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6000 KM by air, 600 KM by road, 20 KM by walk/climb, 14 KM by chopper, 7 KM on horse-back, 5 KM on boat (shikara), 4 KM by cable-car (gondola), 100 M on snow-board (yeah!!); 2 nights at the base of the Himalayan ranges, one night in a house-boat; pilgrimage & bunch of unplanned activities; jaw-dropping experiences - the security, social activity @ the bhandaras, breathtaking beauty (marhaba!!) of the northern most state; lip-smacking local food; 90 hours - of which 72 were out of n/w coverage - with 3 close buddies. Worth every moment.
Read on, if this interests you....
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It took all of 34 years, 6 months & 10 days to finally set foot on the northern most state - nothing short of being a paradise. A plan that took roots when a friend proposed that we take advantage of his bro-in-law's posting at Srinagar.
What was to be a 6 member team, finally became a 4 member team. 3 of them from Hyderabad and yours truly from Bangalore. From the day we confirmed our booking, there was a unique feeling brewing up, culminating in a never experienced joy once we landed there.
A short but an action packed 4-day trip. Started from BLR/HYD very early in the morning on Thu, 7/28. All the 4 of us caught up at Delhi. Surprisingly amazed by the airport - it's a damn good one. The flight to Srinagar was on time & our time there started after wee hours post lunch that day. There was something in the air that was different - difficult to explain.
The first stop-over was @BSNL office/quarters near the famous Lal Chowk area where jiju works. Had a hot cup of tea before heading off to Balthal - one of the base camp for the Amarnath yathris. The route to Balthal is the highway connecting Srinagar to Kargil & Leh. Beautiful landscape, dotted with exquisite bungalows but manned by heavy security all through. River Sindhu runs through the entire length of the journey. The stunning town of Sonmarg falls on the way & we had a quick stopover there.
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| A hoarding that is self explanatory | The convoy ahead of us |
It was sunset time by the time we reached Balthal. After the routine security checks (yes, as good as at a normal airport), we checked into the huts reserved for us. If it was the heavy-laden security all through that startled us first, it was now the turn of the unparalleled social activity to hit us. The langars/bhandaras that are set up at these base camps are nothing short of any kind of social service that you may have experienced. The hospitality, quality of food, compassion & service is really amazing. The sevaks there did not even give us a chance to clear our plates.
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| Typical bungalow by the highway | View of the base camp |
After relishing the food & kesar milk there, it was turn to apprise back home of the status. No network, so had to rely on the temporary booths setup there to call. In-fact, the whole base camp setup is temporary.
And I don't remember when was the last time I used a booth to make a call. Though our pick up time on the chopper was at 10, we wanted to give it a shot if we could be flown earlier than that. With that in mind, we skipped the maalish (a maalish waala was haunting us throughout) & planned to retire early to bed - I mean 11 PM. We made appropriate arrangements for hot water early next day & the minimal luggage to be carried for the yathra.
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| First view of the snow capped peaks | Mmmehhh |
The next day started at 4:30, with simultaneous alarms ringing & the hot water arriving. We completed the activities and landed up near the helipads (again after thorough security checks) as early as 6AM only to spend almost 4 frustrating hours there before our turn came. In between clicked a lot of photo's of the flying objects, passed innumerable comments (aka having a good time) & found time to relish breakfast at a langar.
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| Choppers | Horses |
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| Palki | Destination |
It was the first experience for all of us in a chopper & I dare say that we enjoyed every bit of those 7 mins and 33 seconds. The areal view of the base camp, the mountains, river & the environ is breathtaking. From the last 2 years, the shrine board is not permitting the choppers till Amarnath. So they all land mid-way at another base camp called Panjtarni - 7 KM away from the shrine. You either walk, engage a pony or a palki to reach the shrine. We decided to walk - in fact we wanted to trek the entire distance of 14 KM from Balthal to Amarnath - which would have taken its toll, had we did it.
The trek was the most amazing part of the entire trip. It was unbelievable that we were walking on such a treacherous terrain & on ice. The scenic beauty around is too beautiful to describe in words - has to be experienced first hand. After almost two and half hours of huffing & puffing, we found ourselves at the foot of the shrine only to find that there are 330+ steps to the cave of 'burfani baba'. Another 30 mins & we were prostrating in front of the invisible God!!
