A weekend getaway to the No Man's Land - Tosamaidan

“Tu Shah Maidan” the king of meadows situated in the upper reaches of Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. With an altitude of 10,395 ft this grand meadow stretches over 65 sqkm of pure bliss and most unpredictable weather. You can actually see both rain and sun simultaneously in the meadow. The meadow lies between Gulmarg in the North and Doodhpathri in the South; the higher reaches has the infamous “Great Lakes Trek” which comprises two major alpine lakes. It was June in Kashmir region which meant the snow in upper regions had started to melt and let these massive meadows open for backpacking and treks. We decided to do a one night camp in the meadows; with unpredictable weather and unknown roads our journey had already begun in excitement.

We left Srinagar at 6 AM and reached Budgam at around 8 AM with all the last minute shopping. The uphill drive from plains was a rigorous one; there were no macadamized roads or even the kaccha roads. A path made by water was our road for the next 3 hours; it started getting steeper as we approached the meadows. The climb was not so good on our cars; we had to stop over a few times to let our cars cool down.

After 3 hours we finally managed to enter the meadows; I had not seen such a vast meadow ever in my life before. Wherever you looked it was lush green with snow mountains in the background. No one but us and the ravens in the whole meadow; few nomads shepherding their herd and the wandering clouds. It seemed as if I had entered a world of fast moving clouds.

We picked our spot near the Ferozpur Stream and pitched our camp. First thing we did was we cooked our food. When in the alpine region you feel more hungry and digest better with the fresh glacial water that was melting a few hundred meters away from us. After pitching our tents and cooking the food we went out for wood hunting. You should always look for dead trees which have fallen by the winds or snow storms. It was around 6 PM that I decided to take images of the sunset in that meadow. We drove around the meadow which had no roads or paths even. We were heading towards this spot across a tiny stream and less we knew how much of a trouble that tiny stream would turn out to be.

Our car got stuck and four people including me could not move that car an inch. The stream had a marshy surface beneath which made it difficult for us to have any sort of traction. Noticing that we couldn't get it out, two friends rushed back to our camp and drove to the nearby village to get some ropes and some help. It was getting dark and the sky was playing with its tones and hues. I couldn't hold back and took out my grandfather's shawl which he had gotten from Gilgit during his young days. The shawl became the subject of my images against the magnificent sky and mountains.

Finally at around 9 PM I saw a tractor hurling towards us; few villagers had accompanied the rest of our friends to the rescue. The temperatures dipped sharply but the fear of still being stuck in that marshy land was the bigger concern. After trying for 6 times we finally pulled it out and celebrated out in joy and laughs. We drove back to our camp and spent half night cooking; we had planned to do a lot of talking during night but it certainly didn't turn out like that. We slept like we had done hard labor all day; indeed we had in the No Mans Land.

#Kashmir #Wilderness #Solotraveler #Photographer