Untraveled Kashmir
This blog is not about the typical Kashmir that most of us know. This Kashmir is about those places kept disguised from the crowd, places we only imagine in our dream or saw on wallpapers, places we enjoyed in Bollywood movies or read in fiction and longed “wish one day I could go there”. We traveled through that Kashmir which is surreal, Dreamlike, beautiful yet adventurous, and the Kashmir which is untraveled to most.
Last year, when we traveled from Srinagar to Leh, We were mesmerized by the beauty of Sonamarg and surrounding areas and decided to come back soon. This time our target was to travel to areas in and around Pahalgam. We reached Srinagar Airport at 12 PM. Our pre booked Car and the driver was waiting for us in the airport. The weather was fantastic with temperature around 20 degree. Bright sunlight and light air already made our day and set the stage for an unforgettable vacation. Srinagar to Pahalgam road condition was excellent and since that was afternoon, we did not get any traffic on the road. We stopped couple of times en route, first to buy some dry fruits ( strongly recommended) and second to take few photos just before reaching Pahalgam.
Around 3 PM, we reached the Travellers Inn, the cottage we booked in Pahalgam. The cottage itself can be treated as one of the untraveled places. Decent sized property with all required amenities, tucked into river bank surrounded by pine trees. On the other side of the river is the main road leading towards Aru Valley. Within 5 mins walk by the river you can reach the wooden bridge and on the other side of the bridge is the river rafting point. The entire surrounding is lush green with curvy landscape created by pine , and deodar trees. To add to the beauty, both sides of the river are crowned with snow-clad mountains. What else can you expect? After savoring delicious Kahwa tea and cookies, we embarked on our first excursion, the green valley which was a 2 hours walking by the river toward Aru Valley. My limited vocabulary is incapable to describe the beauty of the place. sharing some photos.
The next day (Day 2) was kept for local sightseeing in Pahalgam. It was raining incessantly from morning but our spirit was indomitable. We headed towards Betaab Valley around 9 AM to avoid the crowd. There were only us and 2–3 more families. Betaab is excellent for elderly people and families to spend a good 1–2 hours roaming around the green field, garden, and river streaming through the garden.
From Betaab, we came back to the resort for lunch and headed towards Aru Valley at 4 PM. The Road toward Aru Valley is beautiful. Aru Valley offers a different kind of landscape compared to Betaab. We took 3 Ponies to travel to Hill Top (That’s called Aru Valley) through Riverside. We loved the landscape around Riverside, it’s dreamy, seems we are in a world of fantasy. The Hilltop is nothing great and can be skipped.
The fun never pauses in our tour. We spent the evening in the river bank enjoying an open-air barbecue. The resort guys ( Imran, Irfan, Adil) arranged that with Desi Chicken and trout fish. The temperature was 5 degrees, the sky was clear after a day-long downpour, the snow-capped mountains turned orange with the last ray of sun, the Lidder was flowing with soothing gurgling sounds, and we were sitting in front of bonfires which was keeping us warm. Never imagined I would be this much fortunate to enjoy such an ambiance.
