Back From The Paradise On Earth (June, 2012)

I have just returned from Kashmir tour last month. We were a group of 7 people (all adults). We started our journey from Kolkata on 7th June.

Our tour in brief:

June 9th:

Reached Jammu Tawi at 11.00am, our cab (Chevrolet Tavera, 2500/- per day) was waiting outside the station for us, started our journey towards Srinagar. Reached Srinagar at 9.00pm.

June 10th:

Visited Yusmarg. The best Green Valley I have ever seen.

June 11th:

Srinagar local sight seeing, Shankaracharya Temple, Mughal Gardens, Shikara Ride....etc. Booked Gondola tickets from TRC for June 13th.

June 12th:

Visited Sonmarg, Thjawas Glacier. Sindh river en route was spectacular. On return visited Hazratbal Mosque.

June 13th:

Early morning started for Gulmarg. Had breakfast at Tanmarg, hired winter garments and shoes and started for Gulmarg. Gulmarg Gondola ride was a lifetime experience. Taking us up to a breathtaking 13,400 feet height. Enjoyed in Snow.

June 14:

Left Srinagar for Pahalgam. En route visited Avantipur ruins, Cricket bat factory, purchased wallnuts, dryfruits...Night stay at Hotel Grand Heritage Resort.

June 15:

Took local cab (mandatory) and visited Chandanwadi Glacier, Betaab Valley and Aru Valley. (Tavera 1800/-)

June 16:

Hired a local cab (Tavera 2000/-)for the day. Went to rafting point, done river rafting. Visited Sun temple at Mattan, Mughal Garden Achabal, Martand Temple, a local orchard....

June 17th:

Hired a cab (Tavera 4500/-)for Udhampur. Reached Udhampur in 8 hours. Caught Uttar Sampark Kranti Exp for New Delhi.

June 18th:

Towards Kolkata by Duronto Exp.

It sounds like you had a great time! Sightseeing is always fun, and I'll bet the Mughal Gardens were beautiful! Gondola ride, river rafting - it sounds like a wonderful trip!! Thanks for sharing this with us!

Really! We had a great time. Wish I could be there forever.
Thanks

For our trip photos please visit the following link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1031012...ashmirJune2012

Thanks for your trip log. I have a plan to visit Kashmir valley during next Sept. In this connection I have following quarries:
1. I see you had reached Jammu at 11 AM and had started for Srinagar immediately thereafter and eventually reached Srinagar by 9 PM. Our train (Himgiri Exp from Kolkata) is scheduled to reach Jammu Twai Station at about 12.15 PM. We are in two minds as to whether we should start for Srinagar immediately thereafter or take a night halt at Jammu and start next day early morning. What do you advise (based on your experience)?
2. Did you pre book your Hotel at Srinagar? If yes, can you share the name & contact number of the hotel? How much did you pay for the rooms? However, in case you have booked on the spot, can you please please share your experience of hotel hunting during night time in Srinagar? We are planning for spot booking of hotel, and we are not sure of the likely scenario if we reach late in the night and then start looking for hotel. If this is not advisable, we might stay back at Jammu for night and start our onward journey next day early morning.
3. When did you start for Udhampur from Pahelgam, what is the journey time between the two places and when did you reach Udhampur? Did you go for any sight seeing (viz. Patni Top etc.) on your way back to Udhampur?
4. Is there any public bus/shared taxi service between Pahelgam and Jammu in the early morning? Any idea?
Shall greatly appreciate if you please reply to my above quarries. Thanks again.

Just saw the pics. Great job. I'm yet to see such an elaborate coverage of Kashmir valley. Some composition is really wonderful.
By the way, I see that you had stayed at a place called The Narayan Math in Srinagar. It this a Rest House of some religious sect? Can general public like me & my family stay there? If possible, can you please through some light on this issue. Thanks.

hi sourav
the photos you uploaded are really beautifull just wanted to ask you who is sajid i mean to ask you is he some guide or your friend as you told that it is his garden and where it is, if possible give his contact number so that even i can approch him thanx in advance

Asish da -
1. The discretion is yours. If you feel that your co-travelers are fit enough to travel for another 10 hrs after a 2 day long train journey, then I don't feel there is any point in staying at Jammu. In case you have to give a halt, make it at Patnitop, not Jammu.

In J&K road conditions are very good and cars run throughout the whole night. So there will be no problem if you start from Jammu at a late hours for Srinagar. In fact the other family who accompanied us in this trip visited Mata Vaishno Devi and joined us the next day at Srinagar. They had started at 5.30pm and reached Srinagar at 3.00am. (In such scenerio, you should have your accommodation pre-booked)

2. Yas, we had our accommodation pre-booked at Narayan Math through some of our personal contacts. It is not open for public. PM me for details.

3. We started at 7.00am from Pahalgam for Udhampur. Our cab driver was an expert and we reached Udhampur at 3.00pm including breakfast and lunch breaks. It is safe to keep at least 10 hours in hand. We had a plan to spend some time at Patnitop while returning from Pahalgam, but believe me, after being mesmerized by the beauty of Pahalgam and other places, Patnitop could not attract us enough and we just had a small break for a few minutes.

4. As far as my knowledge goes, the public buses are all early morning. You will get plenty of shared/full-hire cabs for Srinagar. But if you have a team of 6-8 people, I would suggest to hire a cab for the entire trip, this will be convenient, hassle-free and to some extent economical too. We hired our cab for 8 days, which picked us up from Jammu Station, was there with us for the next 7 days and dropped us at Pahalgam.

PM me.

Sajid stays at Pahalgam. By profession, he deals with Kashmiri handicrafts. He is our friend and we had a great time at his family orchard at a place about 50Km from Pahalgam.

What is the cost of gulmarg gondola ride ?
Also which are the places you think Must Not be missed in J&K tour ?

Gulmarg Gondola has two phazes:
Phaze 1: Gulmarg (2990m) to Kongdoor (3110m)- ticket@Rs. 300/-
Phaze 2: Kongdoor (3110m) to Apharwat (3980m) - ticket@Rs. 500/-

Should not miss Yusmarg, Sonmarg, Gulmarg, Srinagar (Dal Lake and Mughal Gardens) and Pahalgam

Visiting Kashmir, end of this month, is it feasible to get budget accomodation without any prior booking in this month, how was river rafting, my sons would love to go for it, how much does it cost? Thanks in advance.

I would advice you to pre-book accommodation, since you are visiting at the Yatra time there will be scarcity of rooms everywhere, especially at Pahalgam.

River rafting was a real fun and enjoyment. There are rafting points both at Sonmarg and Pahalgam. We did rafting at Pahalgam. It starts from the rafting point and ends downstream at a distance of 2.5 KMS. Charges are Rs. 350/- per head. *Don't miss it*

Some of you have requested for the details on the car we hired and its driver, so here is it:

Do's and don't in Jammu-Kashmir

Great snaps !!
I loved your hotel backyard at Pahalgam. Would you please share the details. It would be of great help as I am visiting Kashmir in September end with family and we are going to book hotels on the spot