Srinagar Shikaara
7th- 13th June 2017. Mom, Dad, Andy & Me.
Its marvelous how roses are wild
flowers and walnuts and cherries are junk food,
Apples and safron are effortlessly
natural,
while its easy to confuse the sky with
the snow capped ranges.
They call it the Indian Venice, but
I'd now call that the Italian Srinagar.
People are amicable though the constant
breaking news is unavoidable,
Men men everywhere dint see the
Kashmiri beauties anywhere.
The nature has set its boundary walls
as the grand mountains ranges of the Himalayas,
but guess the extreme cold hit the
people inside out.
The fury of nature with hail storms
and snow falls is definitely not enough
as the armed men promise to protect
you from a danger of another kind.
Silent violence louder than the
streams build up to explosive noises.
The borders being questionable yet
ingenious to say that the place is incomparable.
A few days ago my brother randomly suggested we do a family trip to Srinagar where mom always wanted to go. We hadn't traveled together in a few years so the thought was quite welcoming. My parents had only a month ago cancelled there Srinagar trip with their friends due to the instability. I started my research on places and situations in Srinagar, only to find heavenly pictures and disturbing news. However going further we booked the flight tickets and since then, every day questioned our sanity to dare visit Kashmir considering all the disturbing news in Srinagar every day. A few friends in Srinagar confirmed our safety and we finally took off. I had booked the hotels and the car for all the 7 days which was a strike as it was just a day before and I wasn't sure of the places since they weren't clear on the web. We checked the weather and packed 1 good jacket as it dint seem too cold, little did we know!!!
Day 1 Hyd -Srinagar 7th June - Wednesday
So, there we were, ready to fly off. I had butterflies in my stomach about the arrangements and literally kept my fingers crossed. We flew to Srinagar with 2 hrs lay over in Delhi. Our driver for the next 7 days received us at Srinagar Airport. We were a bit skeptical with the house stay and made a frantic call to the agent for change of hotels and they were quite annoyed but maintained their calm and suggested that we first see the place. On reaching the house we were instantly in love with it, as the gorgeous lavender flavoured garden full of flowers and cherries smiled welcomed us to the royal mansion across the Dal Lake, which is 5 mins away from the Lalit Mahal and on the main Boulevard road of Dal Lake. The Almond Villa about a 100 years old, spread across over 50 acres, with 7 grand suits with spectacular view and decor in each room and a massive underground well kept dungeon (where the movie Hyder was shot). We soon left for the boat ride on the Dal Lake, I must say its quite a fun experience to go boating there in the Shikaara. There were people on boats who made us jump onto their boat and get dressed in their traditional wear and clicked instant pictures with the mountains on the backdrop, all this in middle of the Dal Lake. The houseboats are exquisite with the intricate wooden carvings and lavish interiors. We stopped at various little shops and bought curios and had maggi n kahwa. After traveling around Srinagar I realized what you save for later doesn't happened, hence if you like something you might as well pick it up, rather than not getting it at all. My bro left his glares in one of the shops so he got a bonus shikaara ride and voila he found it at 1 of the shops and the honest shopkeeper waited to return them to its owner. Tourism is their main source of income which lasts only 6 months and is at a all time low at the moment since last 2 years due to the disturbance. We were tired and found this veg place called Nathus without too much efforts, its not too fancy but they serve great veg fresh food and broad smile and extra butter. Just besides that there is a store called Shaw and Shaw where we bought some artifacts and shawls etc. from. I saw a shawl which was soft as foam and woven with 2 different colors on either sides. I made a mental note to pick something like it up on return.
We retired for the day, to our wonderful Almond Villa and decided to head off to Sonmarg the next morning.
Day 2 Srinagar - Sonmarg : 8th June - Thursday.
