Kashmir in October first week!

Disclaimer: This is my first attempt writing a travelouge so please bear with me !! (Nervous )

Foreword

We had initially planned a 8 day trip to Rajasthan to celebrate our first marriage anniversary and eight years of love. But our friends and family advised against the same since it would be too hectic (with just my husband behind the wheels) and the desert weather still not favorable during first week of October.
So with not even a month at hand we were left with the overwhelming task of deciding on a place to go.
After two weeks of intense research on IM we were set to go to the valley of Kashmir, famed for its mesmerizing beauty and fondly called as the 'Paradise on Earth'
I want to thank all fellow IM members for having helped us plan our trip(especially Sir Eddy and Sir SPGupta)

Trip Report

Day 1: 30th September

We departed from Delhi at 10:15 by Jet Airways. After a comfortable one hour we could see from the plane the cotton candy like clouds above vast mountains and snow clad peaks. We landed at the Srinagar airport around 11:30 and were welcomed by a bright sunny day!
As you exit the airport you can find the TRC (Tourist Reception counter) at your right and another counter a little ahaed on the left from where one can book the Gondola tickets.
We had planned to book our Gondola tickets from there but since the net connectivity was slow and booking is done online only we decided to book them later on the spot.
Traveller Tip: It is better to book online in advance through www.gulmarggondola.com. Rs 800/- per person for both Phase 1 and Phase 2.

We had our taxi waiting to take us to our houseboat at Nigeen Lake(arranged by our houseboat for Rs500)
My first impression of Srinagar City, that has stayed on still is that it has become highly commercialised and polluted. Yes the city has come a long way since the political and terrorist unrest in the past decades and though the city is highly militarised kudos to the people and the government for bringing normalcy to the city and for boosting tourism again!!

We halted for lunch in between at Mughal Darbar. It is located on the Residency Road and is one of the most famous restaurants to experience the Kashmiri cuisine. We ordered Tabak Maaz( didn't know what we were getting into as the menu does not ellaborate on the dishes), Yakhni and Kashmiri Naan. Guessing that we were tourists fond of good food we were given Mutton Korma as a complimentary dish For foodies like me and my husband, here's a little food review:
Tabak Maaz are deep fried lamb ribs, not very appealing for my taste. They were dripping with oil . Yakhni is mutton cooked in sour curd gravy, it had a nic strong peculiar taste and the quantity was more than enough for the two of us. Kashmiri Naan is not your ordinary Naan. It is as huge as the size of a plate and is generously layered with dried fruits and fresh fruits.

After contented tummies we got back to our taxi to take us to our Houseboat.

Our houseboat (Fantasia Houseboat) was located at Nigeen lake. Our host, Mr. Rahim greeted us at the bank and took us to the HB via Shikara Ride. Our first Shikara ride ever...we were mesmerized. I loved the calm, quaint surroundings, especially the variety of birds on the lake. We reached our Houseboat and were greeted by a hot cup of Kashmiri Kahwa. It is a special spiced tea with a hint of Saffron which gives it a unique flavour.
We had pre-booked this houseboat for 3 days (paying in advance only a night's charge) and had planned to commence the journey/sight seeing on our own. But my husband got talking to Mr. Rahim who offered us a decent package for the whole 7 days. Our accomodation was already planned for in Gulmarg and Pahalgam so the package offered to us was inclusive of 4 nights stay (with breaksaft and dinner) + Srinagar sight seeing + Sonmarg + taxi drop and pick to Gulmarg and Pahalgam. If you ask me i think price wise we could have done better, but my husband sadly HATES to bargain..
But in a way the arrangement was brilliant and we didn't have to stress or haggle through most of our journey!

We relaxed for a while in our cosy room (with inbuilt bathroom and to our surprise bathtub!!) in the houseboat. The houseboat was done up very nicely, smelling faintly of deodar wood. The carvings on the outside as well as the interiors was very inticrate. Ours was the smaller of the two houseboats. Each boat is accompanied by a dining area and a living rom. Tvs were there in the liviing room only and not in the rooms.

