Of Paradise — Of Kashmir (Part 2)

The next morning, as per the plan we left for Gulmarg, perhaps the most popular winter sports destination in Kashmir and one of the most popular destinations in India. The snow-clad mountains of inner Himalayas welcomed us - it's an impressive sight.

Even though it was off-season, Gulmarg was pretty much crowded - Amongst all the other places we visited in Kashmir, we found Gulmarg to be most commercialized and most expensive. It hosts an array of activities like Gondola ride, skiing, sledding(sledge-riding), snow-biking, snowboarding, heli-skiing, etc. 

We took the Gondola ride - there are two stages: During summer, as snow wouldn't be easily visible, people go to the second stage. As we went in peak winter, that was not necessary. Hence, we settled for the first stage. For all the snow-activities, you'd need special jackets, boots, etc. which we had taken well before on rent. 

Trying Skiing

We went skiing for some time. I realized it's not as easy as it seems. It takes a while even to adjust to the skiing boots to go a few feets forward. After skiing, we went for sledding - where you sit behind the man in control of the small vehicle called 'sled'. This is for climbing down from the mountain and it is seemingly a little dangerous. At least two of us had a few small injuries but the experience when you climb down is totally worth it. Adrenaline rush guaranteed. 

The next two main destinations remaining were Pahalgam and Katra. It would take just over 4 hours by road from Gulmarg to reach Pahalgam. On the way, we had to pass by Anantnag district. There's the famed Martand Mattan temple dedicated to Sun. It is one among the many temples destroyed by Islamic iconoclast Sikandar Butshikan. What we get to see now is not the original temple but not-so-great reconstruction and ruins.

The entrance of the temple

A lot of CRPF personnel deployed for security

Kashmir was once the center of high learning where refined philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism originated, which gave birth to a polymath like Abhinava Gupta, scholars like Kalhana. But the state in which Kashmir is now is a sad tale.  

That was a digression. In the next and concluding part, we'll visit Pahalgam and then travel to Jammu.