Day 2:

Continued from Day 1

*For the trip video of Day 2 scroll down to bottom of the page *

This is going to be a very long blog as the journey was long and we had so many new experiences which I don't feel like not documenting.

Today we woke up pretty early as our next destination was Gurez which would take around 6-7 hours from Srinagar. This was the beginning of the real journey to the offbeat areas of Kashmir. There was not much reference articles available on the net when I was researching on the place before booking. But the few images and blog I came across told me that it was immensely beautiful. So I was pretty excited when I woke up. 

In summers in Kashmir I noticed an interesting thing - the daylight would be there for long in the evening around 7 - 7.30 PM and the sunrise would happen pretty early around 5 AM. Usually in any of the mountainous regions I have visited, the sunset would happen early around 5 or 6 and then the sunrise would happen early too. But Kashmir had longer days and shorter nights which makes it a very ideal place to travel. With the additional hours you get in the daylight you can cover more areas unlike other hill stations. 

We got ready by 7.30 AM and finished our breakfast by 8 AM. Our driver Khursheed bhai was supposed to meet us at the hotel around 8AM. We checked out of our room and came down to the reception area. The reception area was the only part of the hotel which was actually well kept and nice traditional upholstery. While waiting at the lobby I was speaking to the manager at the reception. He asked me where are we headed next. When I told him it was Gurez he gave me a confused expression and then asked "wo kaha hain? (where is that?)". I smiled and said, he was the local person here, I should have asked him about Gurez instead of he wanting to know about the place. After I gave him some details, he said he will check with Shabir Bhai (our tour operator) on how the place was as he wanted to send some of his relatives there. He also took my number and told me that he will call me later to know about my experience. 

Soon we got to know Khursheed bhai was running late and would reach in half an hour. So we spent sometime in the lobby and then in front of the hotel taking pictures. We noticed an armyman inside the army bunker opposite to the hotel. I was actually curious why there was a bunker stationed at such a harmless less crowded looking road with very little number of houses. But I didn't get a chance to check that with anybody in the hotel. Soon our car arrived and we loaded our bags and headed out. 

The road from the hotel looked prettier in the morning. It was still cold but not as much as it was in the night. I think all roads and neighborhoods look pretty in Kashmir because there is no random littering or garbage on the roads. Everything looks very neat and clean. And touchwood I hope this remains the same way in future too, because when there is a lot of tourist influx in any place it turns to get dirty due to random littering. 

On way we stopped by a small grocery shop and got some green apple juice from Druke, a few packets of lays chips/crisps (these flavors I did not find in Pune) and Bisleri water bottles. This was the first time when in the entire trip I picked up bottled water from shops instead of having the water in hotels and found it actually cost effective. Also during most of the travel period we had cold weather so the water consumption was also less and we could make do with the occasional purchase of good branded water bottles. 

Tchot or Girda - one of the Kashmiri breakfast breads

We also saw various types of breads being sold in the grocery stores early morning. Some of them had very interesting textures. Usually the freshly baked local breads are sold at kaander waan or  kandur(the local baker’s shop).The kandur forms an intrinsic part of the social life in Kashmir and every locality has their own local kandur from which the people purchase their daily quota of breads. But these grocery stores also have a selection of local breads which are sold for morning breakfast. The most common bread we saw in the grocery shops was Tchot or Girda. Tchot is one of the traditional Kashmiri breakfast flatbread, sort of a naan in looks but a little more harder. They have a crisp crust with chewy inside and best eaten fresh out of the tandoor. I did have a plan to taste them during my time back in Srinagar but some how we missed it. 

The Shikara Ride at Dal Lake

Since we had missed the chance to do Shikara ride the last evening we thought we would take another chance at doing the ride in the morning before we left Srinagar. This time we had the wisdom from earlier evening so we told Khursheed bhai to take us to a ghat which was near to the city center. As I mentioned in the previous blog if you take a shikara from ghats post 20, it is usually pretty far away from the main market area (Meena Bazar) and they will not be able to cover everything in an hour's time. The Char Chinar point is closer from those ghats so they will propose that you visit Char chinar instead of the market area. Now this is purely based on my take and some of the reviews I had read, the Char chinar at present does not look anything good. In fact the chinar trees you would see on the roadsides look much prettier. This place has lost its erstwhile glory with 3 of the Chinar trees decaying. Jammu & Kashmir administration has plans to translocate three fully-grown Chinar trees from elsewhere to the very spots on the island where the decayed trees once stood but from what I saw in the recent blogs it didnt look like a major attraction. If you still want to visit the place you can do so but just be aware that from ghat no 20 onwards the char chinar is nearer while market is far. And from the ghats before 20 the market place is nearer and the char chinar is farther. So be very cautious which choosing the right 'package'. The boatmen at times dupe you to think they will cover 10 spots in 2 hours but all they do is float around the lake and show you some random spots from far where you cant even stop or get down. Frankly if you have a lot of time in your hand you can do a 2 or more hours shikara ride because these rides are very relaxing. but since we didnt have much time in hands we wanted to do for max one hour. Also one more important thing to note here is that shopping time is excluded from the one hour slot. So if you are stopping at many places for shopping that will not be counted in this one hour slot. Also if you are fortunate to get a good boatman then they easily extend this 1 hour slot into 1.5 hours without any additional haggling. 

