My Trip To Kashmir :continued

Good morning guys! Finally i am here writing the 2nd part of my Kashmir travel story ,i know its been ages since i had told i would be posting this blog but there were so many pictures to edit ,points to remember etc etc! that i never got time to really complete this blog post. Also thanks a lot to all my readers for the great response you’ll gave me on Kashmir Travel Story (Part – I) (in case you haven’t read it yet tap the link !) i was really overwhelmed with the response i got, so that its a bit more helpful for you guys i will be writing down here also on the places worth visiting and just continue blabbering about the mesmerising beauty of the valley!This post is slightly abit long so you may as well as grab yourself some popcorn and enjoy!

DAY II:

Well my day 2 wasn’t that productive as we all were very exerted after the previous days adventures and guess what? I fell sick with the worst cold ever and my voice was totally gone , so basically it was a bleh day :/ but we still  managed to get out for some time and we first visited a cherry garden which was indeed so yummy looking! For someone like me who has never really seen any of this in real life it reminded me of Willy-Wonkas chocolate factory tho without the chocolate obviously! The garden isn’t a garden in literal sense but it is basically a mini farm which is taken care of by the locals of the place and they earn their living by allowing tourists to come and see it , there were numerous number of cherry trees and they were so delicious and red! You can see it in the pictures below , there were also many apple trees but the apples had not yet grown ripe .The overall view was just so beautiful ,walking through the garden middle with small streams flowing with ice cold water omg! Everything about nature just excites me so much! I cant describe the beauty of nature in words and nor can pictures do justice to the beauty it beholds! After that we went for just a normal round in Gulmarg and went to do trout fishing .I wasn’t keeping well so i just sat on the side while my dad and brother had a good jolly time catching some trout fishes. We did this for like an hour or so and then went back to our hotel room and puff i was back in my bed literally dead :3 So like i told you my 2nd day wasn’t that great but well i was very pumped up for Day 3 cause it was houseboat time yay!!!

Day III:

So day 3 it is! Something i was really excited about cause we would spend  time in the Dal Lake!!! *excited little kid that  i have inside me* .We woke up early morning and decided to go to a very sacred shrine in Gulmarg itself – Baba Rishi shrine. Its considered to be a very holy place and as it was just 8 km away from our hotel we decided to pay it a visit. Every day lots of people go there who come from far off villages  with the hopes of getting their wishes full filled and it was totally worth coming and beautiful when we entered inside ,the inside of the mosque was very intricately carved with golden carvings all over it , i was getting  Bajrangi Bhaijaan feels there! Its a very sacred shrine and i could feel all the positive energies surrounding me , once we were done praying we followed some ritual that is carried out there where you give away a sheep as an offer to their lord so that your blessed by the all mighty and then it is used to make meals which are distributed to the poor and needy, photographs arent allowed to be taken inside so all i managed to get was a picture of the outside. Once we were done we headed straight towards the city Srinagar to stay at the house boat in the Dal lake as next day we were leaving back for Goa .  Once we reached the banks of Dal Lake it was so crowded omg! with people all around ,it felt more like a fair going on in the water! The house boats are located further inside and not on the banks so there were small boats that would take us till the houseboat that we had booked for the night. Dal lake is a really beautiful place and there were boats selling so many things in the lake itself- there were boats selling flowers ,boats with photographers who would click your clique pictures in the typical dress, boats selling food and maggi!!!(gave me feels of the movie Mission Kashmir!) i will be posting all the pictures down so watch out! Once we entered into the house boat it was sooooo huge omg like literally a big huge house! once we got ready we left for a boat ride in the lake what are also known as shikaras, where in we were taken all around the dal lake and shown alot of its beauty , as we were rowed by ,the cold fresh breeze brushed against my face and i couldnt feel any fresher and happier . There is something about clean fresh air and the beautiful nature around you that makes you feel very calm and peaceful , usually during the day time there is a particular area in the lake where all lotus flowers bloom but sadly we had reached the lake late and by the time we had reached that spot it was past 6 and the flowers were all closed again! 🙁 So we continued to row past the huge lake that it is and you wont believe there is actually a market inside there!!! A huge colourful market! I had taken few videos and il be posting them up too so you can get a feel of it too! Soon our 2 hour trip ended and we were back in our houseboats , and we were just chilling after that recollecting the memories we had created ! For dinner we had just plain rajma rice and a kashmiri delicacy veggi called -‘hak’ , ( i dont know what u call it in english but its been my favourite dish ever since i was 4!) So for all  those who are confused on what all dishes to try out dont worry i will put it all down on what all one should definitely try out! The next morning went by really fast and all we did was enjoy the quite view and  had some really yummy fruits for breakfast that they were selling on their tiny shikaras and it was a really cool concept i felt! I wish i had taken more videos back then so you could see it and feel it exactly like i did cause words are never enough to define beauty, so from now on i will definitely make sure to have enough footage of my entire trip! Then we had our flight to catch at around 3 so we left from the Dal lake and headed todwards the city and had a quick brunch at this amazing place called the Adhoos hotel where you get the best Kashmiri thali AKA ‘Kashmiri wazwan’ and for the mutton lovers out there this is a treat to your eyes! The wazwan consists of a no of mutton delicacy’s that are all prepared specially for thier guests . It is really really really heavy mind you! And i being a non mutton lover could not finish even half of my thali but i loved everything i tried in it my favourite defintiely being the mutton kebab! The rest of the dishes consisted of rogan josh , goshtab , tabaknat, rista and alot of veg dishes as well. So if anyone wants to try out the real style kashmiri food i would recommend you to have one meal here and their phirni for sweet dish is to die for! Soon after we had a quick lunch we headed towards thte airport boarded flight for Delhi changed our flight from there and we were back home! Goa! This was a really impromptu short plan and hence we didn’t discover much of the valley. I am definitely looking forward to go back to this beautiful place to explore it all the more !

