After years of waiting...finally Kashmir trip happened!

Kashmir valley has been on my mind since a very long time and I love the contrast of colors present there during non-winter months. The rich green pine forests, the light green meadows, the blue to white rivers, the green shades of the lakes, beautiful blue skies with painted white clouds, the horses, the sheep, the wildflowers in variety of colors, the lotuses and lilies in the lakes, the shikaras and houseboats in beautiful colors, and the list is endless. One has to visit this place to know what I mean. I am a full on colors of nature person and this place has satisfied my quest for a colorful vacation!

After having kept it in my bucket list I couldn't go there for various reasons. Sometimes the difficulties of life kept me away and sometimes the volatile political situation in Kashmir closed doors. But I kept trying and could make this trip happen this year in August. I am so glad I could finally make it happen!

For those in doubt this place is completely safe for tourists but having said that you need to be aware of the situation and act accordingly. The media makes us stay away and for years I was afraid too. However, I guess its been because of travelers who have shared their experience on social media that I got the courage.

I joined a group for one week and then for around 13 days explored with a friend who joined me. I liked the week after group tour more but I will share both the parts here.

Part 1: Group Tour- 1st to 7th August 2021

I joined a group tour and found really amazing women from different parts of the country and made friends with them. This was the biggest takeaway from the first week. Otherwise I would say the itinerary was too rushed and we didn't really enjoy a single place thoroughly as we were always on the road and in hurry to reach the destination and return from there. Honestly that is not my taste. But the advantage was I got to see many things, convenience of everything sorted out and made it affordable for me as a solo traveler.

Coming to the places I covered in this week, I visited Dal lake, Doodhpathri, Avantipura Ruins, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Wussan, Sonmarg, Kheer Bhavani temple and Manasbal Lake during this week. We stayed in a houseboat on Dal Lake for 2 nights, in a hotel in Pahalgam for 1 night, a private cottage in Wussan for 2 nights, and a hotel in Srinagar for the last day of the trip.

So here is the brief itinerary we followed:

Day 1: Arrival at Srinagar post 2 pm and visiting Doodhpathri (43.5km from Srinagar). Horses required to be hired to visit the river from the point of parking. Spent some time there and then returned to Srinagar. Checked into our houseboat for the night. Stayed at Morning Star Group of Houseboats.

Day 2: Day trip to Gulmarg. Explore ground level on horseback, reached phase 1 by Gondola ride, Phase 2 was closed due to weather and hence took a horse ride to reach till a glacier for some snow experience. Returned back to Srinagar and stayed in the houseboat for the night.

Day 3: Checkout of houseboat in Srinagar and proceed towards Pahalgam. On the way visit Apple orchards and do shopping for saffron. Pony rides for further sightseeing once you reach Pahalgam. Popular spot is Baisaran known as mini-Switzerland. However, most of us in the group were tired because of too much rush the previous days and choose to sit by riverside in a park and skip the regular touristy thing to hire pony for further sightseeing. Overnight at hotel in Pahalgam.

Day 4: In the morning, check-out and proceed towards Wussan, an offbeat location. On the way visit Avantipura temple ruins. Reach Wussan, spend time at the riverside and overnight at the private cottage! My best stay in this trip. (Whistling Woods Eco Resort)

Day 5: In the morning, start for a day trip to Sonmarg. After reaching Sonmarg, hire union taxi for sightseeing upto Zero Point Glacier and Zozilla Pass. Return to Wussan and go for river rafting. Overnight at the cottage in Wussan.

Day 6: In the morning, check out and proceed for Manasbal lake (peaceful shikara ride experience unlike Dal Lake where sellers will keep disturbing) followed by Kheer Bhavani temple. Overnight at hotel in Srinagar.

Day 7: Free day till check-out and then proceed for airport for return journey.