Andy went for a jog around the property to Dal Lake and towards the Shankaracharya Temple and said it was lovely. We head off to Sonmarg which was a good drive of about 80 kms and took about 2 hours. From the base of Sonmarg we hired another car and driver for Rs.6000/- and also got boots. It took us 2 hours with a lot of military traffic, we crossed the longest convey of the army drive by to reach the 0 Degrees Point. As the name suggests its always 0 degrees there. There are a lot of guys waiting to be your guides, photographers and people dying to pull up on the steep hill to sledge you down or take you for a short skiing round. My bro tried skiing and must say not just to flatter him but truly reminded me of a scene from James bond movie. Time just flies, we topped it up ourselves with some, (now becoming a customary) Maggie and Kawah. egg and bread to go on side. you got to be a bit careful and sharp as there are a lot of vendors waiting to just plunge to feed you, photograph you and somewhere cheat you a bit too..
The drive back was bit tougher as it had started to drizzle and our cabbie was constantly conscious of a landslide or stone falls. We reached the base and freshened up at a place that one at that point can acknowledge as a restaurant and headed back to Srinagar. A scrumptious delightful meal at the Lalit and we were charged to pack up for the next day. Now, it being a friday next day we were told that there would be a Strike which is more commonly also known as a Curfew and were strongly recommended to leave as early as possible from Srinagar to avoid any possibility of stone pelting and unpleasant situation.
We retired for the day, to our wonderful Almond Villa and decided to head off to Sonmarg the next morning.
Day 2 Srinagar - Sonmarg : 8th June - Thursday.
Andy went for a jog around the property to Dal Lake and towards the Shankaracharya Temple and said it was lovely. We head off to Sonmarg which was a good drive of about 80 kms and took about 2 hours. From the base of Sonmarg we hired another car and driver for Rs.6000/- and also got boots. It took us 2 hours with a lot of military traffic, we crossed the longest convey of the army drive by to reach the 0 Degrees Point. As the name suggests its always 0 degrees there. There are a lot of guys waiting to be your guides, photographers and people dying to pull up on the steep hill to sledge you down or take you for a short skiing round. My bro tried skiing and must say not just to flatter him but truly reminded me of a scene from James bond movie. Time just flies, we topped it up ourselves with some, (now becoming a customary) Maggie and Kawah. egg and bread to go on side. you got to be a bit careful and sharp as there are a lot of vendors waiting to just plunge to feed you, photograph you and somewhere cheat you a bit too..
The drive back was bit tougher as it had started to drizzle and our cabbie was constantly conscious of a landslide or stone falls. We reached the base and freshened up at a place that one at that point can acknowledge as a restaurant and headed back to Srinagar. A scrumptious delightful meal at the Lalit and we were charged to pack up for the next day. Now, it being a friday next day we were told that there would be a Strike which is more commonly also known as a Curfew and were strongly recommended to leave as early as possible from Srinagar to avoid any possibility of stone pelting and unpleasant situation.
Day 3 Srinagar - Pahalgam : 9th June - Friday
We bid our good byes to the house and the managers only little did we knew then that we would be back shortly. We left a little before 10 am and there was a sense of violent silence in the air. With the army men at various junctions and the city pretty much shut down, it definitely screamed danger. On the way we had to stop by at a shop called Khan's Dry fruits where we purchased a lot of dry fruits. They grow Kesar (Saffron), walnuts, almonds and various berries. Right behind the shop he had constructed 2 bungalows and had a lovely organic little kitchen garden, ofcourse he sold everything of it including Poppy seeds, walnuts, garlic, kashmiri beans, and a few vegetables. He also had a few cows. It was nice to step into a local's house like that and know how they lived. They were extremely warm and offered us unlimited kawah and was kind enough to courier all our buys. We left from there as our driver did warn us of some tension building up in certain areas on the way to Pehelgam. We insisted to go via the route of apple orchards and yes, there were armed men everywhere, roof tops to streets, and a quite a few junctions locals were mobbing up on the streets. Our driver Manzoor bhai drove us by tactfully and directly stopped at the apple orchards where we did a little local shopping along with a few apples for the next few days and spotted some foxes. Our next stop was at the Rafting point. Anand & I both did rafting while mom and dad waited for us. It was fun. The water was ice cold and the rapids were good to give us the feel of it. We were drenched and luckily it being a sunny day it dint take us long to dry up. This place was less than 30 mins from our hotel in Pahalgam. Hotel Heevan was on the banks of River Lidder flowing by and under the shades of the tall mountains stretched out ahead. We had to cross a bridge to get the hotel each time from where