Sonamarg Dairy

"If there is a Heaven on earth,

it is here............it is here............it is here"

                              Jahangir.

A paradise on Earth - Beautiful Kashmir

Though a lover of the seas I love to travel the whole world.

A trip to Kashmir has been long due and at last, we finally manage to plan it. Kashmir has always been evaluated to dreamland and heaven on earth.

Going away

so we started for a trip on the 26th of May 2019. So we planned a tour for 3 days that covered Sonamarg, Srinagar, and Gulmarg. The trip started with sightseeing in Kupwara.

The first-day experience was not really what we expect. We reached too late at approximately 9 pm. We met the person who suggests to us where we set up our camping tent.

Home is where you park it.

There are so many experiences big and small throughout this trip that it is difficult to compress all of it within a single post. So I would rather concentrate on a few pointers and suggestions that I have learned from the overall experience of the trip.

The very first is, Kashmir is hot during May and may depending on the places you visit. Once we reached the destinations which were above a certain altitude the temperature had decreased, but not on the way. The weather is extremely unpredictable in Kashmir. If it rains, the temperature drops drastically. Luckily we did not get any rain until the very last of our trip.

If you like something, rock it. If you want to rock a cap every day, go for it.

If you visit any of the points like ice point in Gulmarg, the zero point from Sonamarg, places like Chandanwari- proper shoes, blazers or Feran is mandatory. I guess if we had the jackets suitable for the places.

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Roads are unpredictable there are always high chances that you would be held up by traffic or even by herds of sheep, goats and even horses. We had an idea that Kupwara to Sonamarg would be 2 hours journey roughly. But in reality, it is a minimum of 3 hours and by all means, it can be more but not less unless your driver drives like a madam. This is an adventurous drive but no doubt, a hectic one.

Snow fighting is fun but up to a certain limit, you would not enjoy the blisters you get from excessive clawing in the snow. If you want, get proper snow gloves and do not take inspiration from the local people and start clawing the snow barehanded. This can be tolerated for a few minutes but not for hours if you are planning on spending that long in the snow. My friend got blisters and I ended up with numb and stiff fingers.

The boy in Green Open Field Near Mountain Under White Skies

If you want to get the feel of ice sports like skiing, and sledding then Sonamarg is the best place to be precise the zero point. The prices they quote are reasonable and one does not have to bargain and lot and the experience you have is priceless. One can also come across similar sports in Chandanwari and Gulmarg as well but they are like child's play compared to the experience one has to zero points and they are by far unrealistically expensive.

Brown and White Cattle in Green Open Field Near Mountain Under White Skies

  "Kashmir is the delicate reminder of the fact that poetry not always need pages and words. When the pages are torn and ink is faded, the living poetry can be felt through heartbeats and emotions." 

The fall of dropping water wears away the Stone

In short, these are all I could think of for now. I will go down to detailed descriptions of each day of the trip in my next post. So stay tuned and keep reading ...