Way back, none of us dare say that we walk back. It was race against time & more importantly race against our lethargic bodies. We had to reach Panjtarni before 4PM to board the return choppers. We engaged ponies to carry us back to Panjtarni. Another worthy experience. It was scary to begin with & got used to it as it progressed. Did not dare to look to the right, down the slope. The horseman cajoled me to 'sell' my trek bag (Quechua one) to him for a loss.
Though we reported back to the Panjtarni helipad by 4, as luck would have it, we could not make it back to Balthal via the choppers. The bookings were full for the day. No amount of fight with the crew helped. We had the choice of 50% fare return, but chose not to avail that. And by the time we inquired of other means (read horse back), it was too late. So we had to stay back at Panjtarni - not in the plans; 2nd straight cold-night. None of us wanted to send any such signals back home & it helped that folks back home did not know of the exact itenary. Had we come back to Balthal, we could have reached Srinagar the same night & checked into a house-boat. Instead we had to look around for a good deal and manage a tent for overnight stay at the Panjtarni base-camp.
The frustration finally gave way to the thought process that 'que sera sera'. Again, relished hot food in the langars & retired early after a bit of gossip (said no to maalish again!!). Early morning we made sure that we get choppered back to Balthal on the first chopper available. Hit the road back to Srinagar as soon as we landed & it was almost 10:30 AM by the time we entered into the water world of Dal lake.
Again, one more first for all of us. The host was very hospitable & knowledgeable of the local do's & dont's. His tips had us in good stead all through. After a hot shower, we had the first bland food in more than 2 days. After the food at the langars, the toast, butter & jam for breakfast on the house boat was really bland. It was time again for the sojourn - this time to Gulmarg. The driver we engaged, Adil, arranged for crispy buns & special salt-tea for us. We were itching to taste the salt-tea & it lived up to the expectations when we finally had it at the base of Gulmarg.
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| Popular public transport | Adil: more of a guide than driver |
Gulmarg is around 60 KM from Srinagar & as usual the drive is fantastic with beautiful landscape. Apart from the flora, another major attraction at Gulmarg is the 'worlds highest Gondola'. We got tickets for the first phase that takes tourists half way up & the ticket counter for the 2nd phase was closed. We persisted (scratched the officer for almost 45 mins) & got the tickets to the 2nd phase. It was worth the persistence, since we almost had a clear glimpse of the LoC, had the chance to snow board & got a glimpse of Gulmarg's beauty from a vantage point.
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| with LoC in the background | snowboard slope |
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| Gulmarg pit-stop | jai jai shiv shankar |
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| view point near Gulmarg - 1 | view point near Gulmarg - 2 |
On the way back, it was time for us to bite into melting buns & sip the famous 'kashmiri kahawa' (flavored tea with dry fruits & saffron). On the highway, we stopped over to sneak into an apple orchard. The first time we ever saw an apple tree. The owner was kind enough to show us around & gave us a few to taste too. Once in Srinagar, we checked out a few shops selling dry fruits but decided against buying any. Decided to have dinner in the town as against the house boat & by the time we hit the shikara & back into the house boat it was 10PM.
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| Kashmiri Kahawa | Crispy Bun |
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| Yes, atop an apple tree!! | Walnut tree |
It was fast dawning upon us that the next day, we need to pack our bags & head back. But there was more in store. The house boat owner arranged for an 'authentic saffron seller' to visit us early morning. And we figured out that the mountain top straight across the lake houses a temple where Adi Sankara had meditated. We decided to go up there, before embarking on a shikara ride on the Dal lake into the floating market. It was a worthy decision & the mountain top gives a birds eye view of entire Srinagar & more importantly a superb top-view of Dal lake. Breakfast was in a vaishno dhaba where we had lip-smacking parathas & maggi!!
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| a view of the house boat | inside the house boat |
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| with the house boat owner | on the banks of the Dal lake |
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some parts of the movie Mission Kashmir
were shot here | house boat where the tele serial Gul Gulshan Gulfaam
was based |
The seller was waiting for us back in the house-boat & we bought a collective 25gms of saffron (expense comparable to gold!!). Then onto the shikara for a unique boating experience. Bought some souvenirs in the floating market & with heavy hearts vacated the house boat for the journey back home.
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| Floating Market | Ariel view of Dal lake |
I'm sure this will be one of the many forthcoming visits to the paradise!!