After freshening up quickly we moved to our first day tour. We covered Shalimar Bagh, Nishat Garden, Chashme Shai and Pari Mahal.
The gardens were beautiful and being a Sunday we got a chance to see several Kashmiri families enjoying a picnic on this sunny day. They had actually bought small stoves along with them and were enjoying a cup of tea with small eateries prepared from home. It was quite a sight!
Tips: In case one is not going in the full bloom season (best month to see flowers is April) and is short on time you can visit Nishat Garden and give rest of the Mughal Gardens a skip. Chashme Shai is the garden with the famous spring water supposedly with medicinal value but other than that it just a similar garden. Pari Mahal just for the views!!

We came back to our HB in time for the India-Pakistan cricket match!! The idea of having a common living room dawned upon me then!! We met two good families also from Delhi/NCR and cheered together to make India win. We also came across an acamedician from Australia who was on one month holiday and was going to Leh Ladakh the next day.

Home made dinner was served at the dining table. At the houseboat a common meal is cooked for all the guests and in case one has any specific requirement, they need to be told to the manager beforehand.

Before going to the bed I enjoyed another Kahwa in the moonlight!!

good start....keep going

Thanks Beenaj!!

@Kaushiva.aditi,

Very nice start and please I am only spgupta, no need to mention sir. In this forum we are here to help each other and you are doing the great thing. By writing this travellogue, you are returning back fruitful information to this forum for future travellers.
Keep on posting.

More about Fantasia houseboat - I forgot to mention, other than the owner Mr. Rahim we also met Ms Anna who helps Mr. Rahim in managing and administering of the HB. She is basically from London and for the last 5 years has spent most of her time in Kashmir. She conducts organised treks in and around Kashmir. So while there you can enjoy trekking too!!

Day 2: 1st October

I got up early and watched as slowly the sun rose from behind the mountains (while my husband was fast asleep ) Oh so picturesque!! Did a little exploring in the HB and found that they have a wonderful collection of German and English books (both fiction and non fiction). I picked up 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald to read it during our trip!! By the time our caretaker got our morning cups of tea my husband was up and we had a quiet tea time basking in the nature all around us.
Word of Caution: Except for Kahwa we did not get our usual Chai flavour anywhere Almost everywhere we had tea it was those lipton tea bags extra milky and sweet kind of tea....
Today was our Srinagar City tour day. We got ready and had a nice breaksaft of Upma, Omlet and toast to get us started. (There is a unique flavour in almost all Kashmiri dishes and after having the omlet i figured out what it was. The Desi Zeera/Cumin. They had put some in Omlet too!! )
Instead of taking the Shikara and going to the other side of the lake, we were taken to the backside of the houseboat where we discovered a little garden and leading up to a road behind. We met our driver Hilal who was to be our guide cum driver for the next few days. Today's itinerary was Jamia Masjid, Shah-e-Hamdan, local market, Shankracharya Temple, Manasbal Lake and Kheer Bhawani temple. We would also have liked to cover Hazratbal Mosque and Badaam Vaer but lacked time . All the above points are a must visit, here's a brief description/review: Jamia Masjid - I found it more beautiful than the Delhi one and the architecture is beautiful. Very peaceful despite being in the centre of the city with old bazaars surrounding it. Sha-e-Hamdan - one of my favourites. We weren't allowed inside but a peep from the window left us in awe. Beautiful mirror work with very inticrate and colourful designs(predominantly green) and crystal chandeliers. We were told that this was one of the oldest Sufi shrines (originally built in 1395 and reconstructed in 1732). Shankracharya Temple - It is sad that you are not allowed to take in Cameras cause the view is amazing. After a climb of almost 200 odd steps you can see the entire town. It is believed to be very sacred as Adi Shankracharya ji had visited this site. I had specially gone to fulfill my grandfather's wish as almost 25 years ago when he had visited Srinagar he was not able to go to this temple!!

We had our Lunch at Shamiyana Restaurant located at Boulevard Road. We also invited our driver to dine with us. We ordered Mutton Rogan Josh, Fish with mushroom and bamboo shoots. Both were very well prepared, the service was quock bu the staff had a stren unfriendly look on their faces (??) Our driver had ordered Chicken Biryani which was quite spicy. He told us that Chicken Biryani is rarely prepared at their house and mainly they have Wazwan for dinner (which is like a multi course Kashmiri cuisine. How i wished to have that!! ) Our driver a young enthusiastic lad, very fond of cricket, got talking and told us that his family was in the business of shawls and stoles and they have counters at major stores of Bombay Selection in Delhi NCR and Mumbai.

