Ep 3 Srinagar to Sonamarg & back | Kashmir Tourism
Hello friends ! Welcome to Visa2Explore I'm your host Harish Bali We're enjoying rain in Kashmir Today we started our journey .. ..at 8:20 AM from Dal Lake After travelling for 1 hour 20 minutes, We've stopped near WYL Bridge ..to have our breakfast en route Sonamarg At moment, only one bridge is there After few days, 2nd bridge will be opened as well This traffic that gets slow here It will be eased out ahead River Sind is flowing next to it Let's behold the river for 5 minutes Then, we'll have our breakfast River is flowing so fast Come at this point & enjoy photography My heart got pleased Extremely beautiful River is in its full swing Sind further flows into Pakistan Let's take a couple of photographs And, then we'll have our breakfast Aloo Prantha has come I was thinking that.. People can eat here also All are sitting here And.. We'd enjoy eating over there Because river is flowing in front So, we'll have breakfast; beholding the view I'll go like this As per the weather, this breakfast is the best Aloo Prantha, chutney With curd, it'd have been better Let me ask, if they've curd to serve Do you've curd also? Yes Ok So, we do one thing I'll drink tea later on Though we keep it here Kindly bring curd with black pepper poured over it We don't have black pepper Serve curd without black pepper Ok, sir Yes, give us the curd We asked for curd & we got it You did a good thing by bringing curd So, tell me How did you make this chutney? Sir, it's vegetable chutney Which all vegetable have you used? Cabbage, cauliflower, onion We also add a little tomato as well Vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage Yes Taste is nice But I found Prantha tastier with chutney Curd isn't that thick Prantha & chutney; very good combination Once my team also have breakfast Then, we'll leave from here ..within around half an hour From Sonamarg, we've just.. ..20 kms away I thought to do one thing Through Z-Morh tunnel, We'll go to Sonamarg With this thought, There's one dusty trail on the mountain We've got on to that See, from which track we came along This side, our car is parked there Ok, after coming here, What we did.. We went further up to that point Look over there We went over to that point Further ahead we reached up to closed road Then, we returned from that point After coming here, I got to learn, After 66 months, once this..
..road gets completed Say, within 6-8 months, If somebody goes by this track, then You'd travel 4-5 kms Then you'll enter Z-Morh tunnel Z-Morh tunnel has been inaugurated After crossing this tunnel, you'll reach to Sonamarg During snow days, ..around Dec-Jan, At that time, Tourists have to leave their vehicle Henceforth, you go over snow.. ..either on foot or on horse Around March-April Vehicles start going further ahead Rain hasn't stopped yet It has got little slow But, it's still falling Under the aid of umbrella, We're enjoying this viewpoint Not exactly viewpoint, We just came up at a height ..to enjoy the aerial view And showing you as well So, without loss of time Let's go on now We're just 4 kms far from Sonamarg Look at this snowfall Snow has dotted my jacket, hasn't it? How much fun I'm having Too good See in the front Upon the bridge is written, "Welcome to Sonamarg" Way to Sonamarg is from here otherwise But, as of now, some work is underway Due to this reason, it's closed Now, we'll travel on this front road Some vehicles are coming We'll go by this road Winding our way along it, covering 3-4 kms, We'll reach Sonamarg at that point, Where we'd get to see too much snowfall Because.. Same snowfall would be there also We'll see too much snow also On 3rd week of April, What a great time it is ..to travel through Kashmir In Srinagar, It's not that cold There's no snowfall Here, we're seeing snowfall It's too much cold here Look ahead How wonderful the scene is Beautiful Let's move ahead After reaching Sonamarg, let's show you.. How much snow we'd see there We've reached Sonamarg After reaching here, I felt till the time we didn't get jacket, We won't be able to move forward We got a jacket on rent for Rs. 300/- And, gum shoes Total rent is Rs. 300/- for both items
..per person and.. I got the cap for Rs. 150/- Gloves I got for Rs 120/- We brought 3 umbrellas We bought another 2 umbrellas on the way 1 umbrella is for the camera ..and cameraman This way See here First view of Sonamarg It's looking great, isn't it? See over there, mountain is fully clad in snow ..and this moment, Snowfall is in full swing Few moments ago, we're standing there See over there We're standing over there Now.. We've come across the road It's only snow here This snow has just fallen It's just one or two days old In fact, morning snow is more By seeing it, we're getting an idea, How soft it is See it It's cotton like snow Awesome The enjoyment that you get without gloves you won't get the same with them But, if we take off our gloves, Cold can bite us I'm greatly enjoying it Wow ! We've 2 sledge owners with us They say they will convey us to the top Which point it was.. That last point you're seeing.. Between two trees, there's one hut We'll go up to that point And from that point, We'll come down here on sledge 20 days back from today, In this place, Snow bikes were running Since, snow has got lesser now Snow bikes have stopped here If somebody wants to ride on snow bike Snow bike isn't running here today It's at Zero Point How far it is from here Sir, 30 kms away from here 30 kms or less than that? Sir, it's 30 kms 30 Earlier, we thought to visit Zojila Pass Road to that pass is closed because..
