Time of Visit - May,2014
Duration - 10 days
Direct Flight from Mumbai - Indigo
First Stop - Sri Nagar
Accommodation:
1) Lalit - Beautiful Property. Delicious Food Spread.
2) Taj Vivanta.
3) House boat - Dal Lake - Sukoon House Boat - superfluously luxurious
Places to see:
1) Gardens - Shalimar, Nishat, Badamwari, Tulip garden, Chashmeshaheen, Pari Mahal, Mughal Garden.
(Too many gardens. Very well constructed architecturally. However it is just a lot to see in one day.)
2) Shankaracharya Temple and Kir Bhawani Temple.
3) Kokernag, Verinag and Achebal. You must go to Verinag. There is a cold spring water lagoon with fishes. It is beautiful. Kokernag and Achebal should be skipped.
4) You could go visit Yous marg. I missed it. It is supposed to be really pretty.
5) Take a Shikara ride. Do not shop at the floating market. It is super expensive.
Shopping
Dal Gate Market - Hayat Store for Dry Fruits and Kesar, Lal Chowk, Residency Road
Buy saffron from the kesar farms. Good quality saffron. A word of advice to follow is that have it must be packed in front of you. Do not buy the prepacked kesar.We bought it from Dilkash Kesar farms.
Buy Woolen Coats, Silk Coats, kashmiri kurtis, salwar sets, cushion covers, paper marche artifacts, pathanis, nehru jacket, dry fruits.
Pahalgam
Accommodation - Senator Pine and Peak Resorts. It has been taken over by the Fortune Group and they are in the process of renovating the rooms. The drawback being that it did not have a swimming pool and the food served was below average. However on the good side, it is higher up on the hill so the view is awesome. They have a huge property and the rooms are spacious.
But I would still recommend one to stay at the Pahalgam Hotel. It is in the market area, - Log Inn Cafe Food is sumptuous. We have eaten all our meals there.The chef is incredible. They have continental food with amazingly mouth watering desserts. I have no idea about the rooms and service but a lot of people did recommend it to me, so you must definitely go there and try booking it in advance as it gets sold out.
Shopping - More expensive than srinagar so would recommend one to shop only at srinagar.
Things to do:
1)Take a pony ride upto Bysairan. It is a massive green meadow. It reminds you of the scene in the movie Twilight where Edward takes Bella to a meadow for the first time and she sees his body glow in the sun.
The Kashmiris call it 'mini switzerland' and the only way to reach there is via pony or you could hike it.
Cost - 1000rs
There is a cafe up there so there is no need to carry food.
2) Book a car. The hotel will provide you with the rates.
Places to Visit:
a) Betaab Valley - where the movie Betaab was shot.
b) Chanderwari - Watch the water flowing down from the mountains. When we visited the place, the snow had not completely melted, so our visual was of that of snow melting into a water stream.
c) Aru Valley - Try going early. The drive is scenic but it is going to be a bumpy ride. Roads are not good. But Aru Valley was my favorite. There is a pony ride there also. So, if you have to do the whole tour it could take you another 3 hours again. When we reached there, it was raining, so I maybe biased towards Aru Valley because everything seemed so fresh and green.
3) Visit the Deer Park. It is a natural zoo with 2 leopards, 2 bears and deers. Luckily, we were allowed to pet the bear!! She was like this cute bundle of fur.
On the way to Pahalgam we stopped at this green tunnel dhaba - really really good dhaba food!!
Sonmarg:
Sonmarg literally translates to the path of gold. This reference comes from the fact that the refraction of the sun rays falling on the snow mountains give it an illusion of gold.
Accommodation - Rah Villas.
It is in the outskirts, but the food and the rooms are nice.
Another recommendation would be Snow Land - It is the hub for all the activities, hence making it a very crowded and noisy place. However, it is situated right at the periphery of the snow mountains.
Places to visit-
The Son Marg mountains - 0 degree - we couldn't do it as it had snowed heavily this year, so it wasn't clear to go right up till the glacier.
Things to do - Sledge ride.
When the snow melts, you need to take a pony ride all the way up to the top to view the glacier.
Things available at the top - maggi, tea, biscuits, wafers, water, and the like of general provisions.