We reached Ghat no 18 by 8.50 AM which had a very big parking space just opposite to the ghat. It is a paid parking area. But if you are in a packaged tour like we were then you don't need to pay these additional tolls, its included in the package. We parked our vehicle and then Khursheed bhai and me walked down to the ghat to see if we got a better price that what we heard last evening. There were only one or two tourist I could see around. Most of the shikaras were stationed at the ghats with the boatmen resting at the ghat or in their boats. I was determined that if now again they would say its 3500 for a one hour ride I would totally give up the idea of doing a shikara ride in Kashmir. I was not going to get fleeced knowingly. Fortunately this time the tout who was managing the boats agreed at Rs 800 for a one hour ride. If I wanted I would have bargained further and brought it down to 700 or lesser but I was in no mood to get into all that first thing in the morning. So I agreed to it and called my mom to come down. 

All this time I was wondering if the ride would be worth all the hype around it or would be just like an overrated thing you witness at popular tourist destinations. Also since sunset Shikara rides is the most recommended experience, I was also wondering whether doing the same during the day would feel good or not. The point is I did not have a very high expectation from this ride before I went for it, it was more like checking off a checklist item while in Kashmir. 

Since it was very early in the day, the tourists who are interested in the morning floating market were already gone (till 6.30 AM) and the ones who wanted to do it for Instagram pictures were still not there ( major tourist influx starts at late afternoon). So I felt this was the leanest time to go on a ride. But that proved to be a blessing in disguise. 

Our Shikara

Floating shops

The Dal lake is a world in its own. You cannot fathom it just from the fringes, you need to be in the middle of it to feel the real vibe. And a Shikara ride is the best way to enjoy the lifestyle up close. The name of our Shikara was Dilbar Firdaus and our boatman was Javed Bhai. Shikaras are considered to be the cultural representation of Kashmir just like the Venetian gondolas. They are also the lifeline of Dal Lake. They are made of deodar tree wood having a length of almost 4.6 meters or 15 feet with pointed ends on both sides and with colorful canopies over the seating area. These usually have 2 sets of seat, one which is wider and more like a tiny bed and the one opposite to it is leaner with only seating space for 2 people. A shikara can easily accommodate 4 adults. 

The shikaras are anchored very close to the ghat steps and the boatman helps you get into the boat. Now While I don't think that a lady holding the hand of a man is that common in the culture of Kashmir, but in the given situation we had to hold on to the hand of our boatman to get in safely without falling flat into the water. The boat shook a bit but we made it safely to the broader seats and settled down. The boatman was very nimble on his feet and precariously balanced himself while hanging on to the fringes of the boat and get past to the other end of the boat. It almost looked like a stunt scene straight out of a movie. After we all settled down, he started rowing and we pushed forward across the placid waters of Dal.

A mother and son sailing in boat

To my surprise even if the temperature under the sun was pretty high, inside the Shikara and on the Dal lake it didn't feel warm at all even at that time of the day. And contrary to my doubts, I actually started to enjoy the feel of sailing on the waters of this beautiful lake almost immediately. There was very limited numbers of boats with tourist. Mostly it was locals who was going about their day. We saw a mother and her small kid on a small boat nearby. The kid was hardly 5-6 years of age but even he was rowing. Javed Bhai told us it was usually at this age when the kids are introduced to rowing here. 

It is so peaceful in the early hours of the morning

Floating Flower Shops on the lake

Some of the magnificent house boats on the lake

A 6 Bedroom Houseboat

It felt absolutely surreal while just sitting there and enjoying the cool morning air, water splashing by the boat and in the backdrop the Zabarwan mountains standing like a sentinel. But soon our sense of tranquility was broken by the approach of a jewellery salesperson. This is a very common affair in Dal lake, while you are sitting in your boat all these mobile salesperson would approach you with different items like jewellery, food, decorative items etc. and would bug you till you buy something from them. This guy started showing us different jewelleries even when we said we are not interested. They are very persuasive and if you are bad in bargaining like us, you will be fleeced for good. We tried to do a very feeble kind of bargaining to which the guy agreed and I finally bought a ring just to get rid of him. Afterwards we told Javed Bhai to not let these salespeople come and bug us, we were not interested in buying anything, we just wanted to enjoy the ride. He did exactly the same and kept them at bay. 

Soon we entered the Meena bazar area. Since it was still early morning the shopkeepers were just opening their stores. Many were also closed. We also saw a mobile hospital somewhere. As we entered into the water lanes of Meena Bazar, I could only imagine how vibrant and bustling this place would look during the evenings. It is a paradise for shopaholics. Even at that time of the day, we were fancied by the beautiful shawls, suits, sarees and handicraft floating shops that adorned both the sides of these canals. We had no intention of buying anything so it was more like a window shopping thing for us, at least to start with! And Javed Bhai understood that as well so he was not pushing us to do shopping.

Inside the shop looking at some of the finest hand woven shawls

Outside the shop

A little while into these shops there was one shop which had a saree which caught my mom's fancy. We asked Javed bhai to move closer to the shop as she wanted to enquire about it. But no sooner we came closer, the shopkeepers convinced my mom and then me to step out of the boat and have a look inside. I was hesitant at first but eventually gave in. From outside you can only see these mannequins on a platform donning all these traditional dresses. But once you step in, they would lead you behind through a obscure door which would lead to a huge area stuffed with clothes. I was amazed at the size of the place, which I had no idea of from outside. We sat down on the cushions on the floor as the shopkeeper kept pulling out various shawls from his stock. It was a fascinating experience to see such beautiful hand woven works. Some of the finest pashminas were really amazing to hold. They were as expected extremely pricy. Without having any intention of buying anything here we ended up getting 3 shawls and 2 sarees for a whooping 13K. And they might have coaxed us further if we hadn't put our foot down finally! We left with a sack like package filled with all these. One more thing to mention here is, I asked them if there was a washroom around, and the shopkeeper told me I could use their personal washroom which was behind this selling area. I was further amazed how big the interiors of this floating place was, because it seemed like a complete house in itself.

