The next morning, its time to say goodbye to our two night pleasant and homely stay of houseboats and we transferred our luggage to hotel, 'Lankar Resort' near Nigeen lake which was already booked by Shahid for us . The hotel gives you a pleasant first impression with the walls furnished by the pictures of famous sightseeing in Srinagar(Dal Lake, Shalimar Bagh, Pari Mahal), the rooms are really comfortable promising enough to give you luxurious stay. There was no time to us to sit and relax in our new stay, so we just put our luggage safely in the rooms with the help of service attendants and started our journey to the beautiful valley, Pahalgam, also known as the meadow of shepherds, this time accompanied by Shahid throughout our way. It is always fun to have a localite with you as your guide, but we had him as our friend, as our family member in the unknown city.
We shared pleasantaries with each other, because of him we got to know about the importance of walnut trees that they are banned to be cut or harmed by any of the means by J& K government until or unless they are dried or fallen by themselves. They treat it as their treasure, their asset as it is used to make many durable articles which uplift the economy of their state. So, one could imagine in a country, where golds and diamonds are considered to be precious, the people in this state felt their treasures in walnuts, deodars and pashminas, how simple and genuine can these people be..!
He showed us apple gardens with the taste of best chucha(tea in kashmiri language).
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| Pooja enjoying amidst apple gardens |
In the way, he told us about how Kashmir had survived the floods last year with the courageous efforts shown by the people there, how they helped each other in recovering from the natural tragedy which came like a haunting monster to them all of a sudden. The relief camps done by them to serve their own people in the most disastrous situation they had ever faced, the first two struggling days when not even army or local police helped them, its their ability, their courage, their passion to live, their love, their care, their strength gave them hand in hand to protect their people and their tourists. I could still feel the glory of protecting his people with some pain in his eyes of being witnessed that heartbreaking situation still with a satisfaction that he did his best efforts to save his people, his state. I could realise that that must be the most toughest time for the people of Kashmir to see themselves flooded everywhere, the flood might washed away their homes, their money but not the richness in their hearts. It is this richness that makes them able to stand again boldly enough on their feets with pride. I must say, the people there doesn't need the sympathy of others, they only need your extreme faith on their state and them to grow and build themselves.
We brought towards Sangam on our way to the valley where the river Lidderwat confluences with the glaciers of Sheshnag Lake from Himalayas.
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| Confluence of two rivers known as Sangam |
Finally, we reached to the beautiful green valley of shepherds, Pahalgam. It is famous for its horse riding, here one could observe the 'Mini Switzerland'. It is filled with luscious evergreen trees covering the entire valley. We hired seven horses there for the popular sightseeing like Waterfall, Kahmir Valley, Baisaran, Dubian and Pahalgam Valley recommended by Shahid to us. They charged 1600 INR for each horse though the applicable government rates were different. As we started to ride, we were mesmerised by the magical greenery of the valley, the tallest trees, the natural plantations as long as your sight falls was something your eyes longed desperately to see in the plains where we live.
Our first stopping point was waterfall, the crystal clear beauty it was, we relaxed there for sometime, but unfortunately my aunt was not feeling comfortable so she had to go down the valley with Shilpa with a heavy heart where I asked Shahid to take care of them which he did very nicely and I was really thankful to him from the bottom of my heart for it because of him we were relaxed somewhere inside that they were safe down.
The next we saw Kashmir valley, from where the entire view of Kashmir can be seen, must say at that time you will feel like you are at top of the world, there's nothing more beautiful than that.
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| Trying to hug entire kashmir with my small hands... |
The next stoppage is our much awaiting 'Mini Switzerland' also known as Baisaran, though it was not covered with ice as Switzerland supposed to be in our dreams, as we got a little early to visit the place, but it still seems astonishingly beautiful and eye catching. The locals got you to pose with their sweet and cute sheeps and rabbits. One can enjoy adventure like Zorbing at a cost of Rs 150 per head there which makes you look your world upside down at same time. We got a chance to experience that wonderful moments also.
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| A view of Mini Switzerland |
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| Getting ready for Zorbing |
On the way back, Shahid took us to the famous kahwa shop, though the kashmiri delight is kahwa, but the taste of it changes with every few kilometres and undoubtedly, that is the best kahwa I had tasted in Kashmir. The name of that place is Zamindari Kesri Kings in Pampore located at few distance from Pahalgam. Pampore is famous for its plantations of saffron and Zamindari Kesri Kings is doing its best job to deliver the purest of its species, one can get any dry fruit from there in its purest and amazingly form.
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| Plantations of Saffron |
So, late in night we reached the hotel back and we were quite amazed with the most delicious dinner ordered by Shahid for us, the masaledaar bhindi, the zaykedaar paneer still watering my mouth while writing this. We scrounged on the food, let our stomachs full, relaxed in our rooms for Amarnath Darshan next day.
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