Gulmarg,at an altitude of 2730 m is a majestic hill station in the district of Baramula of Jammu and Kashmir in India. Nestled with stunning peaks in the Himalayan ranges, Gulmarg is a spectacular picnic spot attracted by all kinds of tourists with its lush green backdrop, beautiful landscapes, flowering gardens, serene lakes and pleasant climate during the summers and falls. This is one of the best ski resorts in India as it gets heavy snowfall, especially during winter. Some of the highest ski slopes in India lies in the sloppy Himalayan regions in Gulmarg.
Gulmarg was part of my Kashmir tour with Kesari dated 17th May, 2013 to 25th May, 2013. After spending two wonderful days in Pahalgam, we proceeded to Gulmarg. We reached to Gulmarg in the afternoon and checked in to a luxurious hotel named "Grand Mumtaz".
There was no sight-seeing planned for the day and everybody had free time to relax and rest. After lunch, many went to sleep in their cozy rooms. I took the opportunity to venture out and explore few things on my own.
After coming out of the hotel, I started following the way inside the jungle on the West to get some solitude as I saw many people on the main road on East side. After 10 minutes of walk, I heard the noise of gushing water and went towards the noise. A beautiful stream was flowing with a sweet noise.
I spent few quiet moments just looking at the stream and crossed the stream to go to the other side. After crossing this stream, I heard louder noise of another stream and again went towards it and came across larger stream.
As nobody was around, I just sat beside the stream and was enjoying my time in solitude. There was a wooden log placed on top of stream to help people cross the stream.
As I was sitting, I came across a group of local villagers who were carrying some kind of luggage on their shoulders and trying to cross the stream using the wooden log.
After some time, I spotted few tourists coming on the ponies. They were returning from a snow point which was about 90 minutes from the location where I was standing. As I had to join my family soon, I decided against visiting that snow point and came back to hotel.
After tea, I took family for an evening stroll. We followed a dirt pathway which was descending towards a stream. After descending, we reached to a stream which we wanted to cross without our shoes getting wet. But the stream was too wide to jump over it and we decided against going to the other side and just relaxed on the gravel for some time.
Ashwini and Arnav relaxing on the gravel:
Afterwards,we came back to the place from which we had descended and decided to check out a small hill near a main road. We reached to the top in about 10 minutes and came across beautiful meadow of flowers. We clicked few pictures in the setting sun and came back to the hotel.
Next morning, we proceeded to Gondola ride after our breakfast. Our hotel was hardly 10 minutes walk from the Gondola ride. Our tour operator, Deenanath had gone very early in the morning to obtain the tickets. We got the tickets and stood in a small queue which started getting bigger and bigger afterwards. Soon, it was our turn to sit in the cable car.
This Gondola ride consists of two phase. First phase (duration 7 min) gets you to the height of 12300 feet to Kongdoori mountain.
After reaching to the first phase, we again stood in the queue for the second phase and soon it was our turn.
Second phase (duration 9 min) which is one of the highest gondola ride in the world takes you to Appharwath mountain at the extreme height of 14000 feet.
Shot taken from the moving Gondola with many scratches on its glass:
We were soon on the top of the snow-capped mountains. We all were ecstatic to be on top of the Himalayan peak full of snow.
We were swarmed with the local sledge owners and ski owners as soon as we got down from Gondola. They almost forced many people to sit on their sledges with the hefty price of 700 Rs per head on the pretext of getting them to the point from where they could see LoC. I was determined to walk in the snow and ignored their repeated attempts to convince me to take their sledge ride. I also convinced my family to enjoy walking in the snow and we started climbing a mountain slope looking to play in the fresh snow. After ascending for 10 minutes, we came across a steeper slope from which climbing was bit difficult. Hence, I asked Ashwini and Arnav to play in the snow for some time.
I climbed for further 10 minutes to go higher on the mountain. There I met few sledge owners and asked them for the direction of LoC but they were reluctant to give me the direction since I was the one who had not consumed their services. Finally, a sledge owner came to me and told me that he would take me and my family to the point where we could see LoC for 500 Rs. He was almost pleading to me and finally I agreed. I sat behind him on the sledge and came back to the spot where Arnav and Ashwini were playing in the snow. We all sat on the sledge and the bearded man took us to the point from where we could see the LoC. That point was hardly 100 meters.