Gulmarg
Accommodation - You have to stay at the Khyber Hotel, as there is not much to do, other than the hotel.
Things to do - Gondola ride. Go till Phase 2. Its all about the snow and spend as much time in the snow.
Do not get rigged by them selling you the view point of Line Of Control. They cannot show you the LOC, guys!!
At phase 1- there is the snowmobile ride - its super fun!!
Sledge ride, Skiing, Snow cycling, basically all sorts of activities.
You will also get food there- chinese, indian and maggi of course.
Things to do:
1) Church - very pretty small church, jab tak hai jaan was shot in it.
2) Shivjis Temple.
3) Very small market. - could go browsing there.
4) Bakshi Dhabba - It has been recommended by a lot of tourists. I was happy with the food at khyber so didnt try exploring for other food options.
Ski fans, Gulmarg is the place for you to go to, but mostly in the months of January -February.
So, moving from the beauty to the beastly side of Kashmir.
It is surprisingly not unusual to see the army with guns and police on the street every few blocks. Well, that is precisely how Kashmir functions on an everyday basis. There was a curfew when we were visiting and a couple of tourist cars did get hit by stones. But, that is a very typical Kashmir scenario. Well luck embraced us, and we sailed through the trip except for like tiny bits of derailments due to the unexpected tiny uprisings in Kashmir.
I would define Kashmir as the plot of the book Hunger Games. On one side there is the army and the police who play the role of the capitol and on the other side are the common people who are the citizens of the districts. This fight has been going on for over decades and decades. Maybe the book did get it's inspiration from the real life story of Kashmir. However, this is the fight of the people of the valley, so, it is not unsafe to travel for the tourists. Tourists are welcomed with open hearts and treated very well. In fact the locals are very nice towards the tourists. And we did really have a good trip.
However one must take caution, given the erratic conditions of Kashmir.
You will need a car to get around so many places. So, please ensure to get a good driver's number who will show you around well.
Do visit Kashmir for its beauty!! Its splendid!
Duration - 10 days
Direct Flight from Mumbai - Indigo
First Stop - Sri Nagar
Accommodation:
1) Lalit - Beautiful Property. Delicious Food Spread.
2) Taj Vivanta.
3) House boat - Dal Lake - Sukoon House Boat - superfluously luxurious
 |
| The Lalit Landscape |
Places to see:
1) Gardens - Shalimar, Nishat, Badamwari, Tulip garden, Chashmeshaheen, Pari Mahal, Mughal Garden.
 |
| The Infamous Tulip Garden |
2) Shankaracharya Temple and Kir Bhawani Temple.
3) Kokernag, Verinag and Achebal. You must go to Verinag. There is a cold spring water lagoon with fishes. It is beautiful. Kokernag and Achebal should be skipped.
4) You could go visit Yous marg. I missed it. It is supposed to be really pretty.
5) Take a Shikara ride. Do not shop at the floating market. It is super expensive.
 |
| Verinag - Cold Water Lagoon |
Dal Gate Market - Hayat Store for Dry Fruits and Kesar, Lal Chowk, Residency Road
Buy saffron from the kesar farms. Good quality saffron. A word of advice to follow is that have it must be packed in front of you. Do not buy the prepacked kesar.We bought it from Dilkash Kesar farms.
Buy Woolen Coats, Silk Coats, kashmiri kurtis, salwar sets, cushion covers, paper marche artifacts, pathanis, nehru jacket, dry fruits.
 |
| Shop Sheep = Shop Wool |
Pahalgam
Accommodation - Senator Pine and Peak Resorts. It has been taken over by the Fortune Group and they are in the process of renovating the rooms. The drawback being that it did not have a swimming pool and the food served was below average. However on the good side, it is higher up on the hill so the view is awesome. They have a huge property and the rooms are spacious.
But I would still recommend one to stay at the Pahalgam Hotel. It is in the market area, - Log Inn Cafe Food is sumptuous. We have eaten all our meals there.The chef is incredible. They have continental food with amazingly mouth watering desserts. I have no idea about the rooms and service but a lot of people did recommend it to me, so you must definitely go there and try booking it in advance as it gets sold out.
 |
| Log Inn Cafe -Comfort Fur Cafe Seats Pahalgam Hotel |
Shopping - More expensive than srinagar so would recommend one to shop only at srinagar.