It's snowing heavily Otherwise, one can go to Zojila Pass View there is different Then we can go to Zero Point They're telling; at Zero Point, It's closed Nowadays, not running, but.. otherwise, snow bikes run there That way is closed Yes You're saying it right Shall we slowly advance? Yes, sir Let's go, I'm enjoying a lot Oh ! I've great fun Oh wow, what a scene it is ! We've come up at great height that.. Road isn't visible from here Are you seeing the tree in front? Without any leaves, totally covered in snow I seems as if.. ..tree has white leaves on it It is Bhojpatra Tree (Himalayan Birch) In the olden times, when somebody wanted to write And, on what should they write.. They'd use bhojpatra's bark for that They'd write upon that When I went to Uttarakhand, There also, I'd seen same kind of trees Especially, when I was on Char Dham Yatra Brother, let's do one thing Now, we leave from here, On your sledge to downwards ..
And.. Make sure to carry us safely without causing any injury to us Yes, sir Right ? I'm going to have great fun See the snow around me --Hearty Laughter-- Great ! Let's go Now, I'm enjoying Leave me Keep the feet above --oh-- Oh, brother, stop it Brake, brake Oh, brother what kind of brake it is What brakes are on it? Brake..brake Brother, first of all, to both of you.. Thank you Due to your courage, we went ahead And also, you held safe our gimbal That made our task easy One thing is The sledge ride we've just taken ..over the soft snow It doesn't induce that level of enjoyment But even then, they kept on making way.. They created way for us We derived our own pleasure In case, snow gets hard You get real enjoyment on sledge then No problem We enjoyed with you, that's main thing Right ! Now, we go across to that side As cars were visible in the morning They're still parked there No tourist come here in afternoon Most of them come by around 11 AM ..or maximum they reach here by 1 PM Let's try if we can do lunch here Then, we'll move ahead Means, we'll go to Srinagar Where else would we go? Because.. ..all nearby locations are closed today Let's go I was thinking that what we'd have in lunch Then, one thought came in my mind Let's go over to these front stalls ..to have something like Maggie Then I thought Maggie won't be substantial lunch So, better would be, We go to this front hotel "Sonamarg Palace" We'd get vegetarian food here In Lunch, I for myself ..have ordered Dal & Kadai Paneer The good thing is..
We got Tawa Chapatti At moment, it's so much cold here We'll enjoy having it piping-hot Snowfall is easily visible from our window However, it's snowing less now than in the morning But, it's still snowing Nice... Good taste.. Basically, in the North Indian Style "Kadai Paneer" has been prepared Lovely ! Dal has too much simplicity in it Very light spices have been used Good vegetarian food ..at this restaurant Ok, great ! After finishing my food, I join you later, Then, we'll do our further planning We've finished our lunch We're now leaving Sonamarg to Srinagar Let me give you a little idea Especially for those people, who're planning to visit Kashmir for first time You can have night stay at Sonamarg Or, you can stay at Srinagar You can explore this place .. ..and return to Srinagar It's completely up to you Advantage of staying here is..
