KASHMIR EUPHORIA – Part Two

Since it was raining in Srinagar, we had decided to take a daytrip to Gulmarg the next day. Located at a distance of about 52 kms from the city of Srinagar, this place offers the best of ice-adventure sports in the country. To mention a few facts about the place, Gulmarg offers the world’s highest golf course and is called “Golfer’s Paradise”. It is one of the fewest places in the world to have a “Gondola” (cable car) facility that can take you to a height of 10, 200 feet and that makes it one of the highest lift served ski resorts in the world. Gulmarg is often identified with a European climate and as its name suggests, Gulmarg is a valley of meadows filled with beautiful flowers like bluebells and daisies, to name a few.

With a spectacular view of natural beauty that knows only the color of green, one can see the snow-clad mountains in its backdrop. There is a Gondola station right at the bottom (which is at a height of 2650 feet too). One can climb up by the Gondola, which has two phases, and takes you to a height of 10, 200 feet. I was prepared for the heights that I was about to witness while sitting in a Gondola. But due to some technical problem, the Gondola was closed that day and I had to opt for horses instead! As a sucker for horse riding, I was pretty excited about the journey, until I realized that the road isn’t how it looks like! These horses can climb any heights and can take you to Ellahpatra or Illahpatri (correct me if I’m wrong, which I’m more than sure I am!), which is about 14,000 feet high, beyond which is the PoK province.

I started the horse ride, right from the parking lot of Gulmarg. The road for an hour was lovely. I felt like I was blindfolded with a green velvet cloth! All I could see was green. The meadows embellished with wild flowers that looked gold, seemed like God’s own way of painting on a beautiful canvas of Kashmir. The sun played a game, and won each time, as drizzling was always followed by some sunlight, resulting in rainbows! I enjoyed my horse ride, talking to my guide Anwar, clicking a million pictures on the way as my wanderlust seemed to ask for more. The stretches of pine and oak trees that promise to touch the clouds, would compel me to enter and get lost in my land of fantasies. The road ends at a point and the real climbing starts after an hour. Riding on the horses and climbing on those terrific slopes of Gulmarg, isn’t for the weak-hearted.

I, along with my horse, whom I didn’t call any, climbed rocks over rocks, and even crossed a couple of giant waterfalls. Every second was a thin line between life and death for an altophobic person like me and out of an explainable helplessness that comes with an explosion of adrenaline; I preferred looking at the mountains above me rather than watching the breathtaking views of those green and gold meadows that were now about 10,000 feet below me! The sun gave up and I soon realized that I’m witnessing a snowfall. Since it was my first time, I behaved like a kid, and no, I’m not writing about my first reaction!

It took us about three hours to reach the top which is about 14,000 feet high. By the time I reached there, the entire land was covered with thick snow. I was really tired after those long and deadly horse riding hours. So I just sat down, spent some time with myself, thinking and writing while sipping on steamy hot kashmiri kahwa that my guide managed to fetch at that height, played with the snow and tried my hand on ice-skiing. Gulmarg is one of the finest ice-skiing resorts in the world and offers great slopes for the beginners.

Climbing down was pretty much comfortable as I managed to catch the Gondola. The weather was clear and the technical errors were resolved. Within 15 minutes I climbed down the same distance for which it took 3 hours to climb up! Hands down technology! But you see the beauty? The experience of the horse ride while climbing was much more descriptive than that of the Gondola ride! Slowness will always hypnotize you and ask you to indulge and drink up the nature. It reminded me of the same slow motion of the oar of the shikara and the sound of water in the Dal Lake, and yes, that’s where I wanted to be the next moment! I missed the Boulevard Road in Srinagar and needed a long walk there, while watching the sun set.

But here are few do’s and don’ts about Gulmarg –

• Don’t opt for a horse ride, if you are very scared of heights and if you are weak hearted.
• It is preferable to visit Gulmarg on a clear day, although the place changes its weather every five minutes!
• It is better to eat some not-so-heavy yet filling food near the taxi parking lot, at the bottom. There are a few good cafes around it. It is better to hire sheep-wool trench coats and gum boots from these small shops.
  
• Don’t forget to carry a bottle of water with you ‘cause at that height of 14,000 feet, you might not find a general store!
• Talk to the locals and ask them questions, they are pretty good-looking. Then click loads of pictures and send them to me!!

Avanika.