Things to do:
1)Take a pony ride upto Bysairan. It is a massive green meadow. It reminds you of the scene in the movie Twilight where Edward takes Bella to a meadow for the first time and she sees his body glow in the sun.
 |
| Bysairan Meadow |
Cost - 1000rs
There is a cafe up there so there is no need to carry food.
2) Book a car. The hotel will provide you with the rates.
Places to Visit:
a) Betaab Valley - where the movie Betaab was shot.
b) Chanderwari - Watch the water flowing down from the mountains. When we visited the place, the snow had not completely melted, so our visual was of that of snow melting into a water stream.
c) Aru Valley - Try going early. The drive is scenic but it is going to be a bumpy ride. Roads are not good. But Aru Valley was my favorite. There is a pony ride there also. So, if you have to do the whole tour it could take you another 3 hours again. When we reached there, it was raining, so I maybe biased towards Aru Valley because everything seemed so fresh and green.
3) Visit the Deer Park. It is a natural zoo with 2 leopards, 2 bears and deers. Luckily, we were allowed to pet the bear!! She was like this cute bundle of fur.
 |
| Fuzzy Wuzzy Bear - yeah, I did pet it!! |
On the way to Pahalgam we stopped at this green tunnel dhaba - really really good dhaba food!!
Sonmarg:
Sonmarg literally translates to the path of gold. This reference comes from the fact that the refraction of the sun rays falling on the snow mountains give it an illusion of gold.
Accommodation - Rah Villas.
It is in the outskirts, but the food and the rooms are nice.
Another recommendation would be Snow Land - It is the hub for all the activities, hence making it a very crowded and noisy place. However, it is situated right at the periphery of the snow mountains.
Places to visit-
The Son Marg mountains - 0 degree - we couldn't do it as it had snowed heavily this year, so it wasn't clear to go right up till the glacier.
Things to do - Sledge ride.
When the snow melts, you need to take a pony ride all the way up to the top to view the glacier.
Things available at the top - maggi, tea, biscuits, wafers, water, and the like of general provisions.
Gulmarg
 |
| Snow Mobile Trek |
Things to do - Gondola ride. Go till Phase 2. Its all about the snow and spend as much time in the snow.
Do not get rigged by them selling you the view point of Line Of Control. They cannot show you the LOC, guys!!
At phase 1- there is the snowmobile ride - its super fun!!
Sledge ride, Skiing, Snow cycling, basically all sorts of activities.
You will also get food there- chinese, indian and maggi of course.
Things to do:
1) Church - very pretty small church, jab tak hai jaan was shot in it.
2) Shivjis Temple.
3) Very small market. - could go browsing there.
4) Bakshi Dhabba - It has been recommended by a lot of tourists. I was happy with the food at khyber so didnt try exploring for other food options.
Ski fans, Gulmarg is the place for you to go to, but mostly in the months of January -February.
 |
| 360 degree rainbow |
So, moving from the beauty to the beastly side of Kashmir.
It is surprisingly not unusual to see the army with guns and police on the street every few blocks. Well, that is precisely how Kashmir functions on an everyday basis. There was a curfew when we were visiting and a couple of tourist cars did get hit by stones. But, that is a very typical Kashmir scenario. Well luck embraced us, and we sailed through the trip except for like tiny bits of derailments due to the unexpected tiny uprisings in Kashmir.
I would define Kashmir as the plot of the book Hunger Games. On one side there is the army and the police who play the role of the capitol and on the other side are the common people who are the citizens of the districts. This fight has been going on for over decades and decades. Maybe the book did get it's inspiration from the real life story of Kashmir. However, this is the fight of the people of the valley, so, it is not unsafe to travel for the tourists. Tourists are welcomed with open hearts and treated very well. In fact the locals are very nice towards the tourists. And we did really have a good trip.
However one must take caution, given the erratic conditions of Kashmir.
You will need a car to get around so many places. So, please ensure to get a good driver's number who will show you around well.
Do visit Kashmir for its beauty!! Its splendid!