While I might not recommend you to purchase expensive clothes form the Meena bazar if you have time and energy to visit Lal chowk and do a due diligence. But if you don't then you can try stopping by at these floating shops. You might not get the most authentic stuffs at most competitive prices but the ones that we got were pretty good for ourselves as well as gifting purpose.

The floating vegetation within the lake

Beautiful Birds of the Dal Lake

We finished our little shopping stint and were off on the waters again. One thing I had not expected was that our Shikara ride would also become a birding experience. We saw so many different varieties of birds on the water. Dal lake usually gets a lot of migratory birds every year and its fascinating to stroll on the water while watching these beautiful birds. The tiny baby birds were the most charming ones. I don't know their names, if anyone of you know do let me know in the comments. Also, I think you should definitely carry your binoculars if you are a birding enthusiast. 

We moved out of the Meena bazar main area and kept floating through the backwaters of the lake. Javed bhai was telling us many stories about his experience and all. The backwaters looked more untouched and serene. We also saw homes of people on the banks of the lake. And their primary mode of transport was the small boats. There were some patches where it was only us, trees, vegetation patches and silence. I think because we were doing this early in the morning we could feel the calmness and serenity of the place in its fullest. 

The miniature boat collection

Beautiful life size artworks on display

That's the shop owner in the reflection

Soon we came across a small pier where an old uncle was sitting with a samovar and setting up his shop. As our shikara passed him, he beckoned us to have tea. I asked him if he had Kehwa and he said yes. So we immediately ordered it. While he went back to get the kehwa, the shopkeeper adjacent to this shop came down and began persuading us to visit his wooden handicraft store. After much persuasion I walked down with him through the narrow pier to his shop. From outside we actually couldn't gauge the kind of massive beautiful wooden artwork he had inside. I had no intention of buying anything from there as my home is already fully setup. But the point is if you love woodwork you might really find these places fascinating. The prices are very steep but if you can differentiate a genuine work then I'm sure its worth it. He also showed me a small wooden box which had a hidden lock for opening it. After spending about 5-10 minutes in this shop I came out. by that time our Kehwa was already served in the boat. It was one of the best Kehwa I have ever tasted. It had a pale golden colour and pieces of nuts in it. The flavor and the mild heat really refreshed us. We though we will come back for round 2 but didn't get time. 

As we passed more floating vegetation Javed bhai told us that if you stand on these vegetation you wont sink. And he also gave us a quick demo by standing on it. We also saw Nehru Park on our way back. We didn't  get down in the park as we were already running late. We thought we will cover the park on our last day in Kashmir when we will be back once again in Srinagar.

We were a little sad when our ride got over. We thanked Javed bhai for being so generous and promised him that we will be again riding with him the day we get back. 

We saw some of the homes of locals while sailing through the backwaters

The backwaters were more tranquil

Reaching back to Ghat No 18

Intercepted by the Traffic Police

The ride in the lake was such a great start to our morning. We drove out of the parking lot discussing about our experience. It was not even 2 minutes into the road when we were stopped by the Traffic policemen. Khursheed bhai tried to talk to them from the car but they insisted he stepped out. So he parked the car and went out. Now this was really not anticipated. We could see from the car that there was some heated discussion happening. After some 15 minutes Khursheed bhai finally came back and told us that when they could not find any issue with the papers they asked him to pay Rs 500 penalty for not being in uniform. Only after he paid them they let him go. So basically its the same everywhere be it any other city or Kashmir where often tourist cars are stopped and their drivers harassed for some or other reason. We hoped that we didn't have any other situation like this for the rest of the day.

On the way

Before leaving Srinagar we stopped at one of those small fruit shops on the roadside to pickup some cherries. They looked absolutely yummy from a distance. I asked mom to get down and buy them as she was a better judge of the quality. Soon she was back with a box of cherries which cost Rs 200 and had a good amount of cherries, almost 1/2 kg I think. Mom always says fruits are best enjoyed with a pinch of salt. These cherries were somewhere between sweet and tart. Fortunately for us, the loot we had collected form our Air India flight also had a small packet of salt and pepper. So we dipped the cherries in the salt and enjoyed.

Today was going to be the longest stretch of travel on the road. Srinagar to Gurez was about 140 KM roughly and we would be crossing over Bandipora, which is one of the major towns on this route. For travelers who do not have their own car or do not want to do this long journey in one go, usually stop over at Bandipora before heading further. We got to know there are budget hotels as well in bandipora for a short stop over.

We took the following route Srinagar-> Shadi Pora -> Sumbal -> Nasbal -> Safa Pora ->Bazipora -> Gamroo ->Phalwan Pora (Bandipora)-> Manrigam -> Razdan Pass-> Kazalwan -> Dawar (Gurez).

The total journey takes about 7-8 hours depending on how many times you stop (you will feel like stopping everywhere because of the beautiful scenery), your speed, weather conditions, queue at the check posts etc. Hence it is recommended that you start from Srinagar at least by 10 AM so that you can reach at a decent time in Gurez. But unfortunately we got a little late due to the Shikara ride and left Srinagar at about 12 PM. 

It was a bright and lovely day.  The road runs flat all the way from Srinagar to Bandipora. We found very less traffic on the road hence the ride was enjoyable. On the way the first lake that we cross is the Manasbal lake. I have read references of this lake in Satyajit Ray's Feluda Story (Bhusorgo Bhoyonkar) where he had described this as a beautiful lake. I think if you have time you can stop over at the lake. We didn't, so we moved on. We also noticed many farming lands on the way including paddy fields. 