5 PLACES THAT ARE A MUST TO VISIT FOR THE FIRST TIMERS:

1. Gulmarg ( try staying 2 nights there so you can get to go in the gondola and go up at 13,000 ft above sea level – Afarbhat were you get to do sledging and have fun in the snow!)
2. There are many shrines and if you wish to visit any the most easiest accessible one to you will be baba rishi as its just 8 -10 km away from gulmarg itself ( and for all the women make sure you were a kurti and go and have a scarf / dupatta to cover your head)
3. Dal lake (definitely a must! and you need to spend 1 night in the house boat and get yourselves clicked in the clique outfits of the typical tradition as a memory!)
4. Pahalgam and Sonmarg (these places are similar to Gulmarg and during snow these places are a must to visit- unfortunately when we had gone the condition in those areas were not good and we were refrained from going there but its a really beautiful place to visit no doubt!)
5. Tulip gardens , Nishad and Shalimar gardens – these are the best to visit during the April -May month for a months time when you have all colourful tulips surrounding you and in Nishad and Shalimar you will get numerous different coloured Roses.

FOOD TO TRY OUT:

Non vegetarians:

• Kashmiri Wazwan – It is an entire thali of all different mutton recipes. I’ve mentioned the different names above in the article.

For Vegetarians :

•   Kashmiri Damaloo is a must guys!
• Then you need to try out this dish made of lotus stems ,its called -Nadru (its chips are my fav!)
• Hak -its a green leafy vegetable dish thats made with pink turnips and again it is my fav!
• Rajma with a twist!- here its not just plain rajma but it is made with dried turnips and is called as ‘rajma gogj’

// make sure to try out all these food items with rice as it tastes the best with that!

Tips on clothing:

As i had travelled during the month of june its supposed to be the hottest month and yet i was shivering , so make sure you carry :

(ps:these are just general tips and can vary from climate of one place to another)

• full sleeves clothing and pants/jeans whatever suits you
• make sure you carry a warm jacket /shawl
• shoes is a must as you have to walk alot in gulmarg/pahalgam/sonmarg area and the hills can be slippery if you dont wear good grip shoes
• carry glares along with you as when the cold breeze blows it hits your face real hard so take care of your eyes!
• and last and not the least do not forget your beanie/monkey cap to save yourself from catching a cold!

I really hope this article helped you too, i have worked really hard on this! Please show me some love by telling me your thoughts below and if you have any questions leave them down in the comment section! Do not forget to like share and follow me here and on my Instagram handle- shriyapandita06!

Much love,

Shriya Pandita!

Day 2:

 

DAY III:

OUTFIT:What i wore during the morning!

LATER HALF OF THE DAY!

 

I Have many video clips on the interiors of the houseboat and glimpses of the surroundings , i will make a video and put it on instagram soon! Below are all the food items i had mentioned above in the post ( and they sell hot pakodas and tea too!)