After a pretty heavy meal we moved ahead to Manasbal Lake. We lazed around for a while in the backdrop of 'Pardesiyon se na ankhiyaan milana' being sung by some school girls who had come there for a picnic probably You can take Shikara rides here too but it was too sunny and we were feeling quite letahrgic...It is a good place to spend some time if you are in a group.
Our next stop was Kheer bhawani temple. This is one of the most important temples for the Hindus of Kashmir. There were two three signboards outside which said that people who have consumed non-veg should not go inside so we were quite reluctant. Then one pandit ji came outside and we shared with him our dilemma. He gave us water drink and made us wash our hands and legs and then told that we may go inside. Around the temple area there are many Chinar trees where one can sit and meditate. I was looking for some information booth where i could find some books/brochures on the temple and history (for my grandfather) but couldn't find any...

Our journey back to houseboat was delayed by traffic jams caused by passing sheeps and goats....Back at our boats we rested for a while, had dinner at 9pm(though not quite hungry) and slept.

Thank you SPGupta (Sir ) for your encouragement!

Will try and upload few photos tonight...

aditi superb work..waiting eagerly for further report...

Day 3: 2 October

Our morning ritual remained the same...and we got ready by 9:00 to leave for Sonmarg. The journey itself was beautiful with River Sindh flowing along the road. You can stop in between to capture this amazing landscapes. There are also many Dhabas along the way and one can stop to freshen up and buy some chips, chocolates etc.
Taxis can go only upto one point at the base of Sonmarg. From there either you have to hire a pony or taxi or go by walk to the Glacier( we were told that walking was not an option, but we could see several enthusiasts walking...though mostly these were locals or those who were used to trekking). Even the local taxi (if you hire) can take you only upto around 4 kms, post that one can walk or take a pony.
Sonmarg is too comercialized and is run literally by the pony wallas (The dons of the area!!) Our driver intoduced us to a pony walla and said that he will be taking you ahead. For a second we thought "Oh great, everything is arranged and we don't have to bargain" But we were so wrong. He quoted Rs1750 each for the last point (Glacier) and we were baffled!! After much negotiation (with a little help from our driver) we decided on Rs600 per pony. I was not happy!! Hmph!!
Anyway we decided not to spoil our moods and enjoy the nature around us. We were shown to point one where the Amitabh Bachan's movie 'Satte pe Satte' was shot and one where a famous song from the movie 'Ram Teri Ganga maili' (not seen but supposedly was quite a bold movie directed by Raj Kapoor) was shot. We stopped at some kind of base (some chaip and maggi stalls are available here) from there one has to walk. As we started to walk we realised we were actually on the Glacier. It was so muddy and dirty that one cannot differentiate!! We could see ahead magnificent snow clad peaks and kept moving in that direction in hope!! It's all glacier you are walking on (once you scrape out the mud you can see clean ice ). Do remember to wear sturdy shoes and step carefully as one can easily slip. (Saying from experience ) We reached quite far from the base and we were the only ones who had gone so far but it was still a long way up...We sat on a rock amassing the beauty that surrounded us. Snow clad mountains on one side and lush greenery on the other side!! It was beautiful. We had few chips and biscuits and contemplated what to do...So Near Yet So Far....we decided to go back!!

We were not hungry so skipped lunch and decided to go back. On the way back we spotted a restaurant called 'Disscover Point'. It is located beautifully but the restaurant was not so good and the service was cold. We just had tea and maggi, strolled in the park for a bit and left.

Once we reached Sringar, Mr. Rahim our houseboat owner asked us to drop at his shop/factory outlet. We got to know then that he was also in the business of exporting Shawls, carpets etc. His brother basically manages the business and they export majorly to UK and Australia. We didn't intend to buy anything so just sat for a while discussing politics and cricket over a cup of Kahwa.

With another exciting and long day ahead we decided to call it a night!!

Good to read your experience on kashmir trip.

hoping to learn a lot from your trip report, also please mention per day houseboat charges, was the bedroom spacious, a picture or two will help.

Keep it up & going, yeh dil maange more.

God bless.

