going on 28 july will i get hotel easily or there will be lots of amarnath pilgrims ... What about entering in mughal garden line is small or big ... And.what about gandola ride line big or small...
I know so many question but you want to grab as much as info you can ...

Great to know that you had fav time in Kashmir. Why not you post your experience in the form of TRIP REPORT with matching pics? This will be immensely helpful for future travelers like me.

As for me, I am interested to get the latest feed back on transportation, hotels, house boats, sight seeing etc. with cost. Besides, it will also be interesting to get the latest contact names and their telephone numbers. Further, if you have traveled from Jammu to Srinagar/Pahelgam by road, I would appreciate to hear the details of your journey both to & fro on this sector. Thanks.

Kindly write a trip report with positives and negatives of hotel and transport , costs and telephone contacts .Thanks

Hi Ashisda

Really worried about my kashmir trip planned during pujas
2 things worrying 1)Cost of Hotel extremely exorbitant going by website ads
2) Cleanliness anf hospitality at hotels appears questionable as per hotel reviews in Trip advisor .Some good reviews about some hotels appears cooked . Very little info at Kol about KASHMIR .
What's your situation

Thanks

@ pg66

Don't worry. My advise is not to depend too much on Trip Adviser's review. I have seen lot of planted stories/reviews on this forum. Moreover, quite a few of the reviews are not relevant in the context of Indian tourists' point of views.

Better trust our own IM reviews, trip reports etc. Websites rates are also highly exaggerated, it will be much lower during October. I understand Durga Puja season may be a big season for Bengali tourists, but otherwise it is considered to be off season in Kashmir.

I don't think you should worry too much. There are lot of feed backs/trip reports in the IM's pipe line, please wait for those, you may get lot of ideas from these. Even I will come back much before your trip starts, I think I would be able to guide once I come back.

If you still feel it will be too late, you may check with a Kolkata based Travel Agent viz. "Club Destiny" (google for address, phone number etc.). I was told that they have tie up with quite a few decent hotels in Srinagar & Pahalgam. I must say that I do not have any personal interactions with this Agent, I had just heard from a person who had availed their services.

I would definitely put together the trip report as soon as i get more time.
Just quick tips to the ones who are planning in a week or two.

My suggestion , do not travel during amarnath yatra as the options restrict a bit for you to visit. Chandanwari in pehalgam is closed for tourists completely. Betal valley cannot be visited before 10 am in morning as the way is openend for amarnath yatris .
Also you would find lot of rush in markets in pahalgam. Srinagar dal lake would be completely thronged by yatris. So my two cents is to avoid travelling during amarnath yatra is you like to spend some quality time with your family watching beautiful place like kasmir.

Hotels i chose from trip advisor and asked my travel agent to book for me.
Pahalgam : Forest Hill Resort . One of the finest hotels with the best view . Its on laripora road just next to Mantoo cottage.Its on expensive side.

Gulmarg : Hotel Royal park . I think one of the bestest view of Gulmarg though its far from Gandola.They have centralized heating system and all.

Gandola : Book online. The line is big on manual counter and takes lot of time.Beware of ponnywalas there. They cheat people by taking them to gandola counter from a longer route to make money.The taxis from outside gulmarg is not allowed for local travelling in gulmarg.

Srinagar : Hotel Imperial lake view : Its just next to Nehru ark on Dal Lake. If you are looking for the best view of dal lake , go for this hotel as the rooms on 3rd and 4th floor gives the complete unrestricted view of the best portion of dal lake.

I do not suggest houseboat as i took it for one night though the house boat was good but i didnt like staying in HB personally. First its very hot in srinagar and houseboat gave me that suffocation feeling. The old and dirty carpets and everythng. i didnt like HB stay much. would rather prefer stay on bouelavrd road watching dal lake.

One important thing to consider is Ramadan . Now the ramadan has started so you would find very less rush in markets and pahalgam so you would njoy more.