we parked the car. The river flowing in a rush from under, had a eternal music for us. There are a few spectacular view points around to go on a horse - one of them being the Switzerland view point. We walked around the little town while my bro got on a horse and set of on his little adventure. We got back and relaxed at the hotel enjoying the complete choreography of nature with the drizzle, river flowing with furious rapids building up, snow capped mountains untouched by anything, and we could do nothing else but just admire all this from our little yet marvelous french windows. While it started pouring my bro reached only to narrate, as to how a tree was hit by a lighting about 50 mtrs away from him and the horse galloped taking him away in shock. His horse riding skills finally were put to use. It was an enchanting full moon night. We headed off for dinner at Hotel Pine and Peak which is a relatively a new hotel than the one we were staying at and was quite well done up too. The food was average and we did take a tour of the hotel only to be happy to stay in Heevan as the view in Pine and Peak as the name suggested was of Pine trees on most of the sides and a lovely huge golf course on the other, both the hotels were run by the same group of hotels - Adah. We did play around with the thought of wrapping up the next day of sightseeing soon and heading back to Srinagar as some of the locals suggested a temple as a must visit near Srinagar on the way to Sonmarg. The hotel people were kind enough to entertain our thought and transfer our one night at Srinagar Hotel Heevan. We saw the news and found out about the disturbance happening in Kashmir and were considering ourselves lucky to be dodging those area in the morning.
We bid our good byes to the house and the managers only little did we knew then that we would be back shortly. We left a little before 10 am and there was a sense of violent silence in the air. With the army men at various junctions and the city pretty much shut down, it definitely screamed danger. On the way we had to stop by at a shop called Khan's Dry fruits where we purchased a lot of dry fruits. They grow Kesar (Saffron), walnuts, almonds and various berries. Right behind the shop he had constructed 2 bungalows and had a lovely organic little kitchen garden, ofcourse he sold everything of it including Poppy seeds, walnuts, garlic, kashmiri beans, and a few vegetables. He also had a few cows. It was nice to step into a local's house like that and know how they lived. They were extremely warm and offered us unlimited kawah and was kind enough to courier all our buys. We left from there as our driver did warn us of some tension building up in certain areas on the way to Pehelgam. We insisted to go via the route of apple orchards and yes, there were armed men everywhere, roof tops to streets, and a quite a few junctions locals were mobbing up on the streets. Our driver Manzoor bhai drove us by tactfully and directly stopped at the apple orchards where we did a little local shopping along with a few apples for the next few days and spotted some foxes. Our next stop was at the Rafting point. Anand & I both did rafting while mom and dad waited for us. It was fun. The water was ice cold and the rapids were good to give us the feel of it. We were drenched and luckily it being a sunny day it dint take us long to dry up. This place was less than 30 mins from our hotel in Pahalgam. Hotel Heevan was on the banks of River Lidder flowing by and under the shades of the tall mountains stretched out ahead. We had to cross a bridge to get the hotel each time from where we parked the car. The river flowing in a rush from under, had a eternal music for us. There are a few spectacular view points around to go on a horse - one of them being the Switzerland view point. We walked around the little town while my bro got on a horse and set of on his little adventure. We got back and relaxed at the hotel enjoying the complete choreography of nature with the drizzle, river flowing with furious rapids building up, snow capped mountains untouched by anything, and we could do nothing else but just admire all this from our little yet marvelous french windows. While it started pouring my bro reached only to narrate, as to how a tree was hit by a lighting about 50 mtrs away from him and the horse galloped taking him away in shock. His horse riding skills finally were put to use. It was an enchanting full moon night. We headed off for dinner at Hotel Pine and Peak which is a relatively a new hotel than the one we were staying at and was quite well done up too. The food was average and we did take a tour of the hotel only to be happy to stay in Heevan as the view in Pine and Peak as the name suggested was of Pine trees on most of the sides and a lovely huge golf course on the other, both the hotels were run by the same group of hotels - Adah. We did play around with the thought of wrapping up the next day of sightseeing soon and heading back to Srinagar as some of the locals suggested a temple as a must visit near Srinagar on the way to Sonmarg. The hotel people were kind enough to entertain our thought and transfer our one night at Srinagar Hotel Heevan. We saw the news and found out about the disturbance happening in Kashmir and were considering ourselves lucky to be dodging those area in the morning.
