Firstly thanks to all members for helping me out in this trip....
Our trip began from Asansol, West Bengal on the 7th of July with Sealdah rajdhani...we reached New Delhi on the 8th morning. Our onward journey was from old Delhi to Jammu. So we boarded the metro just outside the New Delhi railway station and headed towards chandni chawk. We had heard a lot about the Parathe wali gali ... so we couldn't miss it. after getting down at chandni chawk metro and asking here and there we reached the gali...we found the Shop opposite Apsara Saree i.e., Pt gaya Prasad parathe wale....the parathas and the condiments were finger licking good :)
From there old Delhi station was 10 minutes walking. And we boarded the train towards Jammu at 3:50pm (Shalimar Exp).
Day 1. 9/7/13. : We reached Jammu at 5:30 in the morning. We had to move to Srinagar that very day. So without wasting any time we went to the taxi stand in front of the station. We got a shared tavera at Rs 700/- per person.
And started the journey towards Srinagar. There were some blockades due to traffic and accidents so we got delayed by around 2-3 hours and finally reached Srinagar at around 7:00pm. It was quite sunny at that time. The driver took us to a Bengali hotel called “aapna ghar” at khayam chawk. The rooms were good by it was opposite to the boulevard was a bit far from the market. The manager quoted rs 1200/- room…. So we decided to look for some more hotels in the main boulevard. There was another one called Pari Mahal which quoted Rs 1800 at a discount. Finally just behind the first lane of hotels in the main boulevard we found a hotel called Hotel Dawn. With a little bargain we got a triple bed room at Rs 600. It was on the street opposite to Ghat no 2. Salman the Proprietor is a decent fellow (09796547057, 9419009481, 9419004329, and 9796975897) and provided all the help we needed. After checking in we asked him the rate of car for gulmarg. It was 1600 for a full day. We also surveyed the market and found that he has given us a very good price. We had dinner at Kareem’s which is between ghat no 11 and 12 and is famous for its non veg food. We called the day off.
Day 2. 10/7/13: we started at 8 in the morning for gulmarg. Reached there in around 90 minutes. Before that our driver suggested us to get shoes and jacket as there would be lots of snow. But we went for only the shoes as we had good jackets.
Now as we entered the car parking of gulmarg our driver told before hand that because of the pony owners he will not be able to show us the way. He only told us to move ahead and follow the path after a check post. There is no sign board so anyone may get confused and hire a pony. Do not do so. Do not go for any registration as you will be asked by the pony walas. The trick is to follow the crowd. When you get down from the car you will see the gondolas operating on the right hand Side Mountains. Move towards that place and you will find the way. But do not listen to any ponywalas.
After a 10 mins walk we reached the entry of the phase I gondola. We had our tickets booked in advance from the net for both phases. After the phase I we reached an intermediate place but we decided to move to phase 2 and spend some time there. After reaching phase 2 we found some snow but much less than our expectations. At phase 2 you will find some skies. Which take people behind them for a ride. I think it’s not worth it. We got 2 persons for Rs 500 but was not worth it. The view from the gondola was amazing. After that we returned to phase 1 and spent some time there. Finally we returned to the parking and went back to srinagar. Went for a shikara ride in the evening. And finally called the day off.
Day 3, 11/7/13: we started at around 8 am for Pahalgam as we had our yatra from the 12th from chandanwari. We reached pahalgam at around 1 pm. The car was arranged by the hotel at Rs 2000. (NOTE: if you want to buy good quality kesar and walnuts you will find plenty of good shops in this road to pahalgam) after reaching pahalgam we got our hotel 1kms from the main market called hotel midway at Rs 550 for a triple bed room. After checking in we went to the main market and had our lunch at Dana Pani restaurant. The food was good but not extra ordinary as we had heard. After lunch we hired ponies for baisaran valley. We didn’t have much time so hired ponies for the trek. There was a separate trekking path available if you don’t want pony. The view in the valley was mesmerizing. A very picturesque place. After spending some time there we returned to our hotel and called off the day.
Day 4, 12/7/13: the day started early at 3:30 am as the car we had arranged had to leave at 4:30am. Betab valley is on the way to chandanwari and the driver gave us a window view. The car dropped us at chandanwari at around 5:30 am and we started our trekking to the holy cave.
Initially we came across pissu top. A very steep mountain. We crossed it in around 90mins and moved ahead. The rest of the track was very simple mild ups and down till Seshnag Lake. We managed to reach seshnag at 11:30am but after trekking 15kms our legs were getting tired. So we decided to hire ponies for the rest of the track. The next 4 kms till mahagunesh top was a bit tough but after that it’s all slope till panchtarani.
We reached panchtarani at 3:15pm at went inside tents. The view was amazing in the valley.
Day 5, 13/7/13: we started at 5:30am and hired ponies for the next leg till Brady top which was roughly 8 kms. After darshan we got off at brady top and walked the remaining 8 kms till baltal base camp. We reached base camp at 1pm. Got a shared sumo at Rs 300/- till Srinagar. We reached Srinagar at around 7pm and called the day off.
Day 6, 14/7/13: we started at 10am for the city tour of Srinagar. We went to shankaracharya temple, Chasmashahi, Hazratbul, and few more gardens. After that we went out for shopping. For the rest of the evening.
Day 7, 15/7/13: we decided to return via the new train from baramulla to banihal
The train runs daily five times. The timing at Srinagar is as follows.
8:45 am
11:00 am
12:00 pm
3:15pm
6:15 pm
Except Wednesday and Saturday where two trips remain cancelled.
We boarded the 8:45 train. It was crowded like hell. We managed to put our luggage and found a door. We were very excited when the train entered the pir pinjal tunnel. It went on till 10 mins and finally after 1 hour and 40 mins we reached banihal. Got a car till udhampur where our driver told we will get train till Jammu. On reaching the station we found that a local train runs on Sundays and Wednesdays. So again we hired a auto till udhampur bus stand and boarded a bus till Jammu. We reached Jammu at 7 pm boarded the train at 10:45pm to get back home……