Everyone wants to visit Kashmir for three very famous and beautiful places, Gulmarg, Sonmarg and Pahalgam. The plan today was to visit Gulmarg meaning the Meadow of Flowers is the heartland of Winter Sports in India. Gulmarg is located 52 km from Srinagar and can be reached in 2 hours. Unlike many tourists who book private taxi to Gulmarg, we decided to travel like the locals of Srinagar to Gulmarg. From Dal Lake (gate 1), we took a rickshaw which charged us Rs. 40 to Batmola. We then took a shared taxi to Tanmarg and another shared taxi to Gulmarg (Rs. 75 per person for both the taxis). The trip from Tanmarg to Gulmarg was refreshing. Gulmarg was really nice with lush green surroundings. We had lunch at Bakshi Vegetarian restaurant, lip smacking aloo and mix vegetable parathas. From here, we walked approx 1.5 km to the Gandola station. We booked the tickets for both the stages of the cable car ride, Rs. 800 per person. It is always advisable to visit the second stage first, as the cable car may get closed for the ride from the 1st stage to the 2nd stage (Affarwat) due to change in weather conditions. We had a great time at both the stages, 2nd stage had a small patch of snow as well. Each cable car has a capacity of four persons, so we had a foreign couple – Hink & Maria accompanying us in our cable car ride to the top. It was their first time to India and they were enjoying the same. The view from the cable car was very nice with lush green forest all around the mountains and some houses of the villagers residing there and the weather was also quite good. We had fun at both the stages of for around 2 hours. This time, we had tasty pakoras at Bakshi restaurant. Although we did not plan a stay at Gulmarg, one may decide to stay here for a night, since the early morning look would surely be very beautiful. We took the return taxis via same route and reached Dal lake around 7 p.m. Saw a better guesthouse – Hamburg guesthouse with LCD TV and Imported bathroom fittings (just describing it to let u know that small guest houses also have good facilities – so do not go for those expensive hotels around the Lake). Got it for a steal – Rs. 600 per night.
