Trip Report Kashmir July-August 2012

Every Indian have heard alot about beauty of Kashmir that he wish to go there once, Kashmir’s tag line “Heaven on Earth” and well proved when you go around in Kashmir..
I have witnessed the beauty from very close, Hope your turn would be next.

My Trip report is for a couple travelling from 28 july –04 August 2012, so I am writing this travelogue on what I have seen there & talking to the local people there & my personal thinking

Plus Points
Good Roads, Lovely scenery, Big Parks with Multiple Colour Flowers which add to the beauty, so much to see, Cleanliness on roads and all the tourist spot highly and well maintained, Good food options, Many hotels to choose from (option to live on land “n” lake), Parking space where ever you go
Minus Points
Costly (you cannot justify the cost ask for), Where ever you go, Whatever service you take, they will always ask for a tip (bakshish). either AutoWalla, Shikara guy , Pony or driver …

Do’s & Don’t

Tulip garden Only Visible in month Of April, So any tour operator showing you pic of tulip Garden & saying this you will see in Kashmir, check your dates first
Saffron Fields – It is best seen in month of October & November
Red Apple Gardens – Best seen From August Mid to October
No prepaid Mobile Phone works (Best BSNL & then Airtel postpaid)
Transport
This is major factor which can budget your whole trip, So choose it accordingly
1.Shared Sumo … Most popular there
2.JKSRTC bus Service … Cheap & best (they cannot cheat you by asking for more money nor they can bargain)
3.Private Cab (This is best luxury you get there by shelling out more money)
Hotels
There are so many Hotels / House Boats to choose from , No Need to make advance booking of any place , I have checked many hotels none of them have said no to me on my travelling dates.
But if want to stay next to dal lake choose hotel on boulevard road , Srinagar any Other Address is away from dal lake & if you don’t have personal cab on daily basis you have to shell money every time you want to visit dal lake
Houseboats Available on Dal Lake, Jhelum river, Nageen Lake
Difference in my views …
On Dal lake you are near to tourist spots various food options near by
Jhelum River : You live in main city
Nageen Lake : it is a part of dal lake only which is now separated for peaceful living in houseboat, but opt for food in HB only , Here you get an option to choose few HB where you don’t require shikara to transport to HB’s ( But if don’t wish to stay in HB in nageen lake then nothing is there for tourist to see)
But searching housebaot at dal lake at your own is tough call because you need a shikara to check the houseboat & shikara guy always try you take there where he will get commission & if you took time searching houseboat more than hour he will ask for 300 extra for it... so for actual saving few bucks you spend otherway.. so my advice when you are going for regular shikara ride try to see few HBs then rather than specifically looking for house boat accomodation

If you Got Android Phone I advised you to download this application it help you understand Kashmiri Language
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...b2sua2IuYmMiXQ..

Suggestion
• All hotel rates & transport hiring charges depend on tourist rush ..Less tourist more good deals & vice versa. So rates may vary what you seen here so always try to bargain according of tourist you see on dal lake & restaurants
• Bargain Hard everywhere, Don’t feel shy to say your bargin rate even by 50 %, maximum what he say no (but it depends on tourist season, less tourist Bargain works allot & Vice Versa)
• If there is any threat of Violence avoid public transport…
• Avoid vocational trip During Amarnath Yatra
• Always talk to tourist near you for live updates & personal views regarding the side tours (this will help you to plan either you will see what you are planning to see there)
• If you book a cab or Auto for sightseeing or day trip, Take out your list & tell the places you want to cover 2-3 times otherwise he may cheat you by skipping few things by saying you did not tell me earlier.
• All Autowalla Encourage you to go to market with them , they love to skip the sightseeing but are more interested that you do shopping & they get cut for it.
• Avoid your Hotel Manager to call cab for you get down & talk to the driver directly it will save cut the driver has to give to the manager
• During Ramzan time you will find limited food option in day time in city & many shops open late in morning & closes early
• If you got your personal car & you love to drive try going with your personal car you can save allot on transport charges & you can take your personal car where ever you go, you don’t have to change your car as compare to taxi service where you have to use local taxi in different parts of Kashmir
• If you are coming from Jammu Station hire a cab for daily purpose rather than pick & drop because he will take minimum 5000 for one side drop so 5000 X 2 = 10000 because at end you need you need drop at station also.. But if you hire it on daily basis it will cost you around Rs 2000/- (depending on tourist rush) so this way your 5 days will cover on same price.
• During peak season try to get to Srinagar airport 2:30 hrs earlier & off season 2:00 hrs earlier . Don’t go for Auto while going for airport he cannot enter at Srinagar airport & will leave you before 1.5 kms before the actual airport




