Gulmarg

 

Gulmarg is Kashmirs ski destination in winter, it also doubles a golf course during summer months, and apparently with an array of flowers then in bloom. Although just 60 kilometers away by tarred roads through paddyfields, apple orchards, ancient bazaars and local children enjoying a game of cricket, the journey takes about 2 hours, and weather dependant you may need to swap to cars with chained tyres in Tunmarg as we did. Hiring of coats and gumboots are about 150rupees & 150rs more for a coat. Gloves are essential, possibly 2 pairs, I could not feel my fingers or toes and worried I wouldnt feel them again...the feelings come back they did.

Our drive up was on a little buggy which was arranged by a tourguide for 1000rupees, it was small, slow and at times struggled to climb up the mountains, it even got stuck once which needed manually to be pushed out, also the driver did lose control once and we ended up doing a 90 degree turn, luckily we hadnt fallen down a cliff or get knocked by fellow 4x4s. It got colder as we grew further up the pass in the minus weather with snow beginning to fall. The drivers windscreen had to be cleared of snow every now and then and his human ice pick was smart enough to damage the tiny drivers side wiper, then they fiddled for 5 minutes but it still didnt work, fear not this is India, he just craned his head to the left and watched through the passengers side.

Once on top, lucky to be alive, we were then off to sledge in the snow. Sledging? Cool, so Im thinking theres a small hill you take the sledge jump on and slide down...nope there is a HUMAN who pulls you like a wolfdog, the tourguide possibly seeing the surprise in my eyes said this is his living, his earning, how else will he support his family. I thought for a brief moment and you know really, I didnt know how else, I'm not an economist or a human resource specialist! So on I went and pretended for good measure I was whipping him as he pulled me down AND up hills.

The much spoken about gondola was closed due to an avalanche that struck 5 persons a week ago(they all are fine recovering if you are wondering). The guide told me you have the same thing in Cape Town so you didnt miss anything and the main attraction is the sledging(YEAH!!!). We did a bit of skiing as well, after a 25second lesson in hindi which I didnt understand at all, off we went as a qualified ski pro. I remember once I went to SkiDubai, to ski you needed to spend about 20 hours and Dhs1000 before you could even smell the man made snow.

The skiing will increase circulation and regain feelings in your hands, but shortly after you stop we were human popsicles. There were European tourists there as well in proper ski gear who seemed relaxed like they were lounging about on the beach, perhaps feeling hot.

I told the guide if I dont warm up at a nearby spot I will die, he warned of heavy snowfall which was starting and alternately lit a burning wicker covered claypot(kangri) which had ash that kept just our hands warm in the vehicle - it did help a lot. Back at Tunmarg we had lunch around a fireplace at a local restaurant which really needed to spellcheck their menus(menu pictures) they also covered their fans with newspaper and rubberbands so they could keep warm and dustfree until summer.

About 5 different people at the restaurant insisted I have the Yakhni, meat in some yoghurt sauce, I suggest you dont ever have the Yuck-ni I mean Yakhni. My sisters Chicken RoganJosh though was spicy enough to heat us up. We also had our first cup of Kashmiri Kahwa which was made with cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, loads of sugar, almonds and raisins. The best cup of tea ever... We found the food to be reasonably priced and the cleanliness level good.

 

Snakes items? Finger Chips!? No thanks i prefer not to fell anything! 

Gurkha Houseboats

haha ok this is NOT the Gurkha!

 

Before you read this I totally recommend as a must for anyone to stay atleast a night at the Gurkha, among other reasons below, the main is my sister being quite fussy did not make me check her into a 5 star hotel within the first 8 minutes of arrival <----litmus test.

This is the first time that we stayed on a houseboat, in fact some people I spoke to hadn't even heard of them! Houseboats here are always docked either at Dal Lake or in this case the Nageen Lake. One reviewer said that Nageen is cleaner and less busier than Dal, admittedly we had few pesky watersellers offering their wares, could be due to being winter.

It is advisable to ask the houseboat owner prior to arrival as to where the taxi must drop you off, because these boats can only be accessed via shikara. We chose Gurka because there was a brochure at the ITC hotel a while back that my dad had safely kept for years, they also had some good reviews on tripadvisor, and were given a 4 star rating by those same reviewers – for a hotel i'd say its a 4 star but for a houseboat it would be a 5.

If you have been on a cruise before dont expect this to be a 500 room Royal Caribbean Liner. These houseboats are made of wood beautifully carved inside and out, with about 5 spacious rooms all lined up against what resembles a narrow train passage, although these boats are old, do not underestimate the high standard of amenities of this one with the likes of wifi, hot water, heated blankets and heaters etc. They are traditional so do expect that finish.

