Day 4
We, finally reached Palhagam. The backdrops mostly covered with white blanket of snows. Pretty cold with temperate of 2degrees or lesser. The view, not much different with Sonamarg. The driver brought us to the touts.
Around 7pm, we managed to get into our houseboat. Its very dark outside. We took the Shikara ride since it was already included in the package. Just enjoyed the night even i believed i could not see anything. The rides took around 1 hour. We passed by the night markets, hundreds of boat houses and....i don't know what since it was really dark!
On our way back, an old man with his boat came closer to our boat selling saffron. I don't have any feeling to buy anything that time, with little money, frustration for Shikara ride and of course the tiredness made me felt like nothing. I didn't entertain the old man but my friend did bought some. After came back to Malaysia, i felt so guilty for not buying (even 1 box) and prayed that Allah will bless him with a good life forever.
We went back to the boathouse after the ride and had our dinner. The houseboat located in the middle of the Dal Lake and i could say the weather is really cold even you were in the blanket. The heater also was very traditional. Using the gasoline to heat it up, with the smokes, the fire burning from the heater.. Errr... Pray that everything went alright. Refer to video below:
To be continued. ...
We have been brought to Pahalgam today. A
Town which located 97km or 2.5hrs drive from Srinagar. Its lush green meadows and pristine waters of Lidder rivers enough to attracts tourists to visit. In winter, everything looks white and even the water is almost frozen. So, again, i will repeat this place during spring or summer next time Insyaallah.
Road to Pahalgam
What's unique on our day to Palhagam was, the Prime Minister of India paid a visit to Dal Lake. Hence, all shops closed, people spent their precious time at home and very few seen on the road or town except for the police and armies. Easy to move around since lesser cars but some roads are closed so we need to go for alternatives.
Along the journey, I could see Saffron field, which widely planted here. For those who don't know what is Saffron, it is a kind of spices used in the cookings derived from the flowers. Other than that, it can help to sharpened your memories and prevent cancer to your digestion system. Very expensive and in Malaysia, you can get it around RM28k per kg. In Kashmir, some villages will sell it to you at very cheap price. Take it and pay. This also one of the method to contribute and help them.
The lonely road
Saffron Field
This toll will be operated soon in Kashmir. The only toll that we found here.
The lonely city
Finally, welcome to Pahalgam
We, finally reached Palhagam. The backdrops mostly covered with white blanket of snows. Pretty cold with temperate of 2degrees or lesser. The view, not much different with Sonamarg. The driver brought us to the touts.
The villages in the background of mountains
Lidder River
The activities here
The touts briefed us the activities that are available in Pahalgam. They offered horse riding to Baisaran, Dabyan, Kashmir Valley (1 route), Phalgam Valley, Kanimarg and Tulan Lake. So many places here but since we had little money left and cold and getting tired, we decided to choose Baisaran, Dabyan and Kashmir Valley only for horse riding route. The cost for this route after bargaining is Rs1000 per person, 1.5hrs return journey.
Locals walked around. Maybe some of them are touts or horse guiders.
The horses. Not much tourists here during winter
We passed by Kashmir Valley and Dabyan before reaching Baisaran. Very stunning view here with the half frozen pines, the white hills and the snow clad mountain at the back.
Riding a horse also a new experience to me. A bit ackward to get into the horse and when it comes to the hilly route, i really felt like to fell down from the horse!
At Baisaran, you can see people hanging cloths on a piece of wood. At first, i thought they were drying the cloths hehe. But when i came closer, actually they provided Pehran rental for pictures. The price is Rs100 per sets. Really cheap and I really suggest you to take this. On top of that, they also selling pashmina with cheap prices. Since we already bought a lot of pieces days before and our money not much left, so we refused to buy (I felt guilty actually and hope that better rezeki will comes upon them).
Selections of Pehran for rental
The man assisted me in wearing sets of Pehran. I really love this!
Me in Pehran
Horse riding
After the riding, we went to the restaurant nearby to have lunch. Lets look what we have at the picture below. The price is around Rs400 per persons.
Kabab Kanti and Plain Bread. Delicious and i love this too!
Switches in the restaurant. Only in Kashmir
After the lunch, we heading back to Srinagar. The Prime Minister still in the town so, some roads are still closed. Unfortune things happened when the driver need to u turn the car upon the road closure and the car tyre hit the steels that the police put in the middle of the road. So, the tyre became flat. We stopped by at the road side to change the tyre. It tooks around 20mins and the temperature outside was very cold. We, then continued our journey to the boat house. We will overnight in the boat house tonight. Again, unlucky, the road to the houseboat is closed. The driver asked me to negotiate with the army to open the blocks for our car to go through. Herm, me like...i believed that i am a brave person 😜. So, i spoke to one of the army, telling him that we were tourists and would like to get into our houseboat. The army told me to come back half an hour later since the VIP is still meeting at the Lake. OK then.
The driver brought me to their relatives house. We have a rest here, has some biscuits and do some shopping! Again! Yes, they sold variety of cloths with cheap prices and accepted credit card payment. I bought 2 kurties with a price of RM30 for my mum 😁.
We supposed to ride Shikara the boat, after dropped off our stuffs at the houseboat. But, yeah, its getting dark and do you think riding Shikara at night will give a great and amazing view? Of course not! So, we keep on waiting at the house. Of course its not half an hour as per army said 😭😭😭.
The heater. Unique.
Biscuits and Kahwa Tea
Around 7pm, we managed to get into our houseboat. Its very dark outside. We took the Shikara ride since it was already included in the package. Just enjoyed the night even i believed i could not see anything. The rides took around 1 hour. We passed by the night markets, hundreds of boat houses and....i don't know what since it was really dark!
On our way back, an old man with his boat came closer to our boat selling saffron. I don't have any feeling to buy anything that time, with little money, frustration for Shikara ride and of course the tiredness made me felt like nothing. I didn't entertain the old man but my friend did bought some. After came back to Malaysia, i felt so guilty for not buying (even 1 box) and prayed that Allah will bless him with a good life forever.
Shikara Ride
We went back to the boathouse after the ride and had our dinner. The houseboat located in the middle of the Dal Lake and i could say the weather is really cold even you were in the blanket. The heater also was very traditional. Using the gasoline to heat it up, with the smokes, the fire burning from the heater.. Errr... Pray that everything went alright. Refer to video below:
The host heat up the heater
The house boats
Its not our luck to enjoy the stunning view of Shikara ride at Dal Lake. Until next time.
We slept early to catch the morning flight to Delhi the next morning!
To be continued. ...
2 comments:
It was such a good post. Visit Luxury Boat Trips. Thanks for sharing.
hello mam!
can i use some of your images on my website that is going to help me a lot
thnku
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