Day 4 Pahalgam - Srinagar : 10th June - Saturday
Next day morning we did read in the news papers how there was stone pelting and a lot of distress in a few parts of Srinagar of which, a few we did pass by. We again hired another taxi as alsoin Pahalgam like Sonmarg we had to hire the local cab. It was nothing less then picturesque as we were reaching Aru Valley, but we couldn't go trekking as it had started to pour. We did some little shopping from the shops there and head off to Chandanwari. This is one of the points of entry for the upcoming Amaranth Yatra, and hence all the preparations had started from hoisting tents to men carving steps in the glaciers. This is the gate to Amarnath from where people either trek or go on a horse for the 32 Kms. We hired shoes and jackets from the base and yet again mom and dad waited for us while we went up trekking. The glaciers r massive and the trek is tough. We went about 2 kms to the point where the waterfalls from Sheshnag pond is seen and beyond that point it wasn't yet allowed. Its nothing less than heaven. We did a lot of monkeying around climbing on rocks in middle of the falls and lots of photography displaying our modeling and clicking talent. Little did we know mom dad had begin to trek up and they met us closer to gates and it was a pleasant surprise. Once we reached to the base, we settled accounts with the guide, photographer and the shoe and jackets guys. We were told that the guides get turns once in 3 days and how all of them have to wait for their turns. We topped yet another lovely trek with a round of Maggie and kawha. Its amazing how these guys even at such high altitudes and with such heavy physical activities manage to do Rozas (Muslim fast during Ramzaan time for 30 days where they can only eat from 7pm to 4 am). Our cabbie and mom dad were annoyed waiting for us to head back. The cabbie insisted that we go to Betaab valley which we were gonna skip, also because it was his home town and it was time for his prayers. We reached the valley and realised we would have missed it had we skipped it. There was a little bridge over the river flowing by with the snow capped mountains high above and clear blue skies. It was a moment to imbibe and just forget the world. I took a deep breath and said if there was heaven it would be here. There were a few movies shot around Pahalgam. We reached the hotel at around 5 pm and quickly packed up to head off to Srinagar. We asked our driver to break his fast at the mosque that we passed by and he was quite prompt. We reached our hotel and it was quite comfortable and it was Sheraton Heevan here. The location of it was on the other side of the Dal Lake. We had scheduled to see the Moghul Gardens the next day before heading to the temple as it was quite close by. The hotel staff was kind enough to served some hot food to us inspite of it being almost time to close their kitchen
Day 5 Srinagar - Kheer Bhavani - Gulmarg : 11th June - Sunday
Next day morning we did read in the news papers how there was stone pelting and a lot of distress in a few parts of Srinagar of which, a few we did pass by. We again hired another taxi as alsoin Pahalgam like Sonmarg we had to hire the local cab. It was nothing less then picturesque as we were reaching Aru Valley, but we couldn't go trekking as it had started to pour. We did some little shopping from the shops there and head off to Chandanwari. This is one of the points of entry for the upcoming Amaranth Yatra, and hence all the preparations had started from hoisting tents to men carving steps in the glaciers. This is the gate to Amarnath from where people either trek or go on a horse for the 32 Kms. We hired shoes and jackets from the base and yet again mom and dad waited for us while we went up trekking. The glaciers r massive and the trek is tough. We went about 2 kms to the point where the waterfalls from Sheshnag pond is seen and beyond that point it wasn't yet allowed. Its nothing less than heaven. We did a lot of monkeying around climbing on rocks in middle of the falls and lots of photography displaying our modeling and clicking talent. Little did we know mom dad had begin to trek up and they met us closer to gates and it was a pleasant surprise. Once we reached to the base, we settled accounts with the guide, photographer and the shoe and jackets guys. We were told that the guides get turns once in 3 days and how all of them have to wait for their turns. We topped