Each room on the Gurkha has its private bathroom with a shower head in the bathtub. Bathrooms although basic are clean. It would be good for the boat owners to put a fixed panel over the shoeboxed size hole that divided the bathroom from the neighbours, I could hear fellow travellers bathing their child “okey close your eyes”. I did not shower in the 2 days we were here because it was extremely cold and I preferred the bad odour, it helped keep the stray dogs away.

On arrival there was a man who showed us to our room, and told us as the name suggests, “this is your house, you must be happy and comfortable” he then ordered a fresh pot of tea be made with an accompaniment of hot onion pakoras by the gas heater, it really hit the spot and warmed us up as we enjoyed the woody ambience in the drawing room. There was a tiny gap in the window which we told him would be too cold for us at night, he said with the heater and electric blankets you will be fine...he was right, even at minus degrees overnight, we slept like babies(no we didnt wake up for milk/nappy change). There was no key for our door but a latch inside for privacy, there is a safe in the room and a bigger one at another houseboat but he assured us everything will be fine and no one will touch anything. We took his word for it and I still have my laptop to write this. One could request for a key if they needed.

The wooden walls throughout are thin, and we could hear the neighbours faintly in the background not too loud to disturb though. They didnt seem fun enough to eaves drop on anyway. There is a satellite dish and a tv in the communal lounge area.

This is really something to write home about where do I begin, The butler - Gulam, the only other hotel that would offer a butler like this are some new posh 6 or 7 star hotels; the butler is actually the reason I say this is a 5 star houseboat. Prepare to be spoilt! Our butler obliged to anything we asked, was always smiling and enquired constantly if we were ok every time he saw us. He filled us up with many litres of tea and coffee, and served at our leisure the most amazing breakfast lunch and dinners. The rate included all meals and was served in the common dining room, our butler told us the times the other family were eating and offered to serve at an earlier or later one; you know sometimes one may not want to eat with strangers(because they hog the delicious chapatis). My dad was trying to call us concerned if we were ok and was given Gulams cellphone number, and at 11pm Gulam came in the heavy rain to pass on his phone. The food he served us was among the best local cuisine you could ask for, Rogan Josh, Dhall, Hot fresh Chapattis, Chicken Curry, Rices, Desserts, Fluffy Omlettes with Jam and toast to name some in the just 2 day stay. If you can, do request for Gulam, we did tip him before leaving for which he seemed very grateful.

The electricity seemed to partially(some of the lights) disconnect at times, this is done by the council untimed for 30 – 60 minute spurts, im not sure if other boats also cater for this, but Gurkhas all have alternate energy that keeps basic lighting going, this is a great plus! The heaters were powered by gas, so those ran all times.

The scenery is breathtaking, and peaceful, every time we sat out on the verandah it seemed like time was frozen and we were the only ones in the entire lake.

The only grouse I had was the “manager” Farouk apparently a friend of the owners who initially seemed friendly and helpful to us but was just a shrewd glorified tout. Despite this I would still stay here and recommend you do too, i'm sure the owners would address the matter concerned otherwise this would be such a downfall to this excellent property. I really couldnt find any other problems with the Gurkha really none!

 

I booked another trip to Sonamarg through him ONLY because the guide Abdul Rashid was one of the most wonderful people i've ever met, he was kind, honest, obliging and we had the most interesting and informative conversations with him enroute – if you can request Abdul Rashid you wont go wrong. If you can call him before you arrive he would arrange to fetch you from the airport his number is 9906 512938.

During February our 2 night stay booked via hotels.com was $135/night all inclusive. Taxi fare was 600rupees from the airport and if you cant get Ab Rashid the driver must drop you via the small lane just past the Nageen Club gated entrance.

Kashmir / Srinagar

After 5 days of Delhi which was just enough to see everything and be out before starting to wheeze from the pollution; Kashmir, a must see is a quick direct 1 hour flight or 2 hours via Jammu. Our flight on SpiceJet(Indias cheapest budget airline) was timeous and felt rather short, the seats felt more cramped than usual or I just became taller, but that was fine because the seat next to me was empty, there were no more than 20 people on the leg from Jammu. Just to note when flying in India you require a print out of you're flights checkin itinerary, its fine if you forgot but this would mean you having to go to the counter outside and getting it printed – without this you would not be allowed to enter the airport building.

