REBOOT : RESTART : LIFE 2.07

Let's Travel !

It’s December of the year 2020and WFH is still continuing. We are a family of people; all working on odd hours and thus hardly get time to travel. Now with the threat of CV-19 still there, but people taking it in stride, we also decide to be brave about it and decided to venture out.

Between seeing the tigers at Ranthambore and experiencing the snow for the first time, Snow won and we all happily started packing for Srinagar. Our itinerary was Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg. The temperature at the peak showed -18 degrees in the evenings, and we were all so kicked about it.

So, our first step, like a true blue Delhiite was to go shopping and we landed at the Decathlon store in search of everything warm – neck warmers, leg warmers, woolen mittens – you name it, and we picked it.

Morning flight landed us at the Srinagar airport, where after the customary antigen test, we headed for our houseboat in Dal lake. We were heartily welcomed to our houseboat “Monalisa” by cheerful Maqbool bhai who quickly showed us to our rooms, with a wooden hearth warming it and offered us heavenly Qahwa to settle down. Least we knew that this humble Kashmiri drink would become our most friendly savior for rest of the journey.

In an hour, fresh by the coziness of room and more of the people around us, our group decided to start off the fun by taking a ride in Shikara and cover whole of Dal. The atmosphere was serene and calming with regular echoes of Azaan in the valley and waterbirds wading around us. Friendly shopkeepers in shikaras kept approaching us with their wares and anecdotes.

Post landing back at the hourseboat and a hearty lunch, we headed for a sightseeing around and visited the famous Hazratbal mosque, Chashmeshahi, Lal Chowk, Sankracharya math and so on. It was fun covering all the tourist spots as were a large group and knew each other pretty well.

Next day was the landmark day for us since we were to visit Gulmarg and see the snow for the very first time. So we decide to call it an early night and settle in comfortably in our electric blanket laden beds. However, nature had something else in store for us and at 0200 am in the morning, snowfall started right there on the Dal and went on till early morning. Needless to say, we were all ecstatic and up throughout the night enjoying the flakes falling all around us.

Trip to Gulmarg next day was phenomenal in its way. We took the Gondola ride right upto the base-2 and saw 10-12 fee snow, Kargil outlining, LOC and so on. The majestic Himalayas surrounded us in all its beauty. We couldn’t feel the biting wind at -18, we were so lost in our surroundings.

While Pahalgam bought us a 10 km journey on horses through the steep slippery ride, Sonmarg again took us back to the Leh road. We stood just few kms away from the Drass valley army station. The tension and army preps could be felt in the air. Few snow sports were enjoyed by the group and we headed back to the valley by evening.

Not to be missed is also a special mention of the amazing wazwan. We visited local joints like Mughal Durbar and tasted the authentic rista, gustaba, roganjosh, Kashmiri pulao and many other delectable dishes. The 5-day journey to the heaven on earth was really amazing and as beautiful as we had imagined. In the end we all agreed that the valley is indeed a heaven on the earth. What makes it even more beautiful is its people. The warmth and the hospitality we felt through out our span there left each of us touched by love and respect for the citizens.