Stopping for lunch

It was past noon and we were already feeling hungry. I asked Khursheed bhai to stop at some nearby restaurant where we can have lunch. We reached a small town Safapora and stopped to look for a restaurant which looked decent. Unfortunately till that point we didn't have a good experience with food in Kashmir so we didn't expect much, just a clean place to eat. Just across the road, on the main chowk there was a restaurant called Taj Restaurant which looked okay. We wanted to grab a quick lunch and be back on the roads. 

The restaurant had a tandoor station outside and seating space inside. It was small but neat and clean. We took the table adjacent to the tandoor section by the door as the seating space inside was mainly occupied by men. The menu had a lot of option but we were looking for something which would be quick. We checked with the boy who was tending the tables and ordered tawa naan and one plate each of mutton and chicken kanti. Me and my mother's food choices are pretty different. While I was very focused on trying out the different mutton dishes while being in Kashmir she preferred to stick to chicken most of the times. We have been seeing this Kanti thing on the menu from yesterday so I thought to give it a try. Its also interesting to note that even in small restaurants all over Kashmir they have Wazwan dishes which are very elaborate preparations.

The menu @ Taj Restaurant

While we waited for our food, I asked the person at the main counter if there was any washroom around. The man said there is something at a distance outside. We were a little disappointed that there was nothing inhouse, but just then the guy who was manning our table came forward and told me to follow him. He led me through the seating space towards the back of the restaurant. We entered a place which looked like someone's house. He told me that he is letting me use his own home's washroom. I was so very touched by this gesture. He opened the washroom door for me and left. Leaving a stranger inside the house unattended showed how much faith they had on humanity in general. It was rather surprising for me. I don't think I have seen such a gesture anywhere else be it in the cities or in any tourist place. The washroom was very nice and clean. After finishing my business I came back and gave mom the directions to the washroom. When she was gone for a long time I got a little worried. My mother's sense of direction was not exactly excellent always so I thought maybe she had lost her way back. Our food arrived by then and just as I was thinking whether to go looking for her, she popped out of the backdoor. 

Mom then told me while she was coming back she met the lady of the house, the mother of the guy who had led us in. And this lady was a Bengali who had married a Kashmiri and left Bengal more than 2 decade ago. My mom and the lady talked about a lot of things which was the reason of delay. It was again surprising how in this far away land we met a Bengali lady out of the blue. The lady also latter popped form behind the doors and gave a smile to me. The hotel was run by her sons, one of the son was the guy who was manning our table. The hotel had started recently last year in October. 

The food was not good not bad, since I was very hungry I enjoyed it. The mutton kanti seemed to be coated pieces of mutton stir fried with with capsicum and onions, something very similar to chilli chicken. I like the mutton kanti better than the chicken one. Mom could not finish the chicken , so we took the leftover in a tissue which we later fed to a stray dog instead of throwing it away. we thanked the folks for the food and resumed our journey.

Wular lake

The next lake we came across was the Wular lake. Wular Lake, also known as Wolar in Kashmiri, is one of the largest fresh water lakes in South Asia. It is approximately 40KM from Srinagar situated between the towns of Bandipora and Sopore in the foothills of Haramuk Mountain.. The Lake lies at an altitude of 1,580 m, spreading over an area of 200 sq KM. The lake basin was formed as a result of tectonic activity and is fed by the Jhelum River and the stream named Madhumati. We saw the lake from a vantage point on the road. The lake looked never ending, it was really massive! We saw some kids playing cricket on the banks, boats floating in the water, and people going about their daily lives. There were willow plantations along the lake and I heard that there is also some park in the lake vicinity for tourists. It took us about roughly  2.5 hours to reach this point (including the lunch break we took for 30 minutes). I had read more about Wular lake later in a Blog and it seemed like a nice place if you wanted to sleepover for the night to enjoy the lake.

Wular Lake from far

Wular Lake

The beautiful Wular

Stopping at Bandipora (Phalwan Pora)

No sooner we left the restaurant, Khursheed bhai was seen speaking to someone in Kashmiri and getting some directions. I did no get curious about it as I thought it might be someone he knows. The Wular lake kept us company all along the Bandipora Sumbal road. The color of the sky was a magnificent powder blue and the mountains embracing the lake looked stunning. Soon we saw boards with signs Welcoming tourists in Bandipora. We crossed a small checkpoint but we didn't need to produce any documents. The Madhumari looked more like a river than a mere stream as we progressed towards Bandipora. After reaching bandipora, Khursheed bhai suddenly took a right turn into some small lane. Now I felt was the right time to ask some questions, as we were clearly going off road. I asked him where are we going and he didn't give a clear answer at first. Then he stopped by the side of the road in front of a shop cum house. When I asked again what were we doing there, he just smiled and got out of the car saying, "Kuch chai shai pi lo (have some tea here)".  

Obviously we were a little confused. Maybe it was a friend's shop, I thought. I was speculating whether to get down, when we saw 3-4 kids and a gentleman coming out of the shop. He walked to our car and with a wide smile said, "Please aayiyen and kuch chai pijiye (Please come and have tea)".  We were still not sure what exactly was happening but because of the way the man invited us, we stepped out. We walked inside the small shop in the first floor just across the road.  The kids looked at us curiously, and blushed when we smiled back.