The airports at Jammu and Kashmir are camouflaged with heavy army militia, their presence is noticed almost all over Kashmir. The airport is tiny with about 2 baggage carousels and arrivals and departures separated just by a meter high screen, the public facilities weren't up to scratch. Prepaid taxi staff and the taxi driver Abdul Majid was very pleasant in a new luxury toyota. Travelling in winter there were remnants of the previous days snowfall, the air was thick at a cool 4degrees but bearable.

We stayed at the Gurkha Houseboats which is part of the WelcomeHeritageGroup located on Nigeen Lake (I will add a full review later), the houseboats are accessed via a Shikara(watertaxi) which took about 10 minutes, I felt rather uneasy having an old man oar us with our luggage for so long in the cold weather, but thats just a means of living here, when I asked him how much he will charge he said “as you wish” I think its sort of a gamble between himself, so I gave him half a muffin we had and he was off... just kidding!! we gave him about US$5. Everyone in Kashmir seem to speak english well, other languages spoken are Kashmiri and Hindi.

They look quite different to those in the rest of India, I asked someone why their features differed, he said, “in the rest of India, people are shorter and fatter because their diet is unhealthy, and the sun is more stronger there thats why they are not as light(skinned)” haha I'm sure its just intermarriage though, most probably with people from Pakistan which is just a couple hundred kilometers away by road – Indians are not allowed to enter Pakistan nor Pakistanis into Srinagar, UNLESS they have to visit family, intermarriage point proven.

Due to security reasons getting cellphone access in Kashmir is impossible if you are a tourist, this includes access on your roaming enabled phones from overseas – wifi is available at most hotels even some houseboats; be sure to tell your families in advance that you will be without communication, in some cases I think it would be a blessing not being glued to technology, leaving more time to soak up this beautiful town(I thought that my sisters blackberry was sewn onto her hand until now).

Srinagar is village quaint and old, and quaint and old did I mention that its quaint and old? But this is what makes it so charming, almost as though you have been transported 200 years back(apart for wifi and new toyotas else it would be 250 years back) the roads are not all tarred and sometimes so narrow you will need to wait to give way to oncoming traffic, if you can comprehend this for a relatively big town there are no traffic lights(like another town I love to hate back home - Underberg)

From the locals, Kashmir is an all year round destination, as an indication you can check out the 4 seasons and what Srinagar has to offer for each -

http://www.kashmir-houseboats.com/four-season-tours.htm after seeing the pockets of snow on arrival, my sister hoped it would fall again. Almost every hour she would be at the window checking, until she went to sleep. We got up at 7am the next day, I went to see if it snowed, sleepy eyed through the mosquito mesh I told her it looked like it did, maybe, and still is, or its just rain, she was unfazed and thought I was lying, but when she got up she said I was crazy to not notice it was infact white everywhere and snowing lightly.

Animals in India

Forget safariing in Africa, here in India you will never get this close to so many animals and birds, roaming freely are monkeys, squirrels, stray dogs, birds, elephants, camels, cows, goats, horses, donkeys, and cats.

There is a ban on killing stray dogs, its quite sad though to see these usually happy pets sleeping on the streets sometimes injured and uncared for, on the flipside this also poses a risk for residents and children. You wont find them barking or even going to play/attack anyone in public, probably because they all are psychologically damaged. 

Delhi Belly

A few months ago back home Nipun Soni a friend of mine had taken us to a restaurant his mother swears tastes so near to India you wouldnt know the difference, after ordering the tandoori fish, I did actually get the runs, really Nipun, cant you get any more authentic than that? In all fairness though I think it was the fish and not the restaurant. This myth of getting sick being part of your planned itinerary is absolutely crazy!

Touch wood or sandstone or marble, we did not have any runs as mentioned by many travellers to India... Ive been told by a few people not to drink the tap water, including the locals; we did adhere to their suggestion. We also stayed away from street food and having anything that was uncooked or unpeeled, and only ate at the hotels we stayed and or busy cafes or restaurants that were clean.

Indira Gandhi Memorial

 Her final walk covered in crystal

I am not normally one to go for memorials but this is one that you shouldnt miss, this great human being deserves this praise and stature and being in the vicinity of the center of town there is no excuse not to miss this, included are the accolades of Mrs Gandhi and pictures newspaper articles and many of her priceless yet simple worldly items that she has left behind, this is housed in her residence where she was tragically killed, the actual spot and where she had last walked are preserved with crystal. An unusual chance to take in a close feel of her past how she lived and her family life. The well manicured lawns complement the already well kept home. 

The India Gate

The India Gate is quite a famous monument, situated close to the Government Buildings, in fact most of the spot for sightseeing is nearby so one could complete many of the spots in one day with an early start and a stomach full of naan...