Day 1 : 28 july 2012 early morning New Delhi T1Airport
5:35 was our departure time but our flight started 5:50am. We reached 07:10 am at Srinagar the airport was actually not opened at that moment ... All necessary information counter were closed at this moment ...
Temperature Announced in flight was 20 degree outside
There was prepaid taxi counter outside airport because of amaranth yatra they make separate counter outside airport
I got Prepaid taxi for Dal lake for Rs. 500 No bargaining option available police guy advised me that you can wait & if some taxi guy will come to drop somebody you can talk to him he will drop you for less.... But i don’t want to wait there so took the cab & headed towards dal lake while going to dal lake driver asked me about hotel i told him i have to search it, he said i will show you my known one...
I agreed i know he will be unhappy if i will say no... he stop much before TRC Srinagar showed me 15 min from airport one hotel Ashiana he quoted me 1000 for room, after checking it i said my driver to move on after 20 mins drive i reach dal lake i firstly check hotel Dawn Opposite to GHAT no 2 road he quoted me Rs.600 for room i must say bathroom for room he showed was too good but room wasn’t up to the mark, he said good room was actually booked then i checked Marjan guest house (Rs.800) diagonally opposite to Ghat no 9 road he given me room it was nice room with all basic necessities even geyser was installed in bathroom which was necessary during early morning bath. Till that my driver was started that you are taking too much time & it is not accepted, i can understand his problem he came to know that i will not go to hotel he shown me earlier.
So just checked in at Marjan Guest house he give me ground floor room so no worry about stairs if you are tired after the whole day trip... i have checked in at 8:15 am @ hotel & decided to take some rest because i woke up early to catch the flight.
We woke up & got ready to go to TRC srinagar we started that day on 11:00 am but after few miles of walk we realized that sun was at its peak & TRC was atleast 25min walking from that place, so i started talking to autowallah about day trip by sight seeing everybody quoted me around 1000 i even call Danish (recommended by spgupta he asked for 800 but said today there is curfew in his area so he cant come ) then i come across another autowalla he agreed for 650..
My Priority for the day was
1. Go to TRC to book tickets for Gondola tomorrow, and asked for JKSRTC bus service at 11:30 we reach TRC it was nice office & they were willing to help and guide tourist. Here we booked Gondola tickets for tomorrow (but they are taking money only by cards no cash accepted there, so make sure you carry one there.
I only opted for 1st phase at for Rs.300 per person. They even mentioned boarding time at 11:00 am there i asked her if we got late then what will happen she politely reply that 1-2 hours plus minus is not problem. Then we came back to JKSRTC booking which is near to TRC only for bus booking. I have checked the bus they were nice & all people are of jolly nature replying your queries. They got mini bus around 20 seater i got the two tickets for tomorrow morning in advance, Rs.310 per person for both ways.
After completing the next day work i started my sight seeing tour around 12:00 noon
We want to cover
1.Pari Mahal, 2.Chashme shahi, 3.Botanical garden, 4. Nishat bagh, 5. Shalimar garden, 6 .Gurdwara chevin patshahi , 7. Badaam Vari, 8. Hazratbal Dargah , 9. Aquarium before Zabarwan Park, 10. Zabarwan Park
I did not opted for shankaracharya for that because you have to go 243 stairs to reach shankarcharya & if we do it first you will get tired. It was 33 degree at day time there
Please tell your autowallah your own list so that he cannot later cheat you by saying you did not mention it earlier.
All the garden & monument asked for Rs.10/- per person entry Charges for adults and for children above 5 years Rs 5/- per head, so go to ticket counter first before entering anywhere. All parks there are quite big you cannot go in each corner roughly half hour enough for each & depends on your relaxtion need
Please also take mobile no. of your driver so that when you come out & don’t see him you can give him a call