Bandipora Check post

Towards Bandipora

Everything in Kashmir looks beautiful

• Kashmiri SEEK KABAB pickle 
• Kashmiri RISTA [ Meatballs] pickle 
• TROUT FISH pickle 
• MIXED VEGETABLES pickle 
• Kashmiri RED CHILLI pickle 
• Kashmiri LESHSUN (garlic) pickle 
• PLUM [Aree] pickle 
• GRAPES  pickle 
• AMLA pickle 
• Mutton pickle 
• chicken pickle 
• Kashmiri Masala Tikki (Vaaer) 
• karela achar
• Lotus root achar

The name of his shop is TR Wholesale Mart and it is located near Masjid Sultania Sonerwani. They also offer home delivery within 3 KM. 

Seekh Kabab, Rishta and fish pickle

Vegetarian pickles

The pretty little princess

The owner and his mom sharing stories with us

While we were chit chatting with the owner, the 3 kids lined up against the window of the shop and kept looking at us. They looked super curious as it might not be often that a non Kashmiri drops by at their shop I presumed, and that too a couple of ladies. I wanted to click pictures with those 3 kids, but they seemed too shy. As soon as I asked the kids to come in so that I could take a snap, the 2 boys fled 😃. Only the girl came in and posed with us as long as we wanted. This little one was so pretty I couldn't take my eyes off. And her smile was absolutely adorable. The owner then served us ice cream and the lil girl also got her favorite cola stick.

We talked for a long time with all of them and they were so candid in sharing their life stories. We learnt that Mr Riz was an IS aspirant and an ardent trekker. The shop was something he was doing as a stop gap. His family stayed in the house above. Soon his mother and sister came down and started talking with us. Each lady looked stunning and one could just admire how beautiful Kashmiri ladies are! After spending a lot of fun time at the shop with the family and the kids we got to leave. The owner gave 3 types of pickle to us complimentary ignoring our protests. 

All of them came to see us off. Two of their relatives came with us in the car, they needed to be dropped nearby on our way. They were a mother daughter duo and soon we got talking with them also. Even though they were from this small town, the knowledge and intelligence was evident in their talks.

We merged on the main road and soon crossed over the Sai Bridge over the Madhumati river at Sonarwani. The river was gushing by with full force beneath. The origin of Madhumati as the lifeline of Bandipora can be traced back to the mouth of the Gangsar – high-altitude lake from the Harmukh mountain which then bifurcates into the Arin nallah and the Madhumati. The Bandipur-Gurez road is only line of communication joining the Gurez valley with the rest of Jammu & Kashmir. The 55-meter-long Sai bridge was constructed over this river by BEACON, a unit of the Border Roads Organization to connect border town of Gurez and other far flung areas near the Line of Control (LoC) with the rest Jammu and Kashmir.

Soon it was time to drop off the ladies at their home. They insisted a lot that we come to their home for a cup of tea and some rest before going further. We were tempted for sure to experience more of the Kashmiri hospitality but then resisted ourselves as we knew we were already running late for Gurez. 

Madhumati River @ Bandipora

Gaining Altitude

Once we dropped the ladies and came ahead leaving behind the town, we started gaining altitude. The vistas turned a notch more beautiful as the clouds closed in around the mountains. From Bandipora it was still around 80 KM to our destination and the rain clouds formation up ahead in the mountains looked a little scary from there. 

After we left Bandipora there were places with hairpin bends and steep ascents. We started crossing one mountain after other and slowly reaching the point where all the rain clouds were assembled. The good thing was that the road conditions were pretty good. I had read many blogs stating that road condition is horrible in this route. But we found it quite empty and good. Maybe during rains the road conditions might not be good or maybe recently they had fixed the bad patches. 

Enroute we came across a traffic jam, the kind of jam which you would only get in the mountains. Kashmiri nomads were walking their goats and sheep on the way. They took their own sweet time to clear the way even though Khursheed bhai was asking them to move. We really enjoyed this holdup. I remember we had same experience in Himachal also. There nomads keep moving all around the place whole year. higher up we also saw their tents on the most precarious areas on the slope. I wondered how they reached those spots to setup their camps. 

The beautiful scenery

Some under construction tunnel on way to Gurez

The nomad shepherd

Expert Climbers

The sheeps

As we gained altitude, most of the trees on either side of the roads were tall pine trees. We could spot the mountains which looked azure blue in the distance and grey rain clouds hovering on them. The color of all the flora and fauna looked a notch deeper due to the heavily overcast sky. 

After crossing many hairpin bends we reached a spot where there were some shops selling food and snacks. I did see a couple of tourist cars parked there. If you need a break and want to have some food then you can stop at this spot. They have maggi, chips, tea etc. Also in this entire stretch this is the only spot you get food, so if you are hungry its better to stop here. Unfortunately I do not remember the name of that spot. Khursheed bhai asked us if we wanted to stop for tea. We didn't want to loose any time so we didn't stop here and kept moving ahead.

Near the snack shops

Grey and green dominated the color palate

The rainclouds closed in as we approached Razdaan Paas

Check posts enroute to Gurez and a meeting with Mastani

As I have mentioned earlier that in the entire Kashmir you would find army barricades/ checkpoints very occasionally. And since Gurez route is near to the border area, the army checkpoints come very frequently here. There are about 6-7 check posts enroute to Gurez from Srinagar. However you are not asked to stop and show papers at every checkpoint. 

After crossing those snack shops and going for a little distance we came across the first army checkpoint where we were asked to park our car for making entry. Khursheed bhai parked the car on one side and we handed him our aadhar cards. There was a barricade ahead after which a small office sort of where the entry was being made. 

You might be wondering if we needed any permit for Gurez as its so near to the border. I got to know that earlier it was required but now Indian nationals do not need any special permit to enter Gurez. You only need to have a valid ID proof (Aadhar card) with which make an on-the-spot entry at Army and Police check-posts. 

