Of Paradise — Of Kashmir (Conclusion)

The journey to Pahalgam from Gulmarg is about four hours by road. One of the main stops was the one we gave in Anantnag as described in the previous post. There was one more we gave where we visited a store that sold authentic Kashmiri spices, Kesar, etc. and another store which sold the famed Kashmiri Shawls, Pashmina (authentic pashmina shawls are too expensive). 

We had our traditional 'kahwah' for the second or third time - it was prepared in 'Samovar'. Kahwah has more than ten ingredients like almonds, walnuts, saffron, cinnamon, etc.

Samovar

Kahwah

In Anantnag, our driver was conversing with some of the locals and they said that due to the increased snowfall, the vehicle movements were restricted — which meant the to and fro traffic between Kashmir and Jammu will be on alternate days. If this were true, it would definitely disturb our schedule. While the thrill-seeker in me was definitely happy that finally there was some action, I was also worried we may have to miss seeing some places.

Pahalgam was not so famous a few decades ago but of late it has acquired the attention it truly deserved. It's the starting point of the famous Amarnath Yatra. It's one of the most quaint places I've ever seen — untainted, unblemished, raw beauty. It was definitely the highlight of the entire trip.

We met a few shepherds the next morning and talked of the package details.  There are some 6-7 points of interests and two points are not possible to cover in this season of the year because of the deep snow which can be up to 10-12 feet. We were told these points couldn't be covered by ourselves and we had to take ponies. I wondered why — when I had the first glimpse of the terrain we were supposed to cover, it all made sense. 

At a point called mini-Switzerland

To say the terrain was very tough is to belittle the real danger it beholds. The ponies do a great job in a narrow, tough and slippery ground — as one wrong step on a good altitude like this can be really fatal. Your life hinges on the four hooves of a galloping beast — that is indeed intimidating and thrilling at the same time.

Most of the points looked they were straight from some fairy tale; A few of them were touted to be akin to Switzerland — not an unfair comparison at all. It's picturesque, bewitchingly charming. The beauty of Pahalgam is hard to encapsulate in words — it takes your breath away, both metaphorically and literally — it casts a strong spell on you and will take a long time to come out of it - better, you don't want to come out of it. It has to be in your must-see list when you visit Kashmir. It is totally worth it. 

Snowfall in front of our hotel

The next morning we caught the first glimpse of the snowfall and we were ecstatic but the happiness was short-lived as we were told the roadways were all blocked between Kashmir and Jammu due to severe snowfall and the only way available for us was to fly from Srinagar to Jammu. We had to book flights fast; we did book for the next morning for a premium price as there was no way out. 

We left the same day to Srinagar (we were supposed to travel to Katra per original schedule). The travel agents didn't help us in any way for the alternative arrangement. We had to look for the new hotel in Srinagar. Our driver helped us with this — we got a good hotel for a decent price. Since this was near his place, he insisted that we came to his home and had food. We couldn't refuse and we did oblige. 

Our driver cum manager, Ghulam Nabi

Ghulam Nabi's home was on a street not much far from the hotel we stayed in. He had two daughters and two sons. One of the daughters was a chatterbox and really kept us hooked and entertained by her animated talks describing her family and life in general in Srinagar. His son also engaged us with a lot of humor and wit; he had a pro-Pakistani bent and it became apparent after a while. The father and daughter's opinion, in contrast, was neutral. The talks covered life in general, politics, history, the exodus of pandits, etc. Considering there were two ladies in the group, I had decided from the beginning of the trip that I would not give out my opinions which I was sure would get us into trouble. So, I basically listened to whatever they had to spell out.

No matter what opinions they had, their hospitality was top-class. Knowing we were all vegetarians, they took the trouble of going to market, getting paneer and cooking for us. They did not let us go and insisted we have dinner too. Their warmth defeated us and we stayed back for dinner as well. They genuinely showed a lot of care, love, and affection toward us which all of us will cherish for a long time. 

The next morning, we left for Jammu from Srinagar as we bid adieu to Ghulam Nabi. The flight was postponed at least thrice due to bad weather and we reached Katra very late in the evening. We had our flight to Bangalore the next day — that left us very little wiggle room for any change in the plan or relaxation. 

Katra was different — "assalam ul alaikum" was replaced by "Jai Mata Di" everywhere. Jai Mata Di seemed like the ubiquitous word permeating all of Katra. Jammu seemed like more densely populated place than Kashmir. Our new driver was an old Punjabi Sardar who loved to listen to new-school Punjabi Hip-hop. He told us if we have to stick to the schedule and also do darshan of Vaishnodevi, we had no option but to skip sleep that night and start climbing the hill that very night itself.

Ponies here were bigger than those available in Pahalgam

The trek to the peak of the hill is about 12k.m. We took ponies to reach the top and decided to get down by walk. It was uphill and our decision to take ponies to climb instead of going by walk was right. It took some 3 odd hours to reach the top and we could do the darshan of Devi at around 3 a.m. peacefully.

The atmosphere throughout the uphill climb was electrifying, to say the least — many people, younger and the older alike were — climbing the hill which seemed effortless, with "Jai Mata Di" on their lips and steadfast devotion for the divine in their hearts. It's almost a wonder how faith and devotion move people. It can make them do the most beautiful of things in the world that make you feel proud to be human and also on the downside, the most horrific of things that make you squirm in disgust that you are one among the appalling species. 

We stuck to our decision of climbing down the hill by walk. The task at hand was arduous and daunting. Increase in pain with each passing step, deprived sleep made the 12k.m walk a formidable one than it already was — it took five odd hours and a lot of patience, energy to complete the walk. At some point in time, I was so tired that I was dozing off even while walking. It took some grit and a dash of determination to breathe a sigh of relief after reaching the foothills. 

The next day, at the Katra airport we learned that due to heavy snowfall, all the flights flying to and from Srinagar were canceled indefinitely. We thanked our stars as we narrowly escaped being stuck in Srinagar for an indefinite time. We flew back with all those memories we would love to treasure for a long time to come. On the whole, Kashmir is a wonderful place to visit - for the romanticists and adventurers alike - it has something for all.