Have you ever been to any place known as “Heaven on Earth”? Sometimes, there are a few places on earth that are considered to be unsafe. However, when you land in those places, you find it the complete opposite. Yes, you are right; we will be taking you to heaven on earth, i.e., Srinagar.
In this blog series, we will take you all on a fantastic trip to Ladakh. Each blog will be dedicated to our day-wise experience of the fantastic trip.
In case you don’t know who we are………..
We call ourselves Travel Freaks……..
Before we start anything on the second day, we would like to inform our readers that we have planned our journey to Leh from Jammu. We have shared the best possible way to start the beautiful journey of Leh-Ladakh. Do read our experience as that will help you plan yours.
Returning to our story, we planned to reach Leh via Srinagar. Many of you might consider Srinagar to be unsafe. Let’s clarify a big doubt of yours…..
1. How was the journey from Jammu to Srinagar?
We reached Jammu the day before; you could read our first day’s experience. It was a nostalgic journey for us. After a gap of 15 years, we were going to Srinagar for a night stay.
It was about 7 o’clock in the morning, our planned time for departure to Srinagar. It started raining quite heavily since 4 AM that morning. The rain started to slow down a bit before we could start our journey by 8 AM.
Initally, as the bus was about the leave the town. The drizzle started to increase. Despite the weather, we were confident of clear weather in Srinagar. The ride was a smooth one. We had our first stoppage after the 9 km long tunnel named after Shyma Prasad Mukherjee Road near New Kud. The tunnel reduces the travel time by around 3 hours. It was around 10 o’ clock when we had our breakfast.
After half an hour, the journey continued. It was surprising to find the number of tunnel constructions taking place along the Jammu-Srinagar highway. In future, the travel time will reduce further. The traffic was also there, especially oil tankers. After two hours, we again halted for a tea break.
Near the Pulwama region, the surrounding countryside looked so mesmerising that it felt like stopping there and relaxing for a while. But, our main aim was to maximise our time in Srinagar.
We did notice many sports stores on the way. Wooden products are quite popular in the region. We wish to turn back the clock to our school days as we wished to buy a few cricket bats.
It was around 2 o’clock when we reached Srinagar. The weather was hot and not the usual cool Srinagar weather that we expected it to be. Our stay was at Nehru Park. It was quite close to the famous Dal Lake. We were all starving for lunch.
Now that we reached, hope you got a glimpse of the ride we had from Jammu. It was never an unsafe one; you can be assured about that.
By 3 PM, we had our lunch and took a little rest before we went for a half-day exploring Srinagar city. We had to depart early morning the next day.
Now you would be eager to know about…..
2. How did we spend the half day in Srinagar?
Our excitement to return to Srinagar was at an extreme high. We took an auto to reach Lal Chowk. Yes, you are right, the same place that is notorious for being unsafe for tourists. We wanted to witness the famous Big Ben clock, spend some time around the place and hop into a few clothes shops. It took us about 15 minutes to reach Lal Chowk from our stay.
There were many shops, mostly clothes and winter garments. A few were dedicated to food and dry fruits. The varieties and the options may urge you to buy a few among your favourites. Do not forget to bargain for your favourite items if you wish to buy.
We explored for around an hour in the Lal Chowk area before we got into an auto towards our stay when it was around 4:30 PM. We wished to explore more; however, we were keen to take the famous Shikara Ride before we departed from Srinagar.
By 5 o’clock, we got off at the Nehru Park near our stay. There were many Ghats around the Dal Lake area. We chose a random one as dusk was around the corner. Again, your bargaining skills will be required to take the Shikara Ride.
We chose the best deal and got into the cosy Shikara. It was a one-hour ride, where our guide cum driver showed us a famous houseboat used for film shooting and a floating garden.
We did notice many shops selling snacks, noodles and tea. All the shops were constructed on the Dal Lake, supported on wooden logs. The wooden logs had the capacity to withstand for around 15-20 years without any issues.
We even noticed kids rowing small boats while returning from school to their home on the Dal Lake. An amazing display of a hard-working lifestyle!
We even noticed a few shikaras selling dry fruits, tea-coffee and flowers. Despite all that, the surrounding view and the serene atmosphere caught our attention. Finally, an amazing one-hour came to an end. It was 6:15 PM when we got off from the Shikara.
Another 15 minutes and we were back to our stay. As we returned to our visit, we relaxed in the hotel lobby which had a small library and also a beautiful garden. We discussed our experience of Srinagar before calling it a day after dinner at 9 o’clock.
Well, now you may be eager to know about
3. What are all the things that can be explored in and around Srinagar?
If you are planning only to explore Srinagar and you have ample time, you can see the following spots:
i. Mughal Gardens
ii. Jama Masjid
iii. Shankaracharya Temple
iv. Hazrat Bal Shrine
Apart from them, you can also make a day trip to Sonamarg, Gulmarg and Wular Lake. You can plan to explore Srinagar and around as per the time you have.
For us, as you can see from the title of the blog series, the main destination was Ladakh region. Hence, this was all about our stay at Srinagar.
Till then, stay tuned and follow us for the next blog of this exciting series.
Wait! We are not ending this blog without this last question.
4. What kind of help are we going to provide?
Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will give you a glimpse of our journey and help you plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Sri Lanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Read about our Andaman and Nicobar blogs.
Do follow our Instagram handle @mindfulllofvacations and watch for the next destination story of a new place. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
by mitkau