“Mumbai ka
fashion aur Kashmir ka mausam kabhi bhi badal sakta hai”- Kashmiri jargon
From
the time I remember, visiting Kashmir always topped my list. Had dreamt and
planned the trip so many times. And finally last year i.e. in November 2013, I
visited my favourite destination in India with my family.
People
rarely plan a trip to Kashmir in winter season, but we did. And I already knew that
the journey is going to be exciting. Even before reaching the destination the
Pilot announced to have a look on the left side. I did it and could see rows of
snow clad mountains, and I realised that I am going to visit a place rightly
known as ‘Heaven on earth’.
By
the time we reached, it was lunch time so the first thing we did was feasting
on the lavish ‘Wazwan’- it’s a traditional Kashmiri wedding thali. It’s more than a year but I still crave for
it. After that we headed towards our houseboat at Dal lake. Our house boat was
named xyz Palace (I do not remember the exact name), and the experience was
indeed royal. Visiting floating market
or the vendors making a trip to our houseboat after sunset, it was sheer fun.
Then
we moved to Pahalgam, one more town with snow filled mountains but what
fascinated me most is the Kalahoil Glacier. The mountains on the east were
completely clean with no snow while on the other side were completely covered
by snow. We reached the Glacier via cable cars and on the way saw houses built
by the nomads. I was experiencing almost all the things which I had only read or
heard off. Dreams surely do come true.
Gulmarg
was no different. Gulmarg means path of roses, being winter season I saw not even
a single rose over there. Sigh! One of my motives of going to Kashmir was to be
around roses. But in exchange what I saw were horses, monkeys and some
beautiful and unknown birds.
Now,
it was time to thank lord for this so we went to Katra. Earlier we were
informed that our helicopter tickets are confirmed, but then we get to know
they aren’t. Till last minute we tried to get the tickets but guess Mata
Vaishnodevi wanted us to take little efforts to reach her. For six hours we
walked on and on taking many small breaks in between. And believe me all the
hardwork paid off. While coming back we decided to hire horses. They brought us
back to Katra in exactly two hours and I was dumbstruck. How can their masters
walk so fast? But guess that’s their job. Funny thing about this place is that
all the joints, restaurants are named Vaishno ka Dhaba. (Ok, not all but most
of them.) It is supposed to be a town which strictly serves vegetarian food and
no alcohol. The only thing which disappointed me was Kashmir being such a sensitive
area, the checking by the military was too loose.
After
Kashmir we visited Amritsar, but right now I just want to focus on Kashmir. Few
more things to know about this wonderful location-
If
you are planning to visit a trip to Kashmir you have to have a good budget. The
locals have planned a good way to provide employment to each other indirectly
creating a hole in your pocket. And if you are planning during summers, you
will have to shell out four times more than what we did during our winter
visit.
Shopping- Though we visited in the winter season,
we all were in pink of health. Do carry some warm clothes with you, and after
visiting you can buy more. You get good variety and after bargaining well you
can get the sweaters and jackets at reasonable prices. One cannot miss on
buying Kashmiri dress materials and sarees. While on Shikara too many vendors
will come to sell their stuff, you can buy some accessories from them. To buy
saffron and dry fruits visit a good shop, or even the farmers who grow saffron own
their shops. The quality of the dry fruits and saffron is pretty good and the prices
are also comparatively pocket-friendly.
For
cricket lovers and kids, one can buy willow bats which are manufactured here at
a larger scale.
Food – The first thing we did after
visiting this location was to hog on Wazwan. So, just by mentioning this you
must have visualised how appetising the food is. Even when it comes to food, this
place is a heaven. If you are a non-vegetarian, then your taste buds are surely
going get a great treat. Do try Wazwan, one is enough for four to five people.
It’s a completely non-vegetarian dish. I had it at Mughal Durbar, near airport.
Do not risk to miss this. For vegetarians,
try Kashmiri Dum Aloo. On the way while travelling you can buy some fresh
fruits like apple and peach.
One
common thing I observed is, the food was indeed good at taste, pretty
reasonable and even the portions were quite big.
Accommodation - We stayed at the best hotels
in Kashmir. And I feel we made a good decision. It was winter season; the
temperature at night use to drop to one digit or even to zero degree Celsius
and the hotels provided us with the best service possible.
Though
I visited a cold location, the locals were extremely warm and the surrounding
was truly beautiful. I plan to visit this heaven once again; maybe next time
will make a visit during summer.
Till
then, Happy Journey J
