Dhanya Damodaran

Feb 22, 20205 min read

The Paradise On Earth...Kashmir

Updated: Jul 25, 2020

Visited in March 2014

Khush Aamdeed!!

Is Duniya Main Agar Jannat Hain...To Bas Yahin Hain...Yahin Hain...Yahin Hain...

Yes this is so true about Kashmir - If at all there is a Paradise on Earth, then it is here in Kashmir!

I have grown up watching the Bollywood movies in which several songs were shot in the beautiful valleys of Kashmir; maybe that triggered the urge to visit this place. Both my hubby and I were keen that our parents also get to visit the crown of India. We received concerns from some of our friends on our decision to visit Kashmir considering the security aspects, but believe me, the place was superbly calm and quiet. The sight of Indian soldiers will make us feel more relaxed and comfortable while our stay here.

Our trip was planned for a week, we travelled from Dubai to Delhi, our parents from Cochin to Delhi and then we all flew to Srinagar. We booked our stay in Srinagar in a house boat in Nigeen Lake and hired a taxi through the houseboat owner for the entire trip.

Dal Lake is the most famous one in Srinagar, however it is crowded and touristy, so we chose the serenity and peace of Nigeen Lake and it was completely worth it.

A view from the Nigeen Lake

Here is our itinerary

1) Srinagar

2) Sonmarg

3) Gulmarg

4) Pahalgam

We were received at the airport by the staff of the houseboat we had booked and he drove us to the Nigeen Lake. We were taken to the houseboat in a smaller boat, which is called Shikara - colourful and decorated boats in Kashmir. As we ride the Shikara, we start to see the array of house boats docked at the other side of the lake, one of which will be our home for next two days; how exciting!

We checked in and got ready for the Shikara ride to Dal Lake in the evening. It was mid March and very cold in the evening. The house boat had woolen blankets and we had to use those on top of our thick jackets. How do I explain the experience of the Shikara ride through those waters of the Himalayan lake! It was heavenly...that's it!

We dressed up in Kashmiri attires and clicked photos during the Shikara ride. During Spring and Summer, the lake gets filled with lotus flowers and I have seen the photos of Dal lake all in pink with flowers. We couldn't get that view as it was still not the time to bloom.

There are numerous house boats some of which are for tourists to stay and some are restaurants and handicrafts and souvenir shops,all around the lake. We can see the houses of locals their small farmstead with animals and poultry during the ride. We stopped to have a look at those and sipped a hot cup of tea and snacks which really helped in the chilly evening! We rode back to the houseboat soaked us under the warmth of the blankets, had hot and tasty dinner in the boat and slept well for our exciting trip in the following days.

The next day was a long drive to Sonmarg - The Meadow of Gold!

Enroute, we stopped by to absorb the beauty of River Sindhu (Indus). The big round pebbles all around its banks gave splendid views of the river and then we reached Sonmarg. The landscape changed from lush green fields and meadows to snow capped mountains.

Snow!!! We had experienced snow in many countries by now, but for our parents it was their first in life... In Kerala, we have only Summer and Monsoon; snow is only in pictures and dreams :) We were so excited to see the reactions from our parents on their first snow encounter.

A horse ride to the meadows of Sonmarg - we enjoyed the games in the snow. It was thick white everywhere with pine trees in green alongside the flowing streams with crystal clear water.

The captivating views from Sonmarg

I woke up pretty early next day morning to get those priceless views of the sunrise in Nigeen lake and the below is what I got in return; what a morning bliss to enjoy!

Day 3 was to explore Srinagar -Hazratbal Dargah, Mughal Gardens - Shalimar Bagh, Nishat Bagh, Chashme Shahi, Pari Mahal and Sri Shankaracharya Temple

Hazratbal Dargah is located on the banks of Dal Lake and is the shrine to a Muslim Saint. We can see Chinar trees all around this shrine. We visited the dargah and offered our prayers and walked around to enjoy the morning weather.

There are many gardens in Srinagar

Shalimar Bagh built by Jahangir for his beloved wife Nur Jahan

Chashme Shahi

Nishat Garden

All of these are exotic with beautiful flowers and fountains.

Then we visited Pari Mahal , a garden located on the top of Zabarwan hill overlooking Dal Lake and then the Sri Sankaracharya Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva

The next day, we checked out from our houseboat and travelled to Gulmarg - The Meadow of Flowers. It was a snowy day at Gulmarg; our first ever experience of live snowfall; It was superbly cold and freezing, we strolled in the snow to enjoy that kind of a day in life and is fresh in my memories and finally got back to our hotel for some warmth under the woolen blankets :)

Beautiful view of Gulmarg

We visited the Gulmarg Gondola the cable car and experience snowy ride on it. It was so much of snow and mist that the visibility was hardly 10 m.

The expedition in snow! Let me keep quiet and the photos will speak for themselves. We gave a try to snow skiing and after several attempts made it for a few metres, made our snowman in Gulmarg next to our snow packed hotel; you can see all that below :)

The next day, we drove to Pahalgam enroute visited the ruins of Avantiswami temple. This was a Vaishnava temple built on the banks of River Jhelum by King Avantivarman, located in Pulwama district.

Kashmir is famous for its saffron and cricket bats made of willow. We could see vast fields of saffron and willow bat industries on our way to Pahalgam. Saffron is so cheap here as it is homegrown.

We visited a Hindu temple and Gurudwara on our way to Pahalgam

In Pahalgam, we visited Aru Valley, Betab Valley and Chandanwari. These are exotic locations with pine trees and meadows and lush green and picturesque in Spring and Summer. Since we were here in Winter, we could see a lot of snow all around. Betab valley got this name after the Sunny Deol movie 'Betab' which was shot here. River Lidder is seen around all along the drive in Pahalgam.

We need to hire jeep to drive to some of these locations. These places indeed remind us of Switzerland with its extremely beautiful landscape. We sincerely felt, the place lacked enough amenities for tourists like clean restrooms and good restaurants when we visited. Hope things will change over time and Kashmir will offer all the facilities tourists are looking for.

This was our stunning trip to Kashmir. It was such a heavenly experience. I would love to visit here again many more times. Wish list is really long - Jammu for Vishno Devi, Leh & Ladakh, Kashmir in Spring for Tulip Garden and Autumn to experience the charm of the falls...

Our family moments in Kashmir