Anyways, it was stunning to witness LoC (black line running from the top in the picture below)
We also spotted few Pakistani bunkers on other side of LoC.
We spent some time at the point beyond which entry was restricted because of the proximity with LoC. Our sledge owner clicked few of our pictures:
We came back to our original point from where we again had to catch cable car to come down.
We had a nice coffee before sitting in the Gondola and returned to the base point soon. We reached around 12 PM and it was getting hotter. As I had my elderly in-laws with me, I hired ponies for them. Initially pony owners asked for 200 Rs for the ride, but I bargained for 50 Rs per ride.
Along the way, these pony owners asked me whether we would like to hire the ponies to witness different points. I asked them the rent and they told me 700 Rs per ride. I told them that I would pay maximum 200 Rs and after a while, they agreed. I asked them to come around 5 PM in front of our hotel.
We had a nice rest in the afternoon and pony owners came back to the hotel at 5 PM as promised and they took us to view different sites – Bobby house, Children’s park, 1 scale fishing lake, "Mission Kashmir" shooting location, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" shooting location. We stopped in front of the Rani temple and visited it. It is a beautiful temple and "Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, Kata na lage kankar" song was shot on the steps of this temple. Unfortunately, I had forgot to take my camera along with me and I was missing it badly since I was missing some really good snaps. After almost 2 hours ride, we came back to the hotel and enjoyed snacks and tea while sitting on hotel’s lawn.
Arnav enjoying with Deenanath and Gaurav -- fantastic tour managers from Kesari:
We got freshened up and soon it was time for dinner. After having a sumptuous dinner, we went to the coffee house to watch IPL - eliminator match between Rajasthan Royals and Hyderabad Sunrisers. I watched the match along with my fellow tourist - Mr. Kiran Kotrial – a famous Bollywood script and dialogue writer. I enjoyed evening with him and got to know about a lot of inside information of Bollywood from this great man.
Coffee House in Grand Mumtaz:
It was almost 12AM when I went to sleep. Our next day’s plan was to get up around 7 AM, have breakfast around 7.45 AM and leave for Srinagar around 8.30AM. You need to follow a time table if you are vactioning with a group. As I had missed taking the snaps during our 7-8 Kms pony ride around Gulmarg, I wanted to revisit the same spots early in the morning. But as it was already very late, I was doubtful whether I could get up so early in the morning.
Fortunately, I got up around 5.15 AM and came outside around 5.30 AM. Sun had already risen and I had almost 1.30 hrs in my hand to complete the circular round of 7-8 Km. It was a very pleasant weather and there was absolutely nobody on the street.
As I climbed down the steps of my hotel and about to start my early morning jog, I spotted a dark, black animal who resembled like a wolf searching for some food in the large dustbin. Our eyes met and I got frozen by seeing this ghastly animal. Suddenly, I turned back and started running back to the hotel. Seeing the same, it also started running behind me. Boy, I was so frightened and ran so fast that I was back on the hotel steps in few seconds. I had to climb almost 15-20 steps and I climbed them 3-4 at a time.
I got back my breath in few moments and searched for the hotel receptionist. But nobody was there. Then I peeped outside and saw the same animal with normal looking dogs. I assumed that the animal was some kind of snow dog with a lot of fur and gathered my courage and ventured out again after 5 minutes. Again, as I was passing the dustbin, I saw the same animal still searching for the food. This time, as I was assuming it as a snow dog, I walked confidently, did not look into its eyes; sort of ignored it and walked quietly. Boy, those were anxious moments! I was not at all prepared in case the animal had attacked me. It was a calculated risk and luckily, nothing happened.
Soon, I joined the main road. There was absolutely nobody on the road and the same road which was swarming with people last evening was quite deserted with not a single person in sight. I was enjoying the time in solitude. It was a mere bliss!
Soon, I spotted few horses sans their owners walking merrily.
After a while, I heard a loud noise on the large pine trees beside the road and spotted few monkeys playing on its branches. Some of the monkeys came on the road right in front of me; I quietly slipped my camera inside my pocket so as not to attract monkeys’ attraction. Well, I was definitely not expecting these wild creatures crossing my path and was just hoping that I would find few people on the road. Fortunately, my later walk cum jog was uneventful and I got to see the real beauty of Gulmarg.