Places where we stayed:

Day 1 and 2: Morningstar Group of Houseboats on Dal Lake, Srinagar

Day 3: Hotel Hilltop Pahalgam

Day 4 and 5: Whistling Woods Eco Resort, Wussan

Day 6: Hotel Ennco Resorts, Srinagar

This was the itinerary in a nutshell that I followed with a group. I feel that this was a very rushed itinerary and one may or may not prefer it this way. However, this will give you an idea while planning as you can pick and choose elements from this trip.

Part 2: Solo Trip with my friend - 7th to 19th August 2021

After the first week of a rushed itinerary which let me touch a lot of places in Kashmir, I travelled slow in the second week.

I covered only few places while being based at Srinagar and Pahalgam with my friend.

At a slower pace we could feel the joy of a relaxed evening watching sunset on the Dal Lake; meet Kashmiri people and listen to their stories; see the offbeat side of touristy places; enjoy the views when we liked and just let everything go with the flow! In addition to that, we had tea in so many Kashmiri homes for which we feel blessed!

In short this is how our slower trip looked like:

Day 1: Reach houseboat on Dal Lake in the afternoon. We relaxed for sometime and then in the evening went to the ghat side for a nice walk. Then sat down to watch a beautiful sunset over the Dal Lake. Went back to our houseboat, had dinner and retired for the day. Overnight at Dal Lake, Srinagar. Stayed at Kenya Houseboat.

Day 2: Visit to Pari Mahal, Chashmashahi Garden and Botanical Garden. Overnight at Dal Lake, Srinagar.

Day 3: Visited Kheer Bhavani temple and Manasbal Lake. Overnight at Dal Lake, Srinagar.

Day 4: Visit to floating post office to send postcards to friends and family. Then spend time at a cafe facing the lake. In the evening went for a ride around lake, VIP area and Hazratbal shrine. Overnight at Dal Lake, Srinagar.

Day 5: Early morning visit to floating vegetable market on a shikara. After breakfast proceed to Pahalgam. On the way visit to Avantipura temple ruins. Relax and overnight in Pahalgam at the riverside guest house.

Day 6: In the morning relax at riverside near guest house and then take a walk in the town. Later shifted hotel to uphill side called Mamal village. Took a walk and saw barrage and beautiful views. Overnight at Pahalgam.

Day 7: Visit to Aru valley by local transport. Spend the entire day and returned to Pahalgam in the evening for overnight stay.

Day 8: Relaxed day. Enjoyed rainy day. In the evening walked upto town and sat in the garden of Pahalgam hotel which was giving us an amazing view of valley after the rains. Overnight at Pahalgam.

Day 9: Again rainy day. Visited the house of the hotel owner and met his family. Enjoyed at their house till evening. Once rain stopped we took a walk around the village and surroundings. The views were just grand! Overnight at Pahalgam.

Day 10: Hiked to Baisaran, Pahalgam valley, Kashmir valley and Dubyan valley with two daughters of the hotel owner. We took a guide along who was really supportive with our slow pace! After the trek was complete, the owner took all of us in his car to see the view of Betaab valley from top. Overnight at Pahalgam.

Day 11: Return to Srinagar. Stayed in Dal Lake houseboat. We didn't do much this day. I had many postcard requests after I posted my story on social media. So I bought a lot of them and started writing my message for people and addresses to post them to their homes. Overnight at Dal Lake, Srinagar.

Day 12: Visited Hari Parbat. Relaxed after return in the houseboat.

Day 13: I had early morning flight to catch. So finally my trip ended on 19th August.

Places where we stayed:

Day 1 and 2: Kenya Houseboat near Ghat no. 7, Dal Lake, Srinagar

Day 3 and 4: Fiji Houseboat near Ghat no. 7, Dal Lake, Srinagar

Day 5: Zebrina Guest House, Riverside guest house near Poshwan Park, Pahalgam

Day 6-10: Hotel Muskan, Mamal village, Pahalgam

Day 11-13: Kenya Houseboat near Ghat no. 7, Dal Lake, Srinagar

For any more questions you can always reach out to me. I will share more blogs based on my trip soon!