1.Firstly he took to us at Pari mahal it was nice monument with lovely short garden in front, divided into few floors so you have to go many stairs up & down to cover it whole we just gone one floor up & one floor down, but no water attraction here as compared to other gardens
2. Chasmeshahi -- it is famous for its spring water Everywhere you go in hotel / restaurant in srinagar they will ask you for mineral water or chasmeshahi water Dont forget to take empty water bottle there for easy drinking of chilled water, on that particular hot day asked us how chilling water mean to us it taste great to us. It was around 2:00 pm then we see JKTDC restaurant next to it got a lunch there it serves both veg & non veg. Food was good there, we had rajma roti there.
One thing i want to say regarding eating food in restaurant that please cross check and calculate your bills everywhere they can cheat you with adding few things
And second complaint with all restaurant is that they asked for more than MRP on mineral water & coldrinks & secondly they charged 13.5 vat extra on it later while billing
3.Next garden is Botanical garden, different in sense you can do boating here ( Tulip Garden is near to it)
4 .Nishat bagh ... It was lovely garden with lovely waterfalls
5.Shalimar Garden – not much difference in nishat & this rather it is much bigger than nishat bagh
6. Then we reach our Sikh Gurdwara chevin patshahi it is most famous in srinagar, this historical gurdwara was make in memory of our 6th Guru Hargobind Sahib.
7. Few minutes from here it is baadam vaari, here i see few tree with almond hanging on tree & few tree of pomegranate fruit, Rose flower are in full bloom here
8. Next we have gone to see hazratbal dargah do some pigeon feeding in front by taking corn for Rs.10.00 from nearby shop (women cannot enter dargah so women can avoid going inside
9. There is one Aquarium Museum before zabarwan park for the people who got love to see fishes of different colour like I do but of my bad luck it is closed for maintenance
10. Zabarwan Park (for a change here we got entry ticket for 20 per head). This is small garden for various modern activity Like Hot Air Balloon, picture galley for old Kashmir, 3D cinema watching, there is also small Tulip Museum there but they asked for another Rs 10/-. Per head, you can give a try nothing much there to see inside museum
I enjoyed Hot air balloon here but it was expensive 500 per person for 15 min..
It was 5:30 in the evening then & we were totaly exhausted mainly because of hot day came back to the hotel & discontinuing our plan to go for shikara ride in evening
We comeback to dal lake at 8:00 in night, our hotel is 3 min. Walking from dal lake so time saved that way. We see lots of tourist that day shikara guy asking for 250 per hour, and finally one guy settle for Rs.150 I advise you to take shikara ride from the ghat no which is near to your hotel because they will pick & drop at same ghat otherwise you have to walk.. don’t worry about bargaining there many shikara guy will come close to you as soon you will come close to dal lake so whichever guy give you best deal at particular time go with him, everyone will show you the same thing so not to worry, we first gone to Nehru park click some pictures & then to floating market in night reflection of houseboat light + floating market light it was lovely experience
At around 9:00 we came back to our Ghat no 9...
We were hungry by that time we asked local guys regarding Krishna dhaba & mughal darbar but came to realize that it is far away from dal lake you need transport to go there for mughal darbar pick & drop 200 asked & for Krishna dhaba 150..So i avoided going there & eat in front of my hotel Restaurant name was Lhasa it is famour for Chinese cuisine there but also serve Indian & kashmiri also, Digonally opposite toward ghat no 9. and our try was worth it was wonderful eating there we eat our dinner most of the time there...
Gone back to hotel for sleep fans are even required at night...