Beautiful Curvy road:
Bobby house (This was the house where famous Bobby movie's song "Hum tum ek kamre me band ho, aur chabi kho jaye" was shot):
Warfare School:
Golf course:
Entry to the small Fishing lake :
Rani Temple ("Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, Kata na lage kankar" song was shot on the steps of this temple):
Smoke near a small house:
Almost done; just needed to walk along this road to reach back to hotel:
Finally, I reached safe and sound around 7 AM back to the hotel. We left Gulmarg around 8.30AM.
Overall, it was a memorable experience visiting Gulmarg.
Tips and information for tourists:
Hope you enjoyed reading my blog! If you are interested in trekking, please check out my other blogs on trekking.
There was no sight-seeing planned for the day and everybody had free time to relax and rest. After lunch, many went to sleep in their cozy rooms. I took the opportunity to venture out and explore few things on my own.
I spent few quiet moments just looking at the stream and crossed the stream to go to the other side. After crossing this stream, I heard louder noise of another stream and again went towards it and came across larger stream.
As nobody was around, I just sat beside the stream and was enjoying my time in solitude. There was a wooden log placed on top of stream to help people cross the stream.
As I was sitting, I came across a group of local villagers who were carrying some kind of luggage on their shoulders and trying to cross the stream using the wooden log.
After some time, I spotted few tourists coming on the ponies. They were returning from a snow point which was about 90 minutes from the location where I was standing. As I had to join my family soon, I decided against visiting that snow point and came back to hotel.
After tea, I took family for an evening stroll. We followed a dirt pathway which was descending towards a stream. After descending, we reached to a stream which we wanted to cross without our shoes getting wet. But the stream was too wide to jump over it and we decided against going to the other side and just relaxed on the gravel for some time.
Ashwini and Arnav relaxing on the gravel:
Afterwards,we came back to the place from which we had descended and decided to check out a small hill near a main road. We reached to the top in about 10 minutes and came across beautiful meadow of flowers. We clicked few pictures in the setting sun and came back to the hotel.
This Gondola ride consists of two phase. First phase (duration 7 min) gets you to the height of 12300 feet to Kongdoori mountain.
After reaching to the first phase, we again stood in the queue for the second phase and soon it was our turn.
Second phase (duration 9 min) which is one of the highest gondola ride in the world takes you to Appharwath mountain at the extreme height of 14000 feet.
Shot taken from the moving Gondola with many scratches on its glass:
We were swarmed with the local sledge owners and ski owners as soon as we got down from Gondola. They almost forced many people to sit on their sledges with the hefty price of 700 Rs per head on the pretext of getting them to the point from where they could see LoC. I was determined to walk in the snow and ignored their repeated attempts to convince me to take their sledge ride. I also convinced my family to enjoy walking in the snow and we started climbing a mountain slope looking to play in the fresh snow. After ascending for 10 minutes, we came across a steeper slope from which climbing was bit difficult. Hence, I asked Ashwini and Arnav to play in the snow for some time.
Anyways, it was stunning to witness LoC (black line running from the top in the picture below)
We also spotted few Pakistani bunkers on other side of LoC.
We spent some time at the point beyond which entry was restricted because of the proximity with LoC. Our sledge owner clicked few of our pictures:
We came back to our original point from where we again had to catch cable car to come down.
We had a nice coffee before sitting in the Gondola and returned to the base point soon. We reached around 12 PM and it was getting hotter. As I had my elderly in-laws with me, I hired ponies for them. Initially pony owners asked for 200 Rs for the ride, but I bargained for 50 Rs per ride.
Along the way, these pony owners asked me whether we would like to hire the ponies to witness different points. I asked them the rent and they told me 700 Rs per ride. I told them that I would pay maximum 200 Rs and after a while, they agreed. I asked them to come around 5 PM in front of our hotel.
We had a nice rest in the afternoon and pony owners came back to the hotel at 5 PM as promised and they took us to view different sites – Bobby house, Children’s park, 1 scale fishing lake, "Mission Kashmir" shooting location, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" shooting location. We stopped in front of the Rani temple and visited it. It is a beautiful temple and "Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, Kata na lage kankar" song was shot on the steps of this temple. Unfortunately, I had forgot to take my camera along with me and I was missing it badly since I was missing some really good snaps. After almost 2 hours ride, we came back to the hotel and enjoyed snacks and tea while sitting on hotel’s lawn.
