Continued from Kashmir: Srinagar, Sonamarg
Gulmarg
Stay
The stay was at Heevan Retreat, which was walking distance from the gondola. There are places closer to town, but since the gondola was our only plan here, we chose this. The rooms were comfortable though I felt a bit sad for the staff who had to lug the suitcase across a maze of staircases! Their restaurant food and service is quite good.
See/Do
In the evening we set off for a little walk, primarily to scout the location for the next day’s adventure – the Gulmarg Gondola. That’s the building where it all begins.
As with Sonamarg, there will be a bunch of people selling rides to the multiple things-to-see, so you won’t have any difficulty in case that interests you. But if you walk away from all of that, there are some peaceful corners.
The Gondola ride is quite an event. The tickets need to be booked online (though I think agents might do that for you as well) and you’ve to keep track of when it will open for your specific dates. Start watching at least two months before your dates. Since you’re going there you might as well see both Phase 1 and Phase 2. Separate tickets, so buy both. Don’t worry about the timings much, if you have a ticket for each, that doesn’t really matter. We had 1.30-3.30 for Phase 1 and Phase 2 from 9AM – 1PM.
The internet warned us to be there at least by 8.30 if we wanted to use the 9AM slot so that’s when we got there. As with most things India, we stood in the queue for 1.5 hrs (opening time was delayed by an hour). While you’re in the queue, different sellers will tell you that your jacket/gloves/socks aren’t enough. We had three layers – thermal, tee, and jacket. And in terms of bottom wear, I found a jeans to be sufficient. We carried gloves but didn’t feel the need to use them. Gum boots, which you will need to rent from outside the gate before standing in the queue, are only necessary if you plan to wade into the snow. Our all-terrain Columbia shoes were just fine for our needs.
When the doors opened, touts tried to get their clients in and there was the usual noise. Once you pass the door, the queue snakes until you reach the checking counter. Pro tip: if you want to use the loo, do that soon as you get in, be warned that when you try to get back into the line, there will be protests. Ignore.
The ride to Phase 1 is about 10-15 minutes assuming the power doesn’t go off. More on that in a bit. The view is picturesque. The glasses are scratched af, so maybe just enjoy the view.
At Phase 1, you can either stay or continue to Phase 2 – another queue. There is a loo here too, and a restaurant as well. As you can see, this is crowded, and you have different experiences to choose from if you’re so inclined. We went straight for the Phase 2 queue, which moves slower because the number of gondolas are lesser. As we stood in the line, the gondolas stopped for about 5 mins before they switched on the power backup.
The ride to Phase 2 is steeper, slightly longer, and far prettier. It is at a higher altitude, which means lesser oxygen. If you have some related ailment, including cardiovascular, plan around 30 mins here. It is less crowded, but touts still abound. The view is easily better than Phase 1.
Yes, there’s pizza. ‘Highest’, I am not sure.
Our ride back was adventurous. We were stuck mid-air between Phase 2 and Phase 1 for about 30 minutes. Our company was two pairs of Punjabi uncles and aunties, who kept up a constant commentary on Indian tourism (vs Canada). One of them also proceeded to call up someone in the tourism ministry. Ironically, thanks to the sun beating down directly and the ventilation being poor, it got hot inside the gondola. Thanks to the ordeal, we skipped Phase 1 and took the ride back to terra firma. Our gondola from Phase 1 stopped midway too, but only for 5 minutes. In later conversations, it turned out this was a regular occurrence.
After a quick lunch, we got out and on the way down to Gulmarg, stopped at the Habba Khatoon viewpoint.
Pahalgam
We stayed at The Chinar for a couple of nights. This is reasonably away from everything, which is what we wanted. But there are other options nearer to town, as well as resorts within walking distance from each other. The restaurant buffet was not bad at all, so we didn’t really miss anything.
The panorama pic doesn’t do the view justice. But it was fantastic and we spend hours just looking at it from the balcony.
The hotel grounds were pretty too, and D did her morning walk ritual to capture some beautiful shots.
See/Do
Baisaran Valley is on the list of must-do. Thing is, you can only do this by pony. And depending on the spots you want to see, the rates can go from Rs. 1800-4500 per person. The ride one way is close to an hour. The ponies love to walk near the edge to troll you! And if the snow has melted, be ready for mud baths courtesy the pony in front of you!
And this is what you get to see. One of the many mini-Switzerlands in this part of the world.
The other regular itinerary here is called ABC – Aru, Betaab, and Chandanwari. We chose to see only the second, thanks to D’s Sunny Deol fandom. 😉 This is just 30 minutes from town, and a great place to simply walk around and enjoy the vista.
Around Pahalgam is also the best place to get your lil DDLJ moment. 🙂
Our trip back was also adventurous. Though we were well in time for the flight, thanks to everyone scaring us to expect at least 3 hours for security checks (we got lucky and it got over fast), that itself was delayed by several hours. We had to catch the connecting flight from Delhi and that meant light cardio happened as we ran to the gate, not helped at all by a young, lackadaisical person from Air India.
Our Kashmir trip was 7D/6N and cost us a little less than 2L, mostly thanks to the stay. The itinerary was Srinagar – Sonamarg – Gulmarg – Pahalgam (2N) – Srinagar. The drive between these places is between 3.5-4.5 hours. Also, at all these places, you’ll need to hire local drivers for the local sightseeing, as they have unions.
A good idea to really hunt for a sensible driver. Ours wasn’t and couldn’t even suggest clean restaurants with loos. If your driver is useless, a good idea would be to do everything at hotels/resorts and avoid breaks for this. Also, when you pick restaurants, don’t always go by Google ratings, check as many photos as possible. A classic example is The OTR in Pahalgam! Has a 4.6, but I am now trying to banish that memory!
A few days after we finished our Kashmir vacation, the friend I mentioned in the previous post started his travel business. If you’re planning a trip, do check it out. The idiot showed me those lovely properties after I completed the trip. With friends like these… 😂