The day had finally arrived when I was going to
Ladakh. When I told some of my friends that I am going to Ladakh, most of them
were like “Yaar tu Ladkah jaa raha h, mere
ko bhi jaana hai yaar”, “Yaar Leh
Ladakh bahut sahi jagah h ghumne k liye” etc etc. And here I was on a fine
Friday morning, with my bags packed, boarding my Indigo flight 6E-521 to
Srinagar from Delhi Airport sharp at 7 am. Yes, we choose to go to Ladakh via
Srinagar. Some people say that going to Ladakh via Manali involves more
adventure and more scenic beauty, but I kept it for the next time.
We were six friends and a few of them were boarding the flight for the first
time in their life and they were somewhat excited about that. Getting an
emergency seat increased their thrill.
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| A view from our flight |
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| Emergency Seat in Indigo Flight |
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We reached Srinagar after almost 2 hours. For
obvious reasons they have a tight security everywhere and you are not allowed
to click pics at the airport. A cab was waiting for us outside and we were
transferred to a meeting point near Dal Lake.
Dal Lake, the second largest lake
of the state with shopping markets, houseboats, sellers, floating vegetable
market is a must visit destination in Kashmir. Your trip is incomplete without
a ride in Shikara in Dal Lake. On our journey from airport to Dal Lake, army
men could be seen at every corner of the street. Looking at the scenery on the
way, no doubt Kashmir is aptly called Paradise
on Earth.
The scenery was altogether different from any hill station you
have ever visited in your life.
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| Shikara at Dal Lake |
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| Shikara Sellers |
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We decided to stay in houseboat for that day. We were transferred to our house boat along with our luggage in Shikara. (Shikara is a unique boat which is used to transfer people and goods across the lakes). We took 2 shikaras. For one Shikara only 4 people can sit at one time with boatman rowing from the upper bow. It was a cloud 9 experience to roam around the Dal Lake in a Shikara away from all the work and busy life in Delhi.
Please take of your mobile phones and wallets while seating in Shikara. They easily tend to get slipped out of your pockets.
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| Shikara Ride |
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| Boatman at Dal Lake |
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Light drizzle had started by now which was like
a welcome by Srinagar. While roaming around Dal Lake we decided that we will go
to Gulmarg - Meadow of Flowers today. It’s a 2 hour journey from Srinagar to
Gulmarg.
Riding in Gulmarg Gandola – second highest cable car in the world is the best experience we had in Gulmarg.
You can see rich flora and fauna from a height of about 3000 metres. The cable
car occasionally stops in between and oscillates up and down. We went till
reach Level 2 and trekked our way to have fun in snow. People can do sledging
there in a nominal amount. You are not allowed to trek very far as LOC (India
and Pakistan Line of Control) is nearby and there are army men standing there
to stop you from going farther.
Things you must take with yourself – 1 water
bottle per person, snacks, sports shoes, woollen clothes and a camera to
capture the magnificent view from the hill at a height of 4000 metres.
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| A view inside Gandola ride |
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| A view from Gulmarg Level-1 |
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After 2-3 hours
of fun at Gulmarg, everyone was tired and we just sat in cable car and were transferred
like parcels. We had Maggi and ice cream at the shops in Gulmarg, which were
like energy banks for our tired body.
You can see shops which sell pashmina
like shawls, I will advise you not to buy from there if you don’t have a good
knowledge of the same. You can easily buy shawls from markets opposite to Dal
Lake. And don’t forget to bargain hard! The great view of all the valleys in
the Gulmarg can be seen in pictures below.
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| First level of Gulmarg Level-2 |
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| Group Pic |
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| Gulmarg Level-2 |
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| Chilling at Gulmarg |
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When we came back to Dal Lake, it was already dark here. We roam around
for some time in the market looking for an appropriate restaurant for dinner.
We got our dinner packed from Karims. The markets are also closed by 9 pm .The
shikara riders usually have to leave by 9:30 and. Its better you reach your
houseboat maximum by 10 pm. We had our dinner in a lavish way in the houseboat.
Someone has rightly said "If memories were to become effervescent bubbles, Srinagar’s would
sparkle the brightest."
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| Valley at Gulmarg |
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| Local Shawl Shops |
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We had decided that we will leave for Leh the next morning
via Innova. We will cover more of Srinagar in our last part of the journey after coming
back from Leh Ladakh.
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| Paneer Tikka |
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| House Boats on Dal Lake |
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HOLIDAY PACKAGES FOR KASHMIR
Get your soulmate to this beautiful paradise on Earth.
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| Kashmir Holiday Package |
12 comments:
Highest Cable Car!
Amazing!
Beautiful House Boats at night.
:)
The shikara here is better than shakira there. Heavenly.
"The cable car occasionally stops in between and oscillates up and down." What a feel !!!!
Culture, scenic beauty and delicious cuisine... Kashmir has it all. In addition to it, it has places of spiritual importance...
@Ayush : Yes, the highest cable car in the world, and the feeling of riding there is just awesome.
Thanks for stopping by and for reading my blog. Stay connected :)
@Sarthak : Ha Ha :-D :-D
Yes the shikara rides are fabullous,you just have to take care of few things I have mentioned in the article.
Stay hooked up to the blog for more articles on Kashmir :)
@Himank: Yes the feel is like awesome. At a height of about 12000 feet, when the cable car oscillates, you might skip a heart beat but you'll definitely enjoy the ride. :)
@Shubhorpriyo : Indded Kashmir has it all, we'll be sharing our travel exprience of travelling to 2 districts of Ladakh- Leh and Kargil.
Stay hooked up more exciting pictures and travel experience :)
well written article,the essence of kashmir can be taken out from ur words.
Superb post, we enjoyed each and everything as per written in your post. Thank you for this article because it’s really informative, I love reading your blog.
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If someone based an Internet meme on you, it would have impeccable grammar. Never such an impressive informative blog. Keep up the good work wil look forward for more. leh ladakh bike trip ladakh trip
Thank you for creating such an amazing blog! We absolutely love the insightful content and can't wait to read more. Keep up the fantastic work!
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