The highlight of the tour was Day 3. The morning was beautiful, the sunlight was bright, the weather was cool, and we were all set for 12 hours of trekking to Tuliyan Lake. Tuliyan lake is one of the alpine lakes in Kashmir with an altitude of 12,000+ ft and it is at 14 kms from Pahalgam. Pahalgam’s altitude is 80oo ft. a 4K altitude increase in 14 km is not a child’s game which we realized in few hours. With the believe that morning shows the day, we started our journey at 7:30 AM from Resort. We were taken to Baisaran point by car. Baisaran a.k.a Mini Switzerland is another popular tourist destination in Pahalgam. From Baisaran point we got into Horses, it was pretty early in the morning and no people around, the more we progressed, the more beautiful is would become. First 1 hr of the trip was pretty enjoyable with easy ascent of 25/30 degrees. We covered two spectacularly beautiful meadows en route. The last one was Kani Marg where we had our breakfast, my son played with sheeps for some time before we embarked for the real fun. The toughest part of the trek was from Kani Marg to Tuliyan valley which was almost 45–60 degree steep through muddy, snowy forest terrain. Within 10 mins, we realized how difficult it’s becoming for the horses to carry us in that slippery steep trail. As we were thinking that something gonna be wrong, my horse stumbled and fell on his legs, I somehow managed to save myself from falling downward by grabbing grass, and soil. If either of me or my horse fell downhill, we would have hit my wife’s horse and we could fell together to 500 meters down. Me and the guide looked each other and we decided to hike that steep trail by feet. The hike through feet was not easy either. Every step had to be carefully placed otherwise we could hurt ourselves. We were given hiking sticks which was a great tool in that journey. Luckily my son’s Horse could carry him without much difficulty. After almost 2 1/2 hrs partial walk and partial horse ride, we reached in relatively plain land and WOW, in seconds gone all our anxieties and exhaustions. What a beautiful place it was with snow-capped mountains surrounding the lush green valley and a river flowing by the valley. Trust me, after Pangong Lake, this one is the best place I have ever visited in India. We chilled in the riverside for 1 hr, had our lunch, and headed towards Tuliyan Lake. Our guide already warned us how difficult will it be as this year it snowed a lot more than usual. To cross Tulian Lake we had to trek 1 km trail cutting 1–4 ft snow. I could not take the risk to take my son and wife hence left them at the base point and started walking with our guide towards the lake. We could see the mountains where we need to climb and the lake will appear on the other side of the mountain. The more we proceed the rocks, and grasses started disappearing, and the entire place was covered with snow, we tried to navigate through, but at places our legs was getting 1 ft into snow, fell 2–3 times, hurt ourselves but we kept walking. We walked almost 1 hr and covered only 500 meters, I was checking watch constantly as we had to get down as well on time. But, I was determined to achieve the feet hence we kept walking, it was 3 PM when we reached to a place, where the lake was only 200 meters away, my guides stepped towards the lake and he dipped in the snow by 4 ft. We were scared but indomitable, we tried few steps more but the terrain becoming more and more difficult to cross. By the time, It was past 3 PM and we realized we have to be back. If I reach lake at 4 PM, it will be 2 hrs to be back at valley means 6 PM then 3 hrs trek down to Pahalgam. It would be too much risk with my son and wife. Disheartened, me and my guide decided to go back. Although I couldn’t make it to the lake, I would never be able to forget the journey full of excitement and adventure, a journey I always dreamt of. While back, my wife and son’s smiling, welcoming faces made me feel I took the right decision to be back. Finally, we reached Pahalgam around 7:30 and en-route stopped over Baisaran which is another stunning place to enjoy with family.
On the Day 4 morning, we left this beautiful city of Pahalgam for the city of lakes, Srinagar. Last time when we were in Srinagar, we stayed in a houseboat in Nigeen Lake hence preferred to stay in Dal this time. The positives of Dal Lake is obviously the Dal Gate/ boulevard road and the Shikara ride during sunset but if you want peace and serenity, it’s Nigeen that won our heart more.
Post lunch on Day 4, we visited Mughal Gardens, not much to mention but we liked Pari Mahal as it was less crowded and the view from the Top was beautiful.
Our second last day ( Day 5 ) was kept for a newly formed destination, Doodhpathri. Well, it’s new but not that new to keep the crowd away. So after reaching Doodhpathri which is 2 hrs drive from Dal Gate, we took horses to ascent to the top of the mountain called Diskhal Meadows. En route, we covered a beautiful river called Shaliganga. The hiking path to Diskhal is pretty adventurous with 45 degrees steep at places with deadly cliffs. Better to get down from the Horse and walk in patches where you will feel uncomfortable. View from Diskhal Meadow top is another out-of-the-world experience. You will get a 360-degree view of snow-capped mountains, with one side the mountains in the stone-throwing distance, and another side the Pirpanjal range, A sight to behold. We spent 30/45 mins there before coming back to downhill. While coming we trekked by foot. Finally when we came back it Sun was about to set. We reached Srinagar around 7:45 PM and spend that evening walking the boulevard road enjoying the beautiful dusk around dal lake. We had dinner at a Punjabi restaurant opposite to Gate 6. Highly recommended.
As it happens every time, the worst day of the tour is the final day but as usual, we started planning for the next tour with our friends by the end of the year. To conclude, Kashmir is heaven in its true sense and you need to visit Kashmir at least 3 times to enjoy it in different seasons and different places. I hope I can write the third installment of the Kashmir trip with new colors and new adventures. Till that time, take care of your health and mind. Cheers !!
