Gulmarg

Gulmarg… this beautiful name brings forth images of thousands of flowers of myriad colours reaching till as far as the eyes can see. Indeed, Gulmarg literally means Meadow of Flowers and is a hill station in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a popular skiing destination and has a cable car for reaching the start of the skiing slope. Gulmarg can be accessed from Srinagar, which lies 50 km to the east.
The peak season for skiing, starts with the snowfall in December and lasts until March. Other months of the year it is the beautiful meadows and enchanting view of Snow Mountains that attracts tourists. Surrounded by dense forests, Gulmarg is also famous for golf hikes and its beautiful highland golf course.
Best time to visit: September to March
Languages spoken: Kashmiri, Hindi
Climate: Pleasant summers and very cold winters with snowfall

Adventure tourism and Sport: Skiing slopes, Golf course

Here I come

Aadmi Musafir Hai (part 2)

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Remember the song “AADMI MUSAFIR HAI AATA HAI JAATA HAI” from movie Apnapan picturized on Sudhir Dalvi and that unknown girl in the bus en-route to Srinagar. The verses contain a philosophical message but in the language of common man which was forte of Anand Bakshi Sahib. As our vehicle moved towards Srinagar it seemed to me that a dream shall be chased in a few hours but the destination was quite far away.

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Paradise regained : Day 7, 8 & 9

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It was 4.30 AM and hot tea was waiting for us. By the time we left Pahalgam it was 5.30 AM. Katra is a good 280 KMs away. We stopped around 8.30 AM for breakfast. A warm welcome was given to the hot paranthas. It is a shame that we did not get to taste the popular local “Rajma Chawal” during our trip.

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Paradise Regained :Day 3 & 4

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Our next stop was Sonamarg, around 83 KMs from Srinanagar. Sonmarg is situated in the Sindh valley at a height of 8950 feet. The snow clad mountains over the horizon that we got used to by now was like the clouds in the sky. Something that you could see but not touch!

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Raven

Paradise on Earth- Jammu and Kashmir (Part 3)

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We passed the first town enroute – Ganderbal, within an hour. It was after Ganderbal that the real beauty of the drive commenced. After Ganderbal, the snow-capped Himalayas greeted us bang on. Every turn gave us panoramic new scenes, which always seemed to better than the previous one. Complimented by the untouched beauty of the Sindh River, the landscape was picture perfect.

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Paradise on Earth-Jammu and Kashmir (Part 2)

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These floating pieces of land are used by the landowners to do some kitchen gardening and are bound to the floor of the lake through a long pole. The boatman informed us that often these floating pieces of land are stolen in the stealth of the night and the police are left with no alternative but to register a case of ‘stolen land’!

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