Hi..this is my 1st trip to Kashmir..its truly a paradise on earth..my trip was earlier planned for july but it kept getting postponed until last week of august..finally i landed at Srinagar airport from Mumbai..i thought it will b slight cold but it wasnt it was hot and humid.i could see the mountains far off n i was really excited..i hav already booked a room in a house boat and they came to receive me ..it took almost one n half hour to reach niggin lake where our house boat was..niggin lake is an extension of dal lake more calmer n cleaner..the houseboat was beautiful with beautifully decorated rooms with detailed wood work..then we took shikara ride to dal lake it was late evening but very beautiful n serene with lotuses all around..it was heavenly. We had dinner near dal lake in a restaurant named shalimar..the food was awesome we had mutton roganjosh n naan.. Early next morning we were leaving for Gulmarg,had poha n kehwa whch is a kind of famous tea of kashmir.. We reached gulmarg in 2 hrs it was raining a little.. We were in gulmarg basically for the gondola ride..which was fun with beautiful views..we took pony ride from car parking till gondola station it isnt far so u can walk too.we got to experience little bit of snow at the 2nd phase of the gondola ride..we did sleigh and enjoyed the snow.. From gulmarg we headed to Pahalgam..we came across the lidder river which was beautiful..the whole journey from gulmarg to pahalgam was scenic..it took us three hours to reach pahalgam..it was late evening by the time we reached.we already booked a room in a nice hotel with the lidder river flowing behind the hotel giving a beautiful sight to behold.we called it a night as we were super tired. Early morning we had breakfast and enjoyed the view from our room.and then headed for our day trip to Aru valley n betaab valley.we enjoyed beautiful sights with mountains valleys n the lidder river.. In the evening we headed to the pahalgam market walking and exploring it was a good 3kms from the hotel..we were tired but enjoyed alot.had dinner and headed back to hotel.. Early next morning we left for srinagar.on the way we stopped at an apple garden to click pics and then our next stop was to buy dry fruits..finally we reached srinagar had lunch and headed to airport.. P.S- prepaid sim doesn't work in kashmir..which was a big spoiler,but in a good way we were disconnected from city life and work completely. And u really need to bargain for po y rides and sleigh rides..dont buy whatever they say esp pony wallahs..use ur brains..and walking is more fun than pony rides..