The cute Mastani

We were sitting in the car when we saw an young armed military man walking down the road toward us. No matter how much used you get to seeing army on the road, if an army man walks towards you, you do start feeling jittery. but my eyes were focused on the huge German Shepard walking beside him. The dog in between chased off some cows who were coming near the barricade. There was another small dog also accompanying the large one. The army person walked to our car and asked me from where are we coming. He also asked if we were only two women in this trip. I began talking to him without any apprehension though he was very formal in his response which is the need of his job of course. It reminded me of the time we had a chat with a senior army man in Cherrapunji last year. That guy was overtly friendly and we had spoken about hundred things under the sun. 

While we waited for our entries to get done, no other cars had come. So it was just us. My eyes were still focused on the beautiful dog. I asked the army person whether I can step out and pet the dog. He said yes with a very stoic expression. The dog seemed very attached to this guy only. I asked him what was its name. He said its a female doggo and her name was Mastani. Such a royal name perfectly fitting for such a royal dog! She was old but full of grace. I reached out to her and petted her on the head, to which she didnt react much and was calm. I wanted to pet her more but I decided otherwise as I saw Khursheed bhai coming back towards the car.

We got into the car and I said a thanks to the army person. He told Khursheed bhai to hurry up and reach our destination soon stating that the weather was getting bad. He also told me, "We leave our mothers, sisters and wives behind so that we can ensure safety of the mothers and sisters travelling in these part of the country" - that was a real touching statement and also hinted that how hard the lives were of these jawans who were posted so many miles away from their near and dear ones only for the sake of duty. We thanked him again and started off. I waved at Mastani as we crossed the barricade and moved ahead, hoping to see her again on the day we would be coming back form Gurez.

The picturesque hairpin bends

Blue mountains all around

Everything looked beautiful

Faraway snow peaks came into view as as neared Razdan pass

Crossing Razdan Top

The clouds were closing in as we kept gaining altitude. The road conditions were still pretty good. We noticed a Peer Baba's Mazar on our right hand side but time was again a constraint. So we decided to give it a miss and stop while coming back from Gurez. Razdan Pass is about a kilometer from the Peer baba's mazar. Since the weather was getting kind of super overcast, Khursheed bhai was driving at high speed. It was evident he wanted to cross all the ghat areas before we lost the last traces of sunlight. To be frank we were also a little worried because this road hardly had any lights, if we do not have sunlight then it would be more dangerous. 

As we drove towards the Razdan pass the rainclouds in the sky closed in. We could see stormy looking dark clouds hovering above us. The sharp contrast of the fading sun and the dark clouds created a magic in the scenery around. The contrast levels were just too picture perfect!

Rain clouds closing in

We crossed another army checkpost just before Razdan pass, they just asked basic questions and let us go. Khursheed bhai was not asked to step out. I assumed it might partially be due to the worsening weather conditions and the fact that he was taking two ladies along. Also at the first checkpoint they give some entry receipt which needs to be shown at all the checkpoints afterwards from Gurez. So bascically the army will have a complete track of all the cars that are moving in this area. If something went missing it was easy for them to track down the exact point.

Razdaan Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 3.543m (11,624ft) above the sea level. The road is winding and bordered by a drop of hundreds of meters unprotected by guardrails. The pass is 58.8 km (36.53 miles) long, running from Kazalwan to Manrigam. Once an integral part of the Silk route between Kashmir and Central Asia, today the road is used for connecting Gurez to the rest of Kashmir.

The road to the summit, also known as Tragbal Pass, Razdan Top and Rajdhan Pass, is mostly paved, with concrete sections on the steepest gradients. It’s called Gurez-Bandipora Road. The pass connects dozens of remote and far flung areas, including those near the Line of Control (LoC) with district headquarter Bandipora in north Kashmir. The pass remains closed from November to March because of the huge amount of snow it receives in the winter season.

On top of Razdan Pass, it is almost flat drive on a well paved road. The temperature dropped sharply as we approached the pass. It was like walking into a wall of cloud and visibility dropped drastically.  There was a point where we spotted the snow capped peaks behind the clouds and stopped for a few quick photos. The day light was waning and hence the picture quality was not that great. But still the DSLR did a good job I must say.

At the Razdan top, in the distance you can see the snow capped peaks

The old snow @ Razdaan Paas

Razdaan Pass top

We crossed that point and came to the other face of the mountain which had a broader horizon in view. We saw the frozen snow on the sides of the road from the last winter which was still melting. The whole place looked so magical that I was super tempted to stop and experience the moment. Khursheed bhai parked the car and we came out. Standing at the top, you get a 360-degree view of the entire valley around which is absolutely stunning. Lush green vistas and snow capped peaks on all side will surely captivate you in the moment. 

I was not wearing a jacket or any warm clothes and the moment I stepped out of the car it was like minus temperature outside with wind that was gusty and biting cold. With chattering teeth I tried to soak in the moment before I was transformed into an icicle. We broke off some of the ice from the sold snow patches by the side. It was super fun and super cold. We were barely out for 2 minutes and shivering like crazy. After wrapping up the few shots I ran inside the car and pulled out all the warm clothes that we had kept handy already anticipating cold weather. It took me a couple of minutes to get back my normal body temperature. 

In case, you are lucky and clouds do not play games, you could also see Harmukh Peak from Razdan pass. Harmukh Peak is the highest peak in the vicinity. As we drove out of Razdan pass, Khursheed bhai exclaimed it is snowing! I couldn't believe my eyes but it was really snowing a little. No wonder the temperature felt sub zero outside. Later while in Gurez we heard form the locals that whenever it rained in the valley, it would definitely snow at the Razdan top. The snow was short lived, only for that stretch of the pass, we we drove away it stopped snowing and started drizzling. 