yet another lovely trek with a round of Maggie and kawha. Its amazing how these guys even at such high altitudes and with such heavy physical activities manage to do Rozas (Muslim fast during Ramzaan time for 30 days where they can only eat from 7pm to 4 am). Our cabbie and mom dad were annoyed waiting for us to head back. The cabbie insisted that we go to Betaab valley which we were gonna skip, also because it was his home town and it was time for his prayers. We reached the valley and realised we would have missed it had we skipped it. There was a little bridge over the river flowing by with the snow capped mountains high above and clear blue skies. It was a moment to imbibe and just forget the world. I took a deep breath and said if there was heaven it would be here. There were a few movies shot around Pahalgam. We reached the hotel at around 5 pm and quickly packed up to head off to Srinagar. We asked our driver to break his fast at the mosque that we passed by and he was quite prompt. We reached our hotel and it was quite comfortable and it was Sheraton Heevan here. The location of it was on the other side of the Dal Lake. We had scheduled to see the Moghul Gardens the next day before heading to the temple as it was quite close by. The hotel staff was kind enough to served some hot food to us inspite of it being almost time to close their kitchen
Day 5 Srinagar - Kheer Bhavani - Gulmarg : 11th June - Sunday
We started our day lazily, as my bro was yet another adventure of his which started with a simple morning jog around the Dal Lake and the Durgah and ended to be a auto ride which took his around various short cuts to various wrong hotels before he reached the right one. Meanwhile we went to the Moghul Gardens and it was literally flowery and full of fountains. The water was clear and the frescos on ceilings of each chateaus were intricately painted with kashmiri designs. The history of the place is marvelous and undoubtedly Jahangir and Akbar were allured by the enchanting valleys of Kashmir. Only about 50% of the flowers were bloomed as the main blooming season was March April. We were tad bit late. Nevertheless we enjoyed our walk and it was a nice sunny day. We went back to the hotel rested for a bit, had a quick lunch and left for Kheer Bhavani Temple at Tulmull, which was on the opposite side, i.e. on the way to Sonmarg, resulting in taking us longer than usual to reach Gulmar. Mom was a bit under the weather and I had a mad cold. The temple was rather mystic. Swami Vivekananda and many enlightened people have meditated there. The idols of Lord Shiva and Lordess Parvathi are seated in middle of a pond like structure which is in a shape of Shivaling from an aerial view. The greenery around is pious and has a sense of tranquility.
From there we hit the road to Gulmar. The roads mostly are straight and nice. Just as we reach Gulmarg there is a winding ghat road of 30-40 mins, We were just warned to be careful as the nature had decided to take a sudden flip and there was a hail storm. As we reached the hotel it was still raining and there was fresh little snow on the floor. Our hotel - Hotel Highland Park was gorgeous but its a walk from the entrance to the cottages. We reached the hotel and settled in and ordered some Kahwa and snacks. The rooms had a wonderful decor and it was done up in an eclectic way with bright pop up light green fine finished doors and the decor complementing it with painting to go with it and each room was done up tastefully. It had a fire place the old fashion way and the stewards were kind to keep a check on it. It is the oldest and the nicest hotels in the valley and must say its got a heavenly view. Every room had one glass wall with a view of the snow capped mountains and the back window view of the valleys. The luxury of being pampered in an absolute natural set up with snow capped mountains surrounding you is nutting short of heaven. We decided to go for dinner at Khyber which is one of the best properties. The Hotel is nothing short of a castle in the mountains and alot of movie shootings happen there. It opens up in the pine tree views with just a tiny bit of a mountain view from 1 room. But its the best place to be when its snow covered as one side of the hotel is a steep end of the valley and that is usually snow covered. The hotel shouts luxury and needless to say that the service, staff and the L'occinate Spa and ya ofcourse the food are excellent.