Arnav enjoying with Deenanath and Gaurav -- fantastic tour managers from Kesari:
Coffee House in Grand Mumtaz:
It was almost 12AM when I went to sleep. Our next day’s plan was to get up around 7 AM, have breakfast around 7.45 AM and leave for Srinagar around 8.30AM. You need to follow a time table if you are vactioning with a group. As I had missed taking the snaps during our 7-8 Kms pony ride around Gulmarg, I wanted to revisit the same spots early in the morning. But as it was already very late, I was doubtful whether I could get up so early in the morning.
Fortunately, I got up around 5.15 AM and came outside around 5.30 AM. Sun had already risen and I had almost 1.30 hrs in my hand to complete the circular round of 7-8 Km. It was a very pleasant weather and there was absolutely nobody on the street.
As I climbed down the steps of my hotel and about to start my early morning jog, I spotted a dark, black animal who resembled like a wolf searching for some food in the large dustbin. Our eyes met and I got frozen by seeing this ghastly animal. Suddenly, I turned back and started running back to the hotel. Seeing the same, it also started running behind me. Boy, I was so frightened and ran so fast that I was back on the hotel steps in few seconds. I had to climb almost 15-20 steps and I climbed them 3-4 at a time.
I got back my breath in few moments and searched for the hotel receptionist. But nobody was there. Then I peeped outside and saw the same animal with normal looking dogs. I assumed that the animal was some kind of snow dog with a lot of fur and gathered my courage and ventured out again after 5 minutes. Again, as I was passing the dustbin, I saw the same animal still searching for the food. This time, as I was assuming it as a snow dog, I walked confidently, did not look into its eyes; sort of ignored it and walked quietly. Boy, those were anxious moments! I was not at all prepared in case the animal had attacked me. It was a calculated risk and luckily, nothing happened.
Soon, I joined the main road. There was absolutely nobody on the road and the same road which was swarming with people last evening was quite deserted with not a single person in sight. I was enjoying the time in solitude. It was a mere bliss!
Soon, I spotted few horses sans their owners walking merrily.
After a while, I heard a loud noise on the large pine trees beside the road and spotted few monkeys playing on its branches. Some of the monkeys came on the road right in front of me; I quietly slipped my camera inside my pocket so as not to attract monkeys’ attraction. Well, I was definitely not expecting these wild creatures crossing my path and was just hoping that I would find few people on the road. Fortunately, my later walk cum jog was uneventful and I got to see the real beauty of Gulmarg.
Beautiful Curvy road:
Bobby house (This was the house where famous Bobby movie's song "Hum tum ek kamre me band ho, aur chabi kho jaye" was shot):
Warfare School:
Golf course:
Entry to the small Fishing lake :
Rani Temple ("Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, Kata na lage kankar" song was shot on the steps of this temple):
Smoke near a small house:
Almost done; just needed to walk along this road to reach back to hotel:
Overall, it was a memorable experience visiting Gulmarg.
Tips and information for tourists:
- Gondola ride costs around 1000 Rs (400 Rs for first phase and 600 Rs for the second phase). Online booking is also available. Make sure that you reach early otherwise you will get frustrated standing in the long queues.
- You can skip the whole Gondola ride if you are not staying overnight in Gulmarg. In this case, you are almost certain to reach late and get longer queues and frustrating waiting period.
- Please check the weather and hire fur-coats only if it is cold. Local vendors always frighten you and almost force you to hire fur-coats and gum-boots. Gum-boots are good in case you want to do some hiking in the mountain.
- Avoid using sledge services on the second phase of Gondola ride. They are unnecessarily expensive and cheating in the broad day light.
- Bargain to avoid getting cheated.
- Plan your trip so that you get at least 2 days in Gulmarg. A single day trip just to take the Gondola ride is not worth.
- If possible, avoid peak season of May.
Hope you enjoyed reading my blog! If you are interested in trekking, please check out my other blogs on trekking.
Please post your valuable comments in case you have any feedback.
