My trip to Srinagar – Day 4 – 24th September 2023:

 Chapter 4

The next day, we went to Gulmarg which is at a height of around 7,500 ft above MSL. En route, we had breakfast of Chole Batura in a restaurant and the owner of this joint shocked us by talking to us in Kannada. When enquired how come, he smiled and said that he has a friend studying in Namma Bengaluru and he taught him to converse enough to woo Kannadiga customers to his joint.

Beautiful views of the mountains welcomed us en route, covered with tall pine trees and valleys between these mountains with rivulets separating them. From the parking lot, we had to walk or take a cab to cover a distance of just over 1 km to reach the Gondola station. We had pre-booked the gondola for the first stage as the second stage was out of bounds due to the maintenance of the gondolas. Nippy air greeted us and we were afraid it could rain any moment. Yet, we carried on and engaged horses to take us to the viewpoint. Though this was my first horse ride in decades, I put on a brave face and continued as if I were a veteran.

As we trotted along, it started hailing small stones. Regardless, we continued and at the viewpoint, we disembarked from our horses and started enjoying the view.  Fortunately, Suma Aunty had lent her umbrella to me while my other friends from Bengaluru – Parameshwar, Radhey Shyam and Sridhar had ponchos to cover themselves from the now incessant drizzle. As we started climbing on the horses, I was advised to close shut my umbrella as the horses normally get scared with open umbrellas. Fortunately, I had a cap to cover my head from the drizzle that started to get a bit heavy. Reaching the starting point of our trek, we got down from our horses, paid the caretakers and walked towards the return point to take the Gondola.

A few pics of Gulmarg:

On our return journey, the driver stopped at a shop that housed handicrafts and dresses made by the local industry. We had our taste of Khawa, a local drink of green tea with almonds and other nuts. The place had an excellent collection of various local stuff including clothing, drapery, dry fruits and such. It was a good effort to attract the tourist crowd. A few items were purchased by one of my co-passengers.

Returning to Srinagar, we had our lunch at Gulab, a decent and good vegetarian joint. Our next stop was the Shankaracharya hill where Adi Shankara did penance. The Shankaracharya Temple in Srinagar is truly an awe-inspiring place. Situated atop a hill, it not only offers a spiritual journey but also breathtaking views of Srinagar and Dal Lake.  The climb may be a bit steep and challenging to the old and feeble, but the peace and positive vibes within the temple complex are truly special.  It is a place where you can connect with yourself while being surrounded by the natural beauty of Kashmir.  When you are in Srinagar, a visit to Shankaracharya Temple is a must for the perfect blend of spirituality and stunning views.  

Some pics from Shankaracharya Hill:

We downloaded the beauty of the scenery from the hilltop and of the temple complex onto our terabyte/petabyte hard discs (Brains) and drove back to our base camp.

In the evening, we did some local shopping and completed the dinner ritual by ordering and devouring parathas at Annapoorna Hotel, before retiring for the day.

The next day was a crammed one as we had planned to visit Pahalgam and see several Temples (or its ruins) en route.

More of it in the next chapter....

My trip to Srinagar – Day 3 – 23rd September 2023:

Chapter 3

As it dawned over the valley, we could see more of the mountain on the other side of the border, dotted with residential buildings and connecting roads with vehicles plying infrequently. We were in awe as we saw the mountains on both sides and the valley town that is Tithwal. Apart from a couple of two/three-story buildings that adorned the side of narrow roads (other than the main road), the only major structures were of the Army Camp. A short walk from our homestay took us to the much-talked-about, Sharada Mandir. As alluded, Aijaz had taken an interest in building this temple complex that also housed a Gurudwara. The idol in this temple was contributed by Sringeri Sharada Peeta and the temple was inaugurated in June earlier.

The program for the day was to take a dip in the river Krishna-Ganga and after pooja at the Sharada temple, to march up to the border post to:
1. Immerse the Ganesha Idol, which was modeled on ISRO's Chandrayan,
2. Impress upon the need for cross-border tourism
so that we can visit the original Sharada Peeta established by Adi Shankara, presently in POK. 

Post this, there was a prize distribution to the finalists of the cricket match under the aegis of Sharada Peeta, Tithwal. Incidentally, the Tithwal cricket team won the finals defeating a team from New Delhi, much to the cheer of the local crowd. This done, we all headed for lunch, again, at the Army camp. A simple but sumptuous lunch filled both our stomachs and hearts as we started bidding farewell to our newfound friends.

The next stop was the border post where we were promised that we could go up to the middle of the bridge where a white line was painted to signify the border between the two areas (POK and India). We couldn’t do it earlier as the crowd was a bit unruly which prevented the concerned Security team from allowing any person on this bridge.

Other than crossing the borders of countries by flight, this was my first experience of seeing the physical line drawn on the border in plain sight, with sentried gates at both ends of the bridge. A few people from the other side were present on the bridge at their side of the border when we went there and we had to wait till they all left and the gate at their end closed, for further visitors. Only then, we were allowed on the cantilever bridge stretching across the river Krishna Ganga. As we entered the bridge, it began to sway due to our asynchronous steps. We got the clue of how to balance out and then on, it was a breeze. It was indeed a sight to behold from the middle of this bridge, overlooking the hills on both sides and the water flowing briskly, 100 ft below. Took pics to our hearts' content and returned to our vehicles. It was already 4:00pm as we hit the road for the return journey.

We reached Sadhana Pass just about sunset time and had to get out of our vehicles to be searched. This done, we started to descend and had the opportunity to savour the masala tea at the same place as we did on our onward journey. As earlier, I had the opportunity to gulp down another cup of this lovely tea. Then on, we had only one stop en route, Sharada Ashtapan temple at Gund Gushi. By the time we reached here, it was pretty dark and the caretaker was nowhere to be seen. Next door was a huge masjid and the people from neighbourhood came out to see us. They tried to help trace the caretaker but to no avail. We had no other option but to push off from here to our base camp, Srinagar.

In all, we could see most of the planned places except a couple. Dog-tired, we reached our base camp around 10:00 in the night, had a quick bite of dinner and off to bed after a long day, just reminding ourselves that the next day would be a relaxed one as it was just Gulmarg and possibly local sightseeing.

More in the next chapter...