You save your travel time For instance, It takes around 2.30-2.45 hours to reach here Then you also eat something en route You'll have breakfast & come here Same time will be taken to return It seems half of our day goes in travelling Staying here gives you that advantage Rest, How many hotels are here By estimate, 25 hotels JKTDC also has property here, but ..that's primarily not located here That is further up in the market At present, where I'm eating, Its name is "Sonamarg Palace" ..where I've just had my lunch So, we'd tell them, to show us their room for an idea Then, we'd leave from here Brother Do you've accommodation facility here? Could you show us the room once? This is the room They say, room's tariff is Rs. 4000/- ..that includes breakfast & dinner In JKTDC, I was initially thinking to stay Then my mind changed I considered returning to Srinagar as better option It'd be fine if I'd stayed here It's equally fine to return to Srinagar Enjoy the view River Sind is flowing before us Are you seeing the traffic in front? It's a very long line All these people are returning to Srinagar The traffic will advance slowly Because, it's peak time for returning People have explored whoever wanted to..
It's nearly 5 PM in the evening get in the line & advance slowly Right ! I got to know 80% people prefer returning to Srinagar It keeps your base at one place Above all, hotels are also expensive here ..in comparison to Srinagar This is what my observation is Rest, share your views in comment-box What did you do when you came to Kashmir? Let's go from here We'll go straight to Srinagar To tell you honestly, We've covered 5 kms from Sonamarg I don't feel like leaving this place Now, see.. In between, it's snowing lightly Now, it's again snowing heavily When we'd come here So much snow was settled on trees Now, it's seeming even more than that I'm enjoying myself very much Absolutely marvellous I don't feel returning rather book a hotel here Tonight's stay in Sonamarg Completely unplanned ! Actually, everything depends upon, ..in which weather you're coming and what you want to see If you want to enjoy greenery Then April isn't the befitting time But, if you want to see snowfall Then, mid-march is a very good time Between mid-march till 15th April There's a full chance to see snowfall Plus, you can easily visit here As you can't come in Jan-Feb See, how beautiful the spectacle is As we're advancing from Sonamarg to Srinagar We covered 13-14 kms Now, we've stopped at Moonland Guesthouse ..to drink "Kahwa" I've Fiaz Sahib with me When we reached Sonamarg by noon I got to meet him there He told; he's into running adventure activities Through talking, we further learnt, They'd a guest house at down I told him as we returned.. We'd spend some time with you ..will drink Kahwa And we'd also learn more .. ..about adventure activities So, let's get inside Then, you tell us Ok Wow, you did a great thing You prepared "Kahwa" beforehand "Kahwa" is piping-hot Thank you so much for "Kahwa" Welcome..welcome I feel since we're travelling Kashmir Through the day, once or twice, Drink "Kahwa" as you sniff a chance Yes, surely You get to experience varied tastes Basically, in villages, different kind..
..of "Kahwa" is prepared This is what I've been thinking They've their own domestic recipes We're into 3rd day of our journey And I think it's 6th time I'm drinking "Kahwa" Everyday, I drink it twice It tastes different It has to be drunk It's having a little more sugar Do you use sugar? Yes, sir, it's sugar in it Hmm.. Today we went to Sonamarg We went thinking snow bike would be there Means, we'd ride on snow bike But, it's not happening Due to the bad weather conditions Tell us in depth, what all adventurous activities happen in Sonamarg Trekking is undertaken here, Especially in Sonamarg Since, Sonamarg lies in Central Kashmir And from here, there is trekking, "Kashmir Great Lake Trek" From Sonamarg to Naranaag From here, the trekking is "Tarsar Marsar" Where? From Sonamarg From our this village, Trekking starts to Pahalgam It's name is "Tarsar Marsar" "Tarsar Marsar" Just located near to it another peak named as "Kolahoi Glacier" I've heard the name of "Kolahoi Glacier" "Kolahoi Glacier" is an excursion peak If anyone wants to trek Kolahoi Glacier He/she needs to take permit from Army ..especially for that Hmmm How long does it take to trek to Pahalgam? It