And within 10 minutes the drizzle converted into full blown downpour. The road after the Razdan pass was a bit slushy at few stretches due to the rain. And the terrain started looking a little treacherous now - daylight dimming, heavy downpour, slushy roads and thousand feet drop on one side. Mom kept asking at regular intervals how much more we had to cover. Khursheed bhai would only say, just a little more every time my mom asked. It was actually becoming a funny conversation because I understood Khursheed bhai didn't want to scare us by saying we still had a long way to go. 

The first glimpses of Krishnaganga River

The visibility had dropped with all the rain. Condensation and raindrops on our windows made it impossible to understand what was the scenery outside. We were stopped at one more checkpoint. It was raining quite much by then but Khursheed bhai had to step out this time. There was a river gushing just beside. It took around 5-7 minutes to complete the formalities here.

After crossing what seemed like couple of more mountains, we saw a big river beside. I guesses it was Kishenganga or Krishnaganga looking ta the massive size of it. but because of the rain we couldn't open the windows and enjoy the river view. Also we were feeling a little tired with the tension of when will we reach our destination. Meanwhile my Idea network had gone off long time back sometime after Bandipora. And the Jio signal was still very choppy in the mountainous stretches. I just hoped that we would get a better coverage in Gurez.

There is also a dam created very near to Gurez. Due to this dam the waves of Krishnaganga is arrested from atleast 1 KM before. We learnt from the villagers later that this dam project was bringing in more inhabitants to Dawar and Gurez and would probably lead to more urbanization later.

Reaching Gurez and Pine View Resort

My Phone battery was almost dead and the bad daylight was not conducive of taking pictures with my DSLR so I dont have many pictures of entering into Gurez. I hadn't even realized that we had reached Gurez because it was raining outside. But suddenly we were again stopped by the sheep traffic jam and this time it looked as if we were inside a village. I asked Khursheed bhai if we were near our hotel and he said yes. After navigating through the sheep jam we reached our hotel within a minute. It was 6.40PM when we reached our hotel.

The sheep jam inside Gurez

We were staying at the Pine tree resort in Gurez. Since Gurez is still not in the conventional tourist points in Kashmir there are limited number of stays in this area. The most popular ones which you might find on the net is Kaka Palace, Hotel Grand Gurez, The Wood Vibes, and Gurez Retreat. There is also the JKTDC run TRC hotel in Dawar. Our property was a newly opened property just beside Hotel Grand. 

It was still raining when we got out of the car. The hotel didn't look much big from outside but once we went inside it was pretty decent. We were welcomed by its owner and the house chef. The house chef Shakeel bhai carried our luggage to our rooms in the first floor. We were the only boarders that day so there were 2 rooms to choose from. One had the view of the mountains on the India Pakistan border and the other had a view of Habba Khatoon. We kept deliberating which room we should take. Both looked pretty. We were initially a little more inclined to the room with a view of the India Pak border. But later settled for the room with Habba Khatton view. Even though in this room at that time one of the mirrors were broken, which the owner apologized to us saying a kid had broken it the other day. But we still choose this room and glad that we did, for the next whole day we enjoyed magnificent views of the Habba Khatoon right from our room. So I would definitely recommend you to choose this room. Also the Krishnaganga river was very close to our hotel. From our room itself we could see a slice of the Krishnaganga river.

 

Our Room with Habba Khatoon View

The common seating area of the first floor

Dinning area in the ground floor

View from the Room

As the rains stopped, the beauty that awaited us outside our window was simply breathtaking. As if we were transported to somewhere picturesque in the middle of Switzerland. We could not believe that this was Gurez and we were in India. It was absolutely spectacular. And when  I posted the picture on my social media there were many people who asked me whether this was Switzerland. So I am not kidding you. We kept looking at this view with awe till it was almost dark.

Also, since there was no power in the premise when we reached we asked the hotel owner to switch on the backup for sometime so that we could get our phones charged. He did it happily. Since this was a new property, all the fittings and the plug points were pretty modern kind. 

We also spent some time in the common seating area in the first floor. We could see the village and the faraway snow clad mountain which had the camps of both India and Pakistan. There was a different kind of adrenaline rush when we realized we were so close to the borders which we had only heard about in news and stories so far. And when we were finally here it looked like another peaceful mountain range only, not something to be scared of.

India Pakistan base camp lies in those snow capped peaks

Habba Khatoon covered in clouds - view from our room!

Stroll in the village and a drive to Dawar market

We had already freshened up, had tea and since there was no TV in the room we thought we will go out and explore the nearby area on foot till we still had some light. As I mentioned earlier as well, the daylight in Kashmir stays for very long. It was 7.40 PM and we still had some fading light in the horizon which was such a unique thing for me. In Pune we get daylight in the summers till about 6.30PM but never saw daylight till almost 8 PM that too in the mountains.

The path to the main village road was a little slushy from the rain. We didn't venture out too far, as is it was super pretty juts outside our hotel gates. The village looked sleepy. The razdan pass was also visible form there and it had a nice snow cover by then. The air was pretty cold and crisp. It felt out of the world just standing there on the road.  This was the main road that passed through the village and connected to Dawar (main village here) but there was absolutely no traffic. We were the only two souls out on the road at that point. 

While we were walking on the road we saw the owner of our hotel and Khursheed bhai come out. They were going to Dawar market to get some supplies for dinner and saw us and asked if we wanted to check out Dawar market with them. We agreed. The owner had a very small car which I guess was mainly used for 2 people. He had a lot of things stuffed in the car in the back seats. So he and Khursheed bhai got to work to move everything to the boot area to make space for us. 

