Agar zameen pe kahi jannat hai to yahi hai, yahi hai, yahin hai.....emperor JAHANGIR used these words to describe his feelings about Kashmir. I myself had the same feelings when I visited Kashmir for 5 days with my father from 30th August to 3rd September.Before I go further let me share my itinerary :
- Booked air tickets via yatra.com( they don't accept foreign cards)
- Booked the houseboat Young Bombay via booking.com
Day1 : Boarded Indigo morning flight from Delhi and arrived at Sheikh-ul-Aalam airport,Srinagar. Well received by the houseboat owner mr. Noor mohammad and directly driven to gate no. 9,Dal lake. There Mr. mohammad dropped the luggage and himself and asked us to continue for local sight seeing trip.He took our luggage to houseboat.We saw the
- Sankrasharya mandir ( Lord Shiva mandir , 300 mt above sea level )
- Pari Mahal ( laid out by Dara Shiko)
- Shalimar Gardens( laid out by Jehangir )
- Nishat Bagh
- Chashma Shah ( laid out by Shah Jehan)
and finished the day by evening tea at Zabarvan park(where we saw the hot air balloon) and live kashmiri music. Music was so enchanting that it captivated our heart for the whole life.
In evening taxi dropped us at the gate no. 9 , from there we took free shikara service to go to our houseboat -Young Bombay. At the houseboat we were formally welcomed by the house boat owner and his son and staff of houseboat.We tasted welcome drink- Kahwa(first time in life) and had general chit-chat about kashmir and houseboat life.
We ordered the Non-veg dinner and took some rest in the meantime in our room. Room was well maintained. Cleanness of bathroom took our attention as well.Bathroom had warm water facility,towels,toilet paper etc
After Dinner we stayed on outside terrace for a while to enjoy the night at dal lake. In the meantime we saw a barbecue shikara coming to our houseboat. Though we were full but just for taste, we ordered mutton and chicken kababs, It was delicious and unique experience in itself and stylist way to say - Good Night.
Day2 : In Morning , we had light breakfast-milk,omlate,toasts and poha( which was part of our houseboat package) and started for the Pahalgaon with our Taxi. On the way we saw Saffron fields and Avantipur Bat factory. I stopped at one point and enjoyed the white water rafting in Lidder river. Once w e reached the Pahalgam, we had to drop our taxi there and took another taxi for Betab valley and Aru Valley trip.
Day3 : After breakfast we again departed for full day excursion to the Sonmarg via Leh road Journey was beautiful as we enjoyed dense woodlands of firs and silver birches. Same as other parts our Taxi was allowed/(kindly forced) to drop at main Sonamarg and from there onwards we had 3 options :
- Walk up to Thajiwass
- Hire another taxi for 2-3 local places
- Hire ponies
I could have taken ponies but as my dad was bit reluctant to try it so we hired the taxi again. Here I want to say that local taxi guys have a syndicate and always try to exploit the tourists.Government rates are so different then waht they charge for.We hired the taxi in 3000 INR for 2-3 places( places were located in area of 15-km).
Thajiwass Glacier is the biggest attraction ( for somebody who has not seen it earlier) but fact is thatreal glacier is too far to go by taxis or ponies( forget walking to it) so these guys just fool you around.
- Walk up to Thajiwass
- Hire another taxi for 2-3 local places
- Hire ponies
I could have taken ponies but as my dad was bit reluctant to try it so we hired the taxi again. Here I want to say that local taxi guys have a syndicate and always try to exploit the tourists.Government rates are so different then waht they charge for.We hired the taxi in 3000 INR for 2-3 places( places were located in area of 15-km).
Thajiwass Glacier is the biggest attraction ( for somebody who has not seen it earlier) but fact is thatreal glacier is too far to go by taxis or ponies( forget walking to it) so these guys just fool you around.
Day4 : Gulmarg trip
Day5 : Local sightseeing and shopping