From there we hit the road to Gulmar. The roads mostly are straight and nice. Just as we reach Gulmarg there is a winding ghat road of 30-40 mins, We were just warned to be careful as the nature had decided to take a sudden flip and there was a hail storm. As we reached the hotel it was still raining and there was fresh little snow on the floor. Our hotel - Hotel Highland Park was gorgeous but its a walk from the entrance to the cottages. We reached the hotel and settled in and ordered some Kahwa and snacks. The rooms had a wonderful decor and it was done up in an eclectic way with bright pop up light green fine finished doors and the decor complementing it with painting to go with it and each room was done up tastefully. It had a fire place the old fashion way and the stewards were kind to keep a check on it. It is the oldest and the nicest hotels in the valley and must say its got a heavenly view. Every room had one glass wall with a view of the snow capped mountains and the back window view of the valleys. The luxury of being pampered in an absolute natural set up with snow capped mountains surrounding you is nutting short of heaven. We decided to go for dinner at Khyber which is one of the best properties. The Hotel is nothing short of a castle in the mountains and alot of movie shootings happen there. It opens up in the pine tree views with just a tiny bit of a mountain view from 1 room. But its the best place to be when its snow covered as one side of the hotel is a steep end of the valley and that is usually snow covered. The hotel shouts luxury and needless to say that the service, staff and the L'occinate Spa and ya ofcourse the food are excellent.
Day 6 Gulmarg - Srinagar : 12th June - Monday
We got ready early and head of for our appointment of the Gulmarg Gondola Cable Car ride which is the world's second highest operation cable car going up to 14000 ft, to the First and the second level of the mountains. Our tickets were arranged and mom dad also came upto the second level where there is a lot of snow covered on the mountains and is similar to the trek of Pahalgam. We trekked quite a bit , to be precise almost to the point we could see the border and lost track of time. We were so kicked about the fact there was full signal up at 14000 ft that we went live on FB only to get d 1st comment from mom that it was time to descend down back to ground level from up above the top of the world. Once we reach the base we decided to ride the ATV's and take a tour of Gulmarg before reaching the hotel. We reached back to Srinagar by evening and did some shopping as it was our last evening there. Unfortunately we couldn't be more greedy as if not we would have bought all the lovely art and crafts. We had an invite fro dinner at the CPRF camp by the SP of CPRF and it was a reality check. Hats off to them for living a life dedicated to the citizens of the nation especially to those who r thankless. They treated us with utmost warmth and some home cooked food We finally left their quarters by mid night and rushed back to our good old Almond Villa to pack up as we had an early morning plan of visiting the Shankaracharya Temple before we caught our flight.
We got ready early and head of for our appointment of the Gulmarg Gondola Cable Car ride which is the world's second highest operation cable car going up to 14000 ft, to the First and the second level of the mountains. Our tickets were arranged and mom dad also came upto the second level where there is a lot of snow covered on the mountains and is similar to the trek of Pahalgam. We trekked quite a bit , to be precise almost to the point we could see the border and lost track of time. We were so kicked about the fact there was full signal up at 14000 ft that we went live on FB only to get d 1st comment from mom that it was time to descend down back to ground level from up above the top of the world. Once we reach the base we decided to ride the ATV's and take a tour of Gulmarg before reaching the hotel. We reached back to Srinagar by evening and did some shopping as it was our last evening there. Unfortunately we couldn't be more greedy as if not we would have bought all the lovely art and crafts. We had an invite fro dinner at the CPRF camp by the SP of CPRF and it was a reality check. Hats off to them for living a life dedicated to the citizens of the nation especially to those who r thankless. They treated us with utmost warmth and some home cooked food We finally left their quarters by mid night and rushed back to our good old Almond Villa to pack up as we had an early morning plan of visiting the Shankaracharya Temple before we caught our flight.