(I have checked few other hotels in between but come to realize that during amaranth time they have earned a lot, so they are not much interested in discounting rates & few more days to go they are sure they will get a customer, actually we talk to some tourist later today they said this year many tourist choose for helicopter ride for amaranth yatra they planned the whole trip accordingly for around 8-9 days but because they opted for helicopter ride only in single day the yatra was over & so they came to srinagar for rest of the trip and because of this all hotel owners have earned a lot this year that’s why they are not interested in giving good deals, Even i gone to AB i Hayat, hotel lake view recommended by spgupta. The half of the hotel was empty but still they are asking for RS.1200 minimum)

Contact no: Marjan Guest House , Mr Ali 09796181918
Auto Driver Was not upto the mark… so not recommending
Shikara Guy : Ghulam Chacha : 9906634762 (he got many shikara) but always try who give you good deal go with him.
Sumo Driver : Khurshid 09796961245 ( Best Driver we got for trip enjoyed allot with him)

here are the few pics......

@mehargags
Woow. I like your style of writing trip report. Carry on...keenly waiting

One interruption >> You suggested to hire car on daily basis it will cost you around Rs 2000/-My Question is it including fuel or not and by this can I go anywhere within specified day?

hi mehargags
amazing was waiting for your trip report
one thing how much did guest house charged you
also if you could upload pics of guest house

mehargags:

Thank you for the useful tips. Will be of help to many of us. Keep going...

I did not personally use that service this tip was given to me by traveler living in my guest house only .... i personally believe it includes everything .....You can take it anywhere... Except Entering Glacier in sonmarg & for watching aru + betab valley in pahalgam

he said he hired Indica for 1700, peak time they can ask for 2000 & during summer holidays & amarnath yatra they may ask for 2400 per day


@avichal : room rate was 800 per day, i will try to post pics also

Hi mehargags!

PROMISE MADE, PROMISE DELIVERED

At last, the day has come. When one is expecting something very eagerly and when that "something" is finally delivered, one feels contented. Having gone thorough your first part of TR, my mental state is exactly like that. Your report exactly matches my expectations, practical, down to earth, and hugely useful! I know reading only once is not enough for me, I have to read it at least once more,may be even more, but honestly, I will do that with pleasure. Keep it up. Waiting for remaining part of your Travelogue. I will have many queries, but I don't want disturb you at this juncture, I will do that after you conclude your TR. Thanks.

A small lingering question is were you with your family and the quoted rated for the family or single room.
We are a family of 4 myself, wife and 2 daughters, so what do you suggest

