Travel Diaries::My first blush with snow

Travel,the word itself conjures up beautiful thoughts and mesmerising memories of life..Life would become a dull and drab and a null and void story if you don't sojourn frequently...The travel invigorates us back to real life and puts back to  the monotony of our work with a new vigour...Travel allows us to see beautiful places ,mixes with wonderful people and allows us  to learn about various cultures ...Travel rejuvenates us to a new life...

Travel,in all forms of life,starts from mothers womb through to the life's trials and tribulations till the last journey to the eternal peace...In between the two extremes,either we take a joyous ride or the life takes us for a ride....whatever may be the case ,enough the ride of life....

We hardly travelled during our school days...those early days travelling wasn't a commodity  either because we were blissfully unaware of it or our parents were not exposed to that culture ....the true mentors of our very existence hardly travelled those days.. those days their hard earned money could help only to meet the both ends...they toiled and toiled
hard and burnt the midnight oil to see our phenomenal growth and development... During our school days ,the summer vacation could take us to our near and dear one's house ....we hardly contemplated more than a cricket bat those days in our summer vacation....

Travel is now a quintessential norm of life...A sine qua nun without which many lives would be bored to death....During our school vacation,we could hardly ask our parents about any trip...now our kids burgeoning demands helps us to discover more and more places...our parents financial constraints curbed our natural instincts...With our improving financial conditions,thanks to our parents visionary and single minded determination in making us successful in our carrer,we are set to explore more and more places and could dance to our kids tunes..I thank all our parents who made us successful in our lives....

I started travelling during my 12th leave...that was the first real trip ...thereafter the sojourn started during college days and the search for new places infuses and injects fresh blood into my life...

Last year when venki & cusp posted photos of snow clad mountains and beautiful tulips and green meadows of the pristine kashmir,we decided to make it to kashmir one day...when venki boasted pictures of snowy pictures  and proudly exclaimed about snow....Came the comment from viji that we live mostly in snow and you people go that long to see the snow ...Now I proudly say that we are going to kashmir to see only two things -snow and tulips..We,residing  here in hot and humid conditions,could only dream of snow but couldn't enjoy it...

Karthi and jayendran wanted to join us for kashmir but the dates we planned doesn't suit them ...they wanted the trip by may last but the lasting beauty of ephemeral tulips would be lost by then and the  summer would turn  the snowy kashmir into a breezy one....we didn't jettison the plan and proceeded with our plan to go to  kashmir by April second week which was the peak season to enjoy snow and tulips...I felt sorry for karthi and jayendran and prayed for the better times when they plan .....

Any new idea or venture would be beset with problems on starting and proceeding as our bikomaniacs had cyclone nilofar looming large when they planned...we also had floodomaniacs and terrorist strikes.
Beauty begets problems and so the kashmir with its exquisite beauty has also been long troubled by natural calamities and manmade miseries ....Everyone started questioning our rationale behind choosing kashmir ...some of which may be true ...some are exaggerating and some are unfounded for but we are determined and steadfast in going to kashmir this summer...

The D day arrived  and we packed off to srinagar .....when we were about to alight in srinagar,The paradise in heaven ,I and vani were asked to take the front door and my son  mom and motherinlaw were asked to alight from the back door...To our dismay,we were taken through the aero bridge while the other three were missing...After few tense moments and searching in vain,I found them and we all proceeded with high spirits to the exit area where our local tour guide holding a placard welcoming us to the paradise in heaven....

We asked him to straight away head to Tulip gardens....Every year the local minster would declare open the tulip gardens by first week of April and it would be open for one month.... A drive from srinagar airport to Tulip garden was studded with plethora of army jawans every 50 mts...and we felt rather bizarre about heavy deployment of police personnel...

On entering the Tulip gardens,our bleary eyes from a day long journey beamed with delight and awe...Flowers of varied hue and colours turned the garden into a paradise...the tulip flowers were planted neatly in a row wise phase....red blue black yellow orange and mixed colours of flowers bloomed majestically turning the garden into a flowering paradise....those flowers resembled like tiny tots standing  in a queue in the school with colourful dresses.. the swaying of the flowers to the light breeze looks as if those tiny tots singing and dancing to the ethereal tunes .....we have to leave this phenomenal garden as time started ticking in fast and we were lagging  far behind our schedule...

From the tulip garden,we entered the serene Dal lake in  the traditional shikara boat in the chilling atmosphere...there a different world exists on its own...On the one side of the lake,away from the hustle bustle of the city lies the solitude cool clear freezing  water....going to the other side of the lake was the bustling commercial market in free floating water...one can buy all sorts of kashmiri things  at a bargaining price....the night passed off in the boat in the chilling atmosphere....The next morning we woke up to a new horizon...school kids rowing the boat themselves to the school like our kids pedalling a cycle to the school...Ladies and old women rowing to buy things  and there exists a different world...

Next we set up our destiny with sonamarg..
it's about 80 kms fron srinagar.while on the way we went for snacks at a punjabi sindh dhabha...the place was astonishing for a snack...the chairs were set in the background of  the sindh river roaring vociferously ...the sound of water in full swing against the snow clad mountains in an aloof environment was nerve wracking...we had a cup of tea and muttered a beautiful old song...
        sindhu nathi karayaromm ...
...      anthi neram ...en devan patinan ...tamil geetham pattinan ....ennai poovai pola chootinsn......