Day 7 Srinagar - Hyderabad: 13th June - Tuesday
Inspite of being super tired we had an early start with a visit to the Shankaracharya Temple where the SP of CPRF accompanied us an it was much easier for us to get through in good time.The road from the main road is a winding 15 mins drive up the hill and from where the cars are parked its another 250 steps to the temple. Dad felt accomplished to have made it to the top and back as the steps to the temple r quite steep and almost never ending. Its amazing how in 200BC they built this Lord Shiva Temple at the height of 1000ft. Its got a mixed history, with having stints of Persian, Jewish, Sikhism, Buddhisim and finally dominated by Hinduism. The view is worth the work out of climbing the steps. Its a bird eye view of complete Srinagar from every angle and the SP showed us the various camps of army and CPRF areas along with few of the points from where terrorists had attacked. Its the world's most distinguished kind of irony I feel considering how glorious the place is and how much of it goes in safe guarding it with armed men and ammunition from disasters. We drove back to the Villa and I couldnt resist taking a video tour of the place without doing any justice to the place. We left for the airport feeling shopping deprived yet happy to have explored yet another glorious part of India. The airport is about 40 mins from Dal Lake side and the traffic wasn't too bad.
Unlike Leh airport there is quite a lot of checking at the Srinagar Airport and it is advisable to reach an hour an a half or 2 hours before your flight. There is scanning at the entry point of the airport before we get to the entrance of the airport gates. and then again inside and your hand luggage is literally emptied so travel light and again you gotta identify your baggage only then it goes with u.
Its a good thing but then it can be quite annoying. To add to it we did indulge a bit last minute at the airport souvenir shops.
And in no time with heavy hearts and bags we were flying above the mountains away from them back to the mundane city lives totally into a different set up without any similarity of life there, literally north to south. :)
One more heavenly place explored, encountered one more way of living and my belief grows stronger that I am just a little spec in the grand beautiful world with a need to discover more of it.
Inspite of being super tired we had an early start with a visit to the Shankaracharya Temple where the SP of CPRF accompanied us an it was much easier for us to get through in good time.The road from the main road is a winding 15 mins drive up the hill and from where the cars are parked its another 250 steps to the temple. Dad felt accomplished to have made it to the top and back as the steps to the temple r quite steep and almost never ending. Its amazing how in 200BC they built this Lord Shiva Temple at the height of 1000ft. Its got a mixed history, with having stints of Persian, Jewish, Sikhism, Buddhisim and finally dominated by Hinduism. The view is worth the work out of climbing the steps. Its a bird eye view of complete Srinagar from every angle and the SP showed us the various camps of army and CPRF areas along with few of the points from where terrorists had attacked. Its the world's most distinguished kind of irony I feel considering how glorious the place is and how much of it goes in safe guarding it with armed men and ammunition from disasters. We drove back to the Villa and I couldnt resist taking a video tour of the place without doing any justice to the place. We left for the airport feeling shopping deprived yet happy to have explored yet another glorious part of India. The airport is about 40 mins from Dal Lake side and the traffic wasn't too bad.
Unlike Leh airport there is quite a lot of checking at the Srinagar Airport and it is advisable to reach an hour an a half or 2 hours before your flight. There is scanning at the entry point of the airport before we get to the entrance of the airport gates. and then again inside and your hand luggage is literally emptied so travel light and again you gotta identify your baggage only then it goes with u.
Its a good thing but then it can be quite annoying. To add to it we did indulge a bit last minute at the airport souvenir shops.
And in no time with heavy hearts and bags we were flying above the mountains away from them back to the mundane city lives totally into a different set up without any similarity of life there, literally north to south. :)
One more heavenly place explored, encountered one more way of living and my belief grows stronger that I am just a little spec in the grand beautiful world with a need to discover more of it.
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