Day 4: 3rd October

In the morning two shikara wallas came to our HB. One selling flowers and flowe seeds and the other selling saffron. We politely refused and asked them to come back on 6th. We got ready quickly and left at 8:30 for Gulmarg. We skipped our Breakfast and took Bananas and Apples from our caretaker instaed. We found traffic and the Srinagar-Jammu signal but other than that it was a smooth ride. We had initially planned to have breakfast at Tanmarg but didn't stop. From Tanmarg, Gulmarg is 12 Km very curvaceous road. We had pre-booked a JKTDC hut/cottage in Gulmarg and it took us a while to find our hut. We had reached there by 10:30 and though the check in time was noon we were taken to our hut where we freshened up quickly, dumped our bags and left to the Gondola ticket counter.
There was a separate queue for ladies and after a short while i got us tickets for both Phase 1 and Phase 2. Two-three guides came up to us saying that they could show us all sight seeing points up there...one of them was quite persistent following us up to the cable chair itself!!
We were so thrilled to go up in the Cable chair...leaving the fine pine trees behind we were set to up to Gondola Ph 2 approx 13780 ft. It is a two stage ropeway. You have to get down at Ph1 and then go to Ph 2 by another cable chair. We decided to go to Ph2 first cause the weather changes quickly up there which can affect your plans. And the weather did change and were in for a pleasant surprise!! As we reached Ph 2, we were welcomed by the season's first snowfall!! Woohoo!! Oh my God we were an excited ecstatic bunch of people there, jumping up and down with joy. The snowfall changed the whole landscape rapidly and we were not prepared for this...it got so chilly and numb but we enjoyed every bit of it. From Ph2 one can go up to the frozen lake - Affarwat but due to the weather change there were announcements being made to to return back quickly. I simply cannot describe in words what we felt. Both me and my husband had seen snowfall for the first time This was truly the highlight of our trip!!
We then to Ph 1 (it wasn't snowing here uptill now)and having realised we had not eaten anything since morning quickly went to the restaurants there. There are about 3-4 dhabha like resaturants lined together. We just chose one and ordered Kashmiri rice and Kahwa. After lunch we still had time to explore Ph1. Ph1 closes ay 5pm and despite what one hears there is no time limit as such. The wind was extremely chilly and we did not have proper shawls/stoles/caps ro cover our heads and ears. We looked around if we could find a vendor selling anything of the sorts but couldn't find any. We anyway decided to trek upto Khilanmarg (about 6-7km of uphill walk). Not many people were going up there probably due to the weather but we found one beautiful family (Mr. Neeraj, his wife and two kids) who joined us along making the trek more fun. It is an easy trek and highly recommended (prefer to walk over ponies). We could see above the snow now in Ph2. It snowed here too in bits and pieces for short intervals. We trekked upto the waterfall and played our own Fear Factor game....we removed our shoes and socks and went and stood in the chilly water...Oh God brain freeze for a second!! This was Mr. Neeraj's crazy idea, and i was unwilling to go but he was so delightfully persistent that i gave in and it was so fun!! The walk back was fun and we chit chatted throughout. We reached back to Gulmarg at around 5. By this time i was having a slight headache because of the cold But we decided to walk around a bit going to the temple through the Golf course. We sat in the temple for a while before walking back to our cottage.
The JKTDC hut was huge, cosy, clean and we had a pleasant night there. In the morning we were in such a rush that we didn't see the place properly. The living area was huge with a dining table, a sofa set, a T.V and a heater. One attached bathroom with hot water. There is one kitchen with the necessary utensils to cook a meal if one wants to.(All JKTDC properties provide only accomadation and no food) The bedroom was nice and cosy and spacious. After such a cold day we got the much needed rest in our wonderful beds which had electric blankets spread on them. While i rested my husband went out to explore and came back with packed dinner from a nearby hotel. He told me that the night sky was perfect with plently of shining stars!!

We called it an early night after a 'beyond fantastic' day!!

Hi

I plan to give all the details (price, name, numbers etc) in the end in a consolidated manner for the benefit of all. Is that ok?
Will surely post some pics soon...

Thank you for encouraging...keeps me going!!

Please ignore my typo errors...

Nice TR would like to see snaps of your trip specially the snowfall one.

Thanks!! Will surely do this weekend