Sonamarg is a hill station (2800 Mtrs above MSL) located in Gandarbal District of Jammu & Kashmir, India which is around 80 Kilometres from State Capital Srinagar. The name Sonamarg translates to Golden (Sona) Meadows (Marg) and the place truly deserves the name.
We visited Sonamarg on our way to Ladakh. So the place was a pit stop for us but it will remain in our memories forever for the sear beauty it offered us.
We started from Srinagar at around 8 AM and once we crossed Gandarbal Town, Sindh River or Sindh Nala (As known locally), a tributary of Jhelum River, started accompanying us till Sonamarg and the beauty of nature keeps on increasing at every turn of the road.
Just around 10 Kms before Sonamarg, small glaciers started appearing on road side with Sindh River flowing through them, which when viewed along with nearby pine forests and large grasslands on mountains, gave us unique picture perfect views at every turn of road.
We reached Sonamarg at around 10:30 AM and was greeted by the site of full splendor of green vistas with a backdrop of snow-clad mountains. We also found ourselves surrounded by the guides and pony owners offering their services which mostly covers a ride to nearby Thajiwas Glacier. As we have not planned any diversion from our route to Ladakh, we were not keen in visiting the Glacier and conveyed the same to them.
Thajiwas Glacier is around 3 Kilometres from Sonamarg which can be covered using ponies or jeeps or can take your vehicle. It offers great views of higher Himalayas an the glacier itself.
We Spent sometime on the road side admiring the beauty before moving ahead.
Out next stop was Baltal Valley (2740 Mtrs above MSL) which was around 15 Kilometres from Sonamarg towards Zoji La. Baltal serves as base camp for pilgrims during Amarnath Yatra that is held every year between July and August. Below are some scenic views of the valley which can not be expressed in words.
The road to Zoji La gave us a splendid and wider view of entire Baltal Valley, a sight to behold.
We further moved ahead on our journey which will be covered in subsequent blogs.
Below is the YouTube link of my travel till Sonamarg and beyond.
Temperature at Sonamarg goes well below zero degrees in winter and the place also receives a lot of snow, which may make the place inaccessible in winter. However a 6.5 Kilometre long tunnel, known as Z-Morh tunnel, is under construction and once commissioned the road to Sonamarg will become an all weather road. During summer months day temperature may rise up to around 15 degrees and night temperature may be around 2-3 degrees.
One day visit from Srinagar is sufficient for Sonamarg, however if you are planning to visit Zoji La or if you are a true nature lover and loves to explore places in leisure, 2 days stay is recommended.
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Thank you for going through the blog. Take care. See you in next blog.
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