Second Day 29th july, Gulmarg day trip
We got ready Early morning for Gulmarg Gandola Ride, We left our hotel @ 7:45 am and reached JKSRTC by auto, For 5 mins drive he was asking for Rs.100, But at that time I don’t see much auto there after few minutes talk he agreed for Rs.90.
We reach Bus Stop at 7:55 (they told us yesterday that we should report there at 8), But after few minutes of checking we came to know that my bus will move around 8:30 , Firstly they were sending Pahalgam & Sonmarg Buses , (there is no bus service for yousmarg)
I just ask one employee about Restaurant nearby for tea ( I was not sure whether bus will stop in between or not) there was a taxi union type stall nearby & other one is in between road of JKSRTC & TRC , That place is also known as TRC Cafeteria & restaurant . There was a Room there but I did not gather much info there because I got less time,
We had Tea & Omelettes there, & got back by 8:30, just enquire about my gulmarg they told me jk123 etc will go, I checked few bus & found the one which will take me to the gulmarg, I was little worried about the bus crowd by I was relaxed by confirming that half of the companion were foreign tourist. I talk to one of them they said to me it is best for us because they cannot cheat us by taking unnecessary rates & it is economical also.
Then one Guy came forward to make seat allotment, (20 Tourist that day) Then I come to know that me & wife seats were not together (so make sure if you book ticket request them to give couple seat)But The guy politly said to me “ Ki hum apko alag karnke ka paap nhi karenge” & he interchanged few seats to make us sit together. And we settle down we are ready for action. We moved around 8:45, & then i realized the guy who is settling the seats was our Driver only ….
At 9:25 he stop the bus before Tantmarg at one of small mall which was providing shopping & restaurant facility. He stops there for breakfast + for Nature call. We just click some picture outside because already had the breakfast, Around 09:55 we started again, On the way I see Tantmarg with various food option + apple gardens, but he did not stop there & we reach Gulmarg around 10:45 am.
Evening time for departure from Gulmarg given for bus was 4:00 pm
Now here I firstly notice the main problem that they force you to use pony Or sumo service, which is easily avoidable
I have read regarding this that we don’t need pony to go gulmarg station, So I opted for walk it took me 45 mins to reach there ( I also started clicking picture in between which also wasted little time, But while walking I see many cars crossing us, then I enquire how they enter I came to know, all those who have booked resorts near to gondola station can take inside premises, then I asked one BSF guy he told me anybody can bring vehicle by paying few bucks, so if you go by taxi trying to go inside why to waste your time & energy According to your health, But any how scenic beauty is unavoidable , on the right side while walking you can see golf course also (Pony Guy will ask for 100 per pony)
We Reached Gandola Ticket Counter Around 11:30,I saw small queues that day, There is a separate line for online booking, (if you book ticket through online + TRC ticket booking + Airport Booking), Show them your id proof here.
We stand there showed my printed paper & soon I got my boarding pass in my hand ....
We have to stand in another queue to sit in Gandola…After 5 mins we got chance to sit in gondola,
(Many guides will approach you by saying they will show all points, you dont have to buy tickets for them, But I personally feel you don’t require it local pony walla is enough if you opted one, He is ready to come with me for Rs300)

It is nice cabin with few Air Vents after 10 min we reach at Phase 1, Many people opted for 2nd Phase costed Rs.500 per head. But we remain at 1st phase only, But if you want to see more ice you can go up to 2nd phase.
There is also big restaurant there little bit costly compared to where our bus stops, But atleast you got option if somebody requires it.
We roam there for a while, then 1 ponywala came to us, asking us to take to khilanmarg , He started with 1200 for couple , & after 20 mins he ready for 500 per couple.Then we started our journey towards khilanmarg, the pony guys are trained they click picture from your camera in between, The way to khilanmarg by pony is very very much safe anybody can go. After 25 mins we reach there, There was also small Waterfall there on top, Do Sledging Also Original Rate ask for 1500 per couple & finally settle for 700/-, I really enjoyed sledging there it was real fun in white snow ,Also eaten maggie there for Rs.50 per plate (my advice always go for 1 plate one time you never know they give you one & charge for double) Played in white ice there.
At 2:00 pm we started our journey back through pony, reached 2:30 back to phase 1 station , roamed there and capture the moments in camera & my heart. The climate was very good there, the one you are looking for a hill station
At 2:45 we are back in gondola for return journey,( One thing we want to share when you deboard the gondola in phase 1, one attendant standing there will write return time around 10 mins from the time you landed giving you instruction that you have to comeback within time, But this is there duty don’t worry about it they even keep announcing that if you not return on time your ticket will be cancelled, I asked BSF man about this he said “isky duty hi hain announce karne ki” Ha Ha Ha)
After walking down we reach our bus parking spot & there you will find many dhabas .Half of the bus people were also there so we just sit there at one of the dhabas & eaten there (quality not up the mark & he was doing totally fraud in billing, When asked he cannot justify the bill charged and finally putting responsibility on his “CHOTU“ that he is new so mistake happen, So please check bills everywhere)
While eating I talk to my Bus mates who have come from Kolkata for amaranth yatra & now there in Srinagar for sight-seeing & side trips. I talk to them regarding what are there plans further he told they might go for sonmarg & yousmarg , But bus service is not available for yousmarg he told me.
We got little confidence in each other as we are in sailing in same boat with one thing in my budget, we have seen each other whole day + we are tourist only so we can trust each other that way…….
So finally we decided to go together for yousmarg tomorrow morning, They are staying in SBI homestay which is quite away from dal lake , they said they got a sumo driver next to there place they will bring them & on the way he will pick us….
They are 3 & 2 we got a sumo for 1800 for yousmarg so we divided 1800 divided 5 = 360/- per head
At 4:45 our bus moves from gulmarg thanx to one newly married couple who took so much time…
On the way we asked our driver to stop at Tantmarg for apple garden’s , He will stop if you got majority in bus, we click few pictures there but only green apple found , few of us even bought apple from there (otherwise garden caretaker ask for Rs5/- per person to see & click pictures
Around 6:45 we reached JKSRTC stop. Then we exchanged number with my new friends, then me & my wife decided to go for Mughal darbar restaurant which is near to TRC, it took another 20 min walking to reach at Mughal darbar , We are first there on there guest list today, I tried Kashmiri food there it was nice & cheaper then Dal Lake, they got adjoining Mughal Bakery also we buy 2-3 items from there also for tomorrow morning tea, then we were fully tired, there was one auto standing outside Mughal darbar we enquire he agreed for Rs60/- for our hotel…
Around 8:30 we were back to our rooms, & without wasting more time we went asleep as were very tired