We started moving towards sonamarg with the sindh river giving us a great company all through the sonamarg...About 15 kms before sonamarg, came our first blush with snow ...the snow started drooling all the way into the road from the top of the mountains ...we stopped...touched...stood ..danced and tried to climb on the snow...our enthusiasm knew no bounds as we clicked numerous photos on this little snow ...not knowing this is only the tip of iceberg....our driver became restless and prodded us  into the car...still further down ,we were completely engulfed by the snow...the road we travelled was only bereft of the snow ...on either side of the road it was snow..even in certain areas the road has to be cleared of snow by the big bulldozers ....
we went to the resort in sonamarg which was bathing in full snow...we walked through the snow to check in...The manager was surprised as we were the first guests to stay in that resort this season...he said there was no current and no phone connection for the last three months due to heavy snow ...we would switch on the generator  during night at about 8pm..

.we left the resort for sight seeing...here our local guide gave all of  us the winter clothes and we embarked on a sojourn to snow...we saw zero bridge,mandakini point  and iceland retreat and tejiwas glacier through the ice sledger...there was snow everywhere..all around you ...and we all played like children....the guide was also a guardian .a wellwisher and an unpaid willing
photographer for all our gestures...we stayed  huddling  in the ice cold condition right through the night....

Next morning we set out on our next vintage point of Gulmarg...we were received in the base camp by our next guide...A skinny ,bearded with hoarse voice shouting in a high pitch with an untidy dress and in shambles was our guide...his looks itself frightened all of us and we were left with Hobson's choice of following him...
The only positive point was he was very conversant with English  and I could directly take control of things myself...Till then I was dependent on vani for her fluency in hindi as no other person till then could speak English...The looks doesn't bode a real face  of a persons character was  evident as time passed on...He was so caring and took us directly to Gondala ride ...the trademark of Gulmarg..

The road to our  resort was as usual full of snow and we checked in against the fully snow clad mountains and we could see our  resort  being fully engulfed by snow...After checking in quickly we prepared for the gondala ride with usual winter clothes like gum boots ,sweaters,jerkins, wollen socks ,gloves &goggles...
There are two stages  in gondala ride...the first one takes to a level of 10000 feet above the MSL and there are host of activities like ice skiing,sledging ,ice cycling and ice scooter....the second stage of gondala ride takes  further to 14000 feet above MSL Where there will be less oxygen but still more ice...

We skipped second stage due to health condition of my mom and decided to enjoy the ride in first stage itself...I vani and gowtham decided to go for ice cycling...Ice cycling allows us to ride  for about 8kms through 7 foot ice from the first level of gondala ride of about 10000 feet above MSL right to the base....A thrilling and fantastic ride through the icy mountains in the ice cycle got vani nosediving somersaulting twice and  got my son vomiting....After these minor hiccups and a bit of persuasion,we successfully made to the base level...
.After the adventurous ride ,we set for a walk the talk with that guide....but he was so compassionate and intellectual and I learned a lot with his talk...

He goaded us to the gondala ride when we were relaxing a bit... He said..Now the climate is fantastic...hurry fast...The three things you can't control and changes in a splash second are...
        kashmirka moosum ... mumbaika fashion&beevika mood.....
       you have to make use of it  and enjoy it before it changes ....how much true it is?

Also,he went on to say..India is a beautiful country...safest place to travel and  having a rich  culture...but three things  which plague India  are politics,defence and media...well said ....

After an adventurous ride in gulmarg,we went to pahalgam...The ride from gulmarg to pahalgam was stupendous...Tall  verdant green trees on either side of the road forming a green tunnel where we slithered through  was fantastic....A bunch of yellow flowers blooming  all  over a vast surface of lands gives an exquisite look to the varied landscape ....moreover the liddle river lithing through the roads with constant downpour of rains gave us a great company all through the road until we reached pahalgam...In between the apple orchards blooming with white flowers and mulberry trees booming across the roads forming a green canopy over the sky adds a rich look...

We reached pahalgam and is famous for pony ride ...Each one of us took a pony for another tumultuous ride of 7kms through the difficult terrains of deep valleys and scenic waterfalls .....there were six scenic spots and the best one was banasuran valley...it is otherwise called as mini Switzerland ...True to that adage , the banasuran valley looks fantastic with tall trees snd flush green meadows  against the backdrop of the snow clad mountains. ...zorbing game was very popular out there... After a pony ride for about three and half hours,we felt very happy and relieved and took a nice rest that night....

The final day of our trip was a bit sedate with a trip to various moghul gardens in and around kashmir...one famous spot is a perennial spring at the chechashamayee garden whose spiritual water seemed to  have healed the troubled shoulders of Nehru & indira Gandhi....water from the spring is still having a sweet taste and we too  tasted it hoping against hope of healing all the wounds....

Finally ...a food for thought...this travel diary would be hugely misleading if I finish off without a tribute to kashmirI people..Contrary to all our beliefs, the kashmiri people are wonderful,nature loving,mostly impoverished,well behaved and mostly 85 percent of people are dependent on tourism for their very survival...
Every money we spent there could go on to feed so many lives and you feel so happy and contented that you have brought so many smiles and cheers into the lives of the kashmiri people....
Every activity you take would drain your purse and everywhere people will beseech you for tips and they would take utmost care and die for it to make you feel  very happy and satisfied that you won't feel having doled out so many money on them...

what the media projects about kashmir is exactly opposite to what I have observed...
Finally,I request all of our friends who make foreign trips regularly do visit India atleast once and explore and discover India which has myriad and vast culture and heritage and spend rupees on our poor Indians rather than spending and pumping  lavishly in dollars... 

       Jai India...discover India....