For any Kashmir traveller i would suggest avoiding kashmir in july 1st - 3rd week of july as its the common time for amarnath yatra and pre-ramadan period. Lot of local kasmhiris and amarnath yatris come to pahalgam and srinagar.

If you are of your own without a child , i would suggest dnt prebook your hotels. There are plenty of hotels in srinagar and pahalgam. You can really negotiate good . also you can choose on room views etc. Gulmarg has slightly less resorts and hotels.

Thanks basy2008 for the valuable inputs. We will wait for your detailed trip report.

Few Quick questions though:
1) Which houseboat did you stay in at Dal Lake?
2) Did you hire any cab for visiting Gulmarg, Pahalgam? If yes how much you paid and can you please share the driver number?

i understand there will be lots of people because of amarnath yatra thats why i choose last week & few dayz from raksha bandhan so that majority of people will come back to house for festival... + in my view if there will be majority of good tourist then you will get good service because Hotel & restaurant would hope to get customer any time, so they are prepared with necessity requirement + same apply with Taxi & buses you will find many there ... Otherwise non peak season there will be less facility so less bargain for us..
We have once visited Dalhousie in Feburary (less tourist season ) Half of the hotels + restaurant + shops are closed so you got less option in that way

Thanks for your comforting words Ashish da

This is the first time I am having a strange worry .I will explain .

I fully agree with you that many of the Trip Advisor Review are planted , specially the good ones. But I have a feeling that Tourism in Kashmir -Srinagar is a bit un-prepared to cater to current days Tourist .We requiire good location , safety , clean rooms and particularly clean toilet .I suppose this require huge investment not onky in terms of money but also in terms of trained man-power in hospitality . I am afraid its missing . Hotels did not have businesss for long time - this resulted in lack of capacity to invest as well as paucity of man-power . Tourist influx during this summer was a flash flood which Kashmir was not prepared to handle , Also role of J&K Tourism is more to attract dollars than rupees. J&K Tourism Office at Kolkata is almost non-functional .

The rack rates od hotes are abnormally high . In fact I could hardly find any dcent Hotel below room rate of Rs 2500/- to Rs 3000/- I am not sure whether it has been jacked up for online booking .

Another strange cue is that although Puja period is never peak season for Hill stations in North India except for influx of tourist from Bengal , all the Rooms of Kashmir Tourism Hotels appears to be booked as per their online portal . So I am bit apprehensive as usually such Govt Hotels remains un-booked in this season till last few weeeks as cheaper private options are plenty in hill stations , usually .

If you have located some good option in Srinagar and Pahalgam , kindly share .I usually do not prefer pre-boking as in private hotels they use to give the most shabby room to pre-booked customers . But I am a bit wary of picking hotels once I arrive as I am not sure of getting crowded by agent or inconvenienced by large influx of tourist .

Waiting for more feed-back from IMERS

Thank

Dear Basy2008

Can you share the rates of Hotels .
Also can you share contact details of Hotels and Driver/owner of vehicle you used , if such was good .

Thanks

Hi
myself also pllaning trip in sept but acording to my search ambassador
houseboat in range of 1500 for room and breakfast

U could look for raj palace and regent at phalgham in range of 1000.
To 1500

i booked flight tickets of my own from delhi to srinagar.
I contacted a frnd of mine in srinagar for a good relaiable tour and travels.
Since i had a six month old son , i wanted everythng to be pre-booked be it cab or hotel.
I took a package for 38k for me , wife and son for 6N/7D inclduing ETIOS sedan car for all 7 days.
My hotel in pahalgam ans gulmarg were of range 4000 as i had called the hotel before to check rates. i chose hotels after researching trip advisor.
My houseboat in srinagar was Chez Henry . Its the second houseboat from nehru park.

Basically i Dal Lake , there are two rows in which HBs are parked. The one in front is basically taken by indians. If you want to experience a more peaceful and heavenly environmet , go for HBs which are in a bit interior.