Pony From Bus Stop to Gandola Station :100 per pony
Gandola Phase 1 : 300 per head
Gandola Phase 2 : 500 per head
Pony Ride from phase 1 to khilanmarg : 500/- for 2
Sledging in khilanmarg : 700/- for 2
Maggie in Khilanmarg : 50/- per plate
Breakfast in morning : 150
Food Outside Dhaba : 140 includes Tea & parantha with butter + limca for later
Dinner in Mughal darbar :370
Bus Charges: 310/per head
Auto in morning :90 & Eveing 60/-
Water Bottel Before Gandola Station Rs.20/- & after phase 1 is 30/- per bottle

Simply superb!!

Congrats !
Wonderfully elaborated Trip Report .
I have a few questions
1) Where was your guest house , you said near Ghat No 9 , where is it ? Is it on Boulevard Road .

2) I could not understand the cab issue within Gulmarg . If I hire a cab on daily basis and go to Gulmarg and want to stay at a Hotel , will they not allow us to reach the Hotel on our hired Cab ?

Kindly clarify

1.Yes it is on Boulevard Road only diagonally opposite to ghat no 9. IF you go on Boulevard Road there are GHAT written on dal lake so it is convenient for tourist , so i am writing it also so that you will go directly to place easily[/COLOR]

2.I don't Heard issue of taking taxi inside Gulmarg Gandola station, you can take any cars inside easily just tell thel them you are staying hotel inside the premises For Eg hotel Hilltop which is near to station

Here is the pic of marjan guest house as requested..

@ sndarvekar
I can not comment on this it your personal wish if you can adjust in singel room it will save your money & in return allow them for shopping , the money u saved they will be more happy...
But it;s your personal priority, if you feel uncomfortable you can alwayz upgrade if you gone there directly but if you gone through some travel agent nothing in ur hand.....
For eg i visited hotel sunshine he is giving me room lake veiw for Rs.1700, same time one couple came which have booked from som travel agent, they shown there paper asked for lake view room, manager straightly said to them where it is mention that you will get lake view room ( so whenever travel agent say to you that you got veiw from room it is alwayz mention your hotel booking.. Then the couple asked if we got any other room option, he said sorry we dont have any empty room left, whereas he has shown me 5 rooms already......

Congrats for elaborating your whole trip beautifully

[QUOTE=mehargags;1451356][B][COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="3"]
Now here I firstly notice the main problem that they force you to use pony Or sumo service, which is easily avoidable
I have read regarding this that we don’t need pony to go gulmarg station, So I opted for walk it took me 45 mins to reach there

@mehargags
Great travelogue.Keep it up..
One question..
do you mean walking distnce from Gulmarg bus stand to Gondola counter in 45 mins??? If it would take 45mins then pony or sumo service may require for aged people..or may i assume its a typo...