takes 6 days Do people go? Yes, sir, many people go for trekking Both domestic & foreign tourists Even solo trekker go there Do companies organize these trekking? There're so many foreign-based.. ..trekking companies offering job to people here Among those people, I'm also one Who's employed with foreign company. Besides running my own as well If I ask which 3 best months are.. ..for tourists to visit Sonamarg Which would those months be? From tourists point of view June-July-August Ok Then, there is no rain If people come from foreign lands, What to carry for rainy seasons? Best time for them is June-July-August Those who want to enjoy snow March-April is best for them Ok Jan-Feb for those who want to enjoy winters But roads get closed in January here Yes, roads get closed Perhaps, this year it'll get open Z-Morh Tunnel which has been made, through it tourists will reach to Sonamarg directly Without any obstruction This tunnel has one more advantage.. You'd reach directly to Sonamarg While travelling from Sonamarg, you'd bypass "Zojila Pass" Means, you won't crossover that pass The 14-km long tunnel being made, it'll be completed in around 1 to 1.5 years
You'd reach to Leh; Though not directly you'd reach But, you'd reach onto way to Leh The main tunnel starts from.. That tunnel is around 14-km long Yes We'll talk for 5-10 minutes more Then, we'll leave for Srinagar How much time for Srinagar? Will it take one and a half hour? Yes, sir, around this much time It'll take this much time Great ! Very good Brother Riaz, thank you Welcome sir, Visit us again and again We'll come to Kashmir again Our trip is going great ! Definitely come So you'd come to know.. all beautiful ins & outs of Kashmir Then you'd encourage more people to come here Very nice We're having great time Whoever comes here calls it heaven That's it the real case It's very beautiful Now, it's 7:15 PM It'll take us 2 hours to reach Srinagar I've just checked on G-Maps It means around 9:15 PM, we'd reach our hotel Right ! So, At moment, we don't end our episode We'll end it upon reaching our hotel Ok ji, thank you so much We'll meet again by Lord's will Done, thank you..bye bye We've reached Srinagar at 9:30 PM Initially, I thought to do dinner at my hotel ..where we are staying right now Then, I thought it's better..
if we do dinner in a restaurant It'll be better So, we've come to Pushpa Veg restaurant See, it's written on board in front Figure out location this way.. ..to this side lies Cafe Coffee Day Hotel Akbar Residency is in my front ..located next to it is "Batra Hotel" As we move 200-300 mtr further up, we'll reach to Dal Lake let's go inside ..to have our dinner I've ordered 2 items for myself in dinner This is "Mushroom Matar" I asked them immediately on reaching here I want to eat Mushroom Matar But only if mushroom was fresh They said, they purchased it daily Then I thought it's fine to eat Mushroom Matar Anyway, I haven't eaten in a long time Along with Pindi Chana Though, I wasn't expecting it ..in Kashmir Means, I'd get Pindi Chana in Srinagar By seeing its texture, it's clear, It'll have great taste Ghee has melted which they poured over it Texture is fine No doubt Let's put one dish down One dish to this side plus tawa chapatti Very good In last 2-3 days, I've seen.. In Srinagar, or wherever we're going to.. In the food here, ..whole spices are prevalent What a taste Pindi Chana has Unbelievable ! I'm feeling like, with Amritsari Kulcha, ..and eat Pindi Chana with it It has awesome combination They've been made so tasty Tomorrow, our program is such..
We'll leave from Srinagar Around 8:00-8:15 AM We'll go to Pahalgam Tomorrow's night stay will be in Pahalgam Day after tomorrow, from Pahalgam, we're going to return to Srinagar Many people return from Pahalgam same evening But, I feel Pahalgam to be that place, ..where it's worth staying at night Because if we return same evening, It'll be too much of haste then We won't enjoy much So, we planned night stay at Pahalgam Right ! Tell us how today's episode was Just as do I always say.. I'll wait for your comments Share your feelings in comments At moment, I bid bye-bye to all of you We'll see each other again soon Till then, thanks for your time See, it's Kashmiri Badam As I fully press it hard ..so much oil will come out of it Look at it Oh, oil oozed out of it See, the oil in it
2023-05-21 22:42
