On our second day in Srinagar, we decided to visit Pahalgam. Pahalgam is about 50 Kms from Srinagar and offers a very scenic drive enroute, along the Lidder River. Actually things were beginning to go slightly out of gear as today, Friday, was still a holiday with markets and many attractions still staying closed due the Eid. Added to that, to curtail crowds, restrictions had been added for travel to popular tourist spots like Pahalgam and Gulmarg. Now, on weekends, only those tourists who were staying overnight would be allowed entry. It certainly makes sense for those who wish to trek, do the trails or spend time leisurely, but for us, we had planned only a day trip.
We left after breakfast and hit the road. Our first stop was a Kehwa shop which is believed to serve the best Kehwa in Kashmir. And it lived up to its reputation. Super tasty and swarming with dry fruits, it was well worth the Rs. 30 it cost. There was also a Dry Fruit Store right next door and we ended up buying plenty of Walnuts and Almonds, something we consume on a daily basis. Thereafter we continued on our journey and arrived at Pahalgam around 11:30
Another issue in Pahalgam, and also in many other tourist places is that once you reach there, your Srinagar taxi is not allowed to ply there. You have to take a Local Taxi to ferry you around the sights of Pahalgam. I guess it is in the interest of the locals, otherwise they would be deprived of the opportunity to do even this business. At many places, this has given way to touts and harassment of visitors, but Pahalgam was one place where this system is organised. Rates, car types, various tour options are all on public display and you can opt for a car of your choice and the sights you want to cover at a price which is fixed. We took a Chevrolet Travera SUV to take us to the three main sights, a halt of an hour at each point included and we expected the tour to take about 3 to 4 hours. We guessed we would probably not spend even an hour at each point, as we were neither going trekking or hill climbing, all we wanted to do was enjoy the beauty and take some nice pictures. But even then, an hour flies by far too fast.
Our first stop was the Aru Valley. It is like a beautiful scenic park with several rock formations you can climb. Or you can simply stroll along the many paths and hills and enjoy the beauty. There is a small bazaar where you can shop for the usual shawls. You can also rent a pony to take you atop the hill for a magnificent view. All that requires time, which we did not have plenty of. We just walked around the village and some of the paths and enjoyed the natural beauty. We then left Aru and headed in another direction towards Chandanwadi, the highest point there and the starting point for the Amarnath Yatra. Along the way would be Betaab Pont, which is believed to be the most scenic valley in Pahalgam. It is named after the popular Bollywood Film Betaab which was shot there in late 1980s, but it is still a popular shooting spot for many Bollywood Films. Because it was a public holiday, the traffic and congestion was such that the approach to Betaab was completely choked with vehicles parked on both sides of the not-so-wide hill road and revelers, holiday makers and tourists all over on the main road. There was no way and nowhere that we could park or even stop. So instead of wasting time, we decided we would continue to Chandanwadi and then stop at Betaab on the return downward journey.
We were able to reach Chandanwadi fairly quickly from there. On the way we stopped at some vantage view points from where we got some good photographs of Betaab Valley from an elevation. Our taxi driver was a good photographer and helped us take a lot of fancy pictures of the two of us together, something we rarely have.
Chandanwadi is the base camp from where the Amarnath Yatra – the trek to the Holy Cave of Amarnath – begins. The Yatra has been called off this year due to Covid and other factors but we could see the permanent camps and bhandara places (charitable eating courts) constructed for use of the pilgrims. Other than that there is nothing much to do here, except you can take a pony ride to the first starting step of the Yatra and offer a prayer there. We were not into that. We had a coffee at one of the restaurants and began the return drive to Pahalgam. Fortunately, by this time, Traffic Police had been deployed on the road and thanks to them the return ride was smoother. We still decided not to stop at to Betaab because even from the road it was a considerable downhill trek (it also meant climbing up later) and it was getting late. As a courtesy and in lieu of us not having been able to visit Betaab, the taxi driver took us for a short visit to the Mamaleshwar Temple, which is an ancient Shiva Temple in the centre of Pahalgam.
After settling the Local Taxi Bill, we settled downd to have a late lunch of Rainbow Trout. Fresh trout is a favourite choice of food at Pahalgam as it is found in abundance in the Lidder River flowing through Pahalgam. It was thoroughly enjoyable and we topped it up with a nice Chocolate Brownie for dessert.
The Willow Tree, which is the wood used for making cricket bats grows in abundance in this area and there are many commercial units manufacturing cricket bats in this area. It was nice to see them. We got caught in the congestion once again as we approached the city of Srinagar so it was pretty late by the time we got back to the houseboat after a tiring but enjoyable day trip.
The Pahalgam photo gallery is below. There are many pictures of the two of us taken by our Pahalgam taxi driver. This is rare.