It was such a unique ride across the village. The daylight was totally gone by that time and the roads didnt have any street light. I could not make out much of the road either, only that after sometime we could hear the gushing waters of a river which I checked with the owner was of Krishnaganga. We crossed almost traffic less narrow road to reach Dawar, the major village in this area. Dawar’s probably the only village in the region with a proper market, access to ATMs, access to cab service. The owner said they get all the ration and produce from Dawar market everyday. They parked the car and asked us to be around while they went to get supplies. 

Dawar market looked comparatively crowded. We could see young tourists mostly guys in the eating areas of the market. This area was not as peaceful as it was near our hotel. We walked down the road. There was a war memorial we saw at first and then after a couple of steps ahead we saw a glitzy cafe named Log Hut Cafe  right out in the middle of nowhere. It had a complete glass façade with fairy lights and all. Amidst the very traditional Kashmiri houses this one looked a little out of place. It was completely empty at that time though. But its an Instagram worthy spot if anyone is interested. We didn't go inside though. 

We came back to the market and checked out a few grocery stores. They had very limited vegetables, but every grocery shop had chicken. And interesting to note, the chickens were already skinned and kept. Since the temperature was pretty cold I guess the raw chicken didn't get bad even if they were kept skinned. Soon our owner and Khursheed bhai returned and we were off on our way to the hotel.

On way the owner stopped for refill at the only petrol station in Gurez. It looked nothing like a petrol pump though. Only two stands sitting in the side of the road. The man operating the petrol pump was also a grocer selling things in the shop by the side of the pump. He only came when called to tank up. It was interesting to get an insight into the lives of people here but at the same time it also gave an idea how hard life would be especially during the winter months. 

The village at 7.45 PM, daylight was still so good!

The Village looked so pretty!

Just looks like a village from Switzerland

Prettiness galore!

Faraway you can see snow on Razdaan paas

The cafe @ Dawar Market

The location of Cafe Log Hut

Location of the only Petrol Pump in Dawar-Gurez

Dinner @ Pine Tree Resort

We came back from the market and got changed into comfortable home clothes. The temperature had nose dived as expected and out came all our warm clothes. The best part was we still had some war water in the storage geyser so we could wash our feet. 

The next thing we did was to make our beds. We knew after dinner we would be feeling too tired to do all this. So we lined our pillows with the pillow covers and the blanket with the bedsheet we had got. Though I must say the bedding and the pillows were very neat and clean, even beyond my expectation. But as a post Covid precaution, we did the needful. 

Once the bed was done we spent some time in the large seating area in front of our room in the first floor. We could not see much outside as it was already dark but could feel it was still raining a little. It was absolutely silent all around as we were the only boarders that night in the whole property. The owner, chef were busy in the kitchen. We went inside the room as there was still some time for the dinner to be served. The room was much warmer than the seating area, but we still sat inside the bed with covers up and chatted. The room doesn't have any TV, which is again a blessing in disguise as you can spend time talking with your family or friends. 

Soon Shakeel bhai knocked on our door to inform us that dinner was served. The washbasin was outside the room in a common area. We washed our hands and the water was icy cold. Shakeel bhai had laid down the dinner on the carpeted floor on the first floor common area. They did have a dining space in the ground floor but this time dinner was served in the typical traditional way where your It looked like a lot of food. I had specially asked for fish that day so he had made trout fish fry. The other items were mushroom matar, daal, two types of chutney, salad and rice. We were super hungry after so much travel and the food was really homely and nice. We finished almost everything in a jiffy. The only thing I noticed was that since the temperature was so low the food was getting cold quickly. Out of all the dishes the daal was the best. We thanked the chef Shakeel bhai for the nice homemade food.

Food was laid on the ground in traditional style

Mushroom Peas subzi, chutneys, daal and trout fish fry

Calling it a day

It had again started raining when we came back to our room. The room was very cozy and warm though. 

Khursheed bhai was put up in a small cottage adjacent to the main hotel. While the next day we got to know the chef and mostly the owner slept in the room by the stairs on first floor.

We talked for sometime and then decided to call it a day. The next day we had plans of going to nearby villages for sightseeing. I was really looking forward to explore the beauty of Gurez the next day. We soon dozed off listening to the pitter patter on the roof.

Continued in Day 3...

Day 2 Trip Video:

Important takeaways from this part:

• Early morning Shikara ride is a really nice experience if you want to enjoy a peaceful ride on the Dal lake
• Srinagar Gurez is about 140 KM and takes roughly 7-8 hours
• Try to leave Srinagar by 10AM to reach Gurez at a decent time
• Bandipora is one of the major towns in this route where travelers and stopover for a night
• Refill at Bandipora, as in between you will not get any Petrol pumps
• Government ID needs to be shown at all the checkpoints in the route
• Since it is high altitude, the weather can get unpredictable anytime - carry raingears and warm clothes
• Dawar or Gurez has the main hotels in this area
• Only JIO and BSNL signals are available in Gurez
• Temperature falls pretty sharply at night, so be mindful to carry warm clothes
• The electricity stays for a very limited number of hours in Gurez, so charge your devices whenever you get electricity and carry powerbanks. 
• Some hotels provide backup power for limited time like dinner time or on request

Other blogs in the Kashmir series:

1. Is Kashmir safe for travelers?
2. What to pack for Kashmir in May -June ( for Gurez- bangus - Lolab circuit)
3. Kashmir Diaries - Day 1 : Pune to Srinagar | Nishat Bagh
4. Kashmir Diaries - Day 3 (Part 1): In and around Gurez Village
5. My Top Favorite Foods From Kashmir - Part 1