Kashmir - A Paradise on Earth
Out of all the places
that I’ve been to in India, Kashmir definitely takes the top spot. Having been
there only once, this place has left me wanting more and more. Maybe it’s the
people or maybe it’s just the place, but if there is some place in India that I
wouldn’t get tired of, it has to be Kashmir.
Vacationing in Kashmir right after I finished
my board exams was definitely a dream come true. Our seven-day trip to Kashmir
was filled with happiness, joy and awe of the magnificent beauty around us.
We arrived at the Srinagar airport on the
morning of a crisp summer day in May. The runway was just a strip of land,
barely large enough to house three aeroplanes. Surrounded by the tall Himalayan
mountains, I can say with certainty that I fell in love with the state on first
sight.
We were met at the airport by our driver for
the trip, Sameer bhai, with his large tourister van and witty remarks. Deciding
on Srinagar being our last stop, we departed directly from the airport to
Pahalgam, a 2-hour journey on a highway filled with fields and fields of
saffron, a line of shops selling willow bats and various orchards of dry fruits
and apples. But we did not stop, as we wanted to reach Pahalgam by lunch time.
As we neared Pahalgam, we were met with the
Lidder River, which flowed from the base of the hill, to the top, and all the
way into Pakistan. No matter who left our side, the Lidder River stayed with us
for the entirety of our time in the hill.
We stopped just outside Pahalgam for a quick
lunch of hot steaming Maggi and halwa with fried chapatis. Maybe it was the
travelling that made us so hungry, but we ate plate after plate until we could
barely move. Soon, we were on our way again.
On entering Pahalgam, we were directly taken
to our first tourist spot of the trip, Baisaran Valley. Maybe it was a bad idea
to not take a stop at our hotel, but a day and a half seemed to be very less
time to cover Pahalgam, especially when leaving our hotels after 6 in the
evening was considered extremely dangerous. And so, we proceeded according to
the locals' advice.
The trek to Baisaran Valley on the backs of
ponies was definitely the highlight of our trip. The trek was about an hour and
a half long, with 15 km to cover, on the steep hills of the valley. We trekked
along the sides of the Lidder, around the rocky patches of the mountains and
barely managing to not hit the pine trees. The fear of falling to our deaths
was made worse by the constant commentary of our little brother, who was 3
years old at that time, talking about various movies in which the characters
fall into the river and never come back.
Halfway through the trek, we weren't the same
as how we begun. My father had decided he was too heavy to be riding a pony, my
pony decided to take a detour and go off track and my little brother decided he
was a character from Bahubali.
But all these obstacles were worth it, when we
arrived at the top of the valley and saw for ourselves what it had to offer.
The title "Mini Switzerland of India" is an understatement for the
beauty the Valley offers. The vast expanse of the meadow surrounded by Pine
trees and overlooked by snow covered peaks was truly breath-taking and no less
than any foreign land of greenery.
The meadow was filled with people taking
pictures against the almost unreal backdrop, locals holding rabbits and selling
snacks and kids rolling around in those large bubble balls.
But like every good thing, this also had to
come to an end. On realising that we had spent a lot more than the planned time
admiring this creation of God, we had to hurry back down the hill. Some of us
decided to walk while the others took the ponies.
By the time we arrived back at the bus stand,
we were so tired that we considered skipping the other tourist spots. Most of
the family decided to head back to the hotel while we decided to see the Betaab
Valley.
Just outside the Betaab Valley, we stopped on
the banks of the Lidder River to perform Wudhu (ablution) to pray. The feel of
the cool water on our face and hands was truly a humbling experience. The
feeling of peace that came with doing wudhu in the rushing river is something
irreplaceable.
The Betaab Valley was yet another breath-taking
spot in Kashmir, yes, not as much as the Baisaran, but still so beautiful and
so serene. Walking around the Valley and just watching people do what they do
left us feeling complete and satisfied.
Soon we made our way to the hotel, which was
yet again on the banks of the Lidder River, with a small part of the river
flowing right through the centre of the garden. We spent our evening sitting
around in the garden and just watching the beauty that is nature around us.
By 7 in the evening, all of us had crashed,
waking up in the middle of the night, just to satisfy our stomachs and going
right back to sleep, knowing that the next morning would yet again show us
something new but something just as majestic and beautiful as the previous day.
Our first day of Kashmir had ended with that, but our journey of falling in
love with Kashmir had just begun.
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