I always wanted to pen down my experiences but never got an opportunity as I don’t believe in human diaries. so I would like to thank candle monk for this opportunity. 
        I was working as a teacher for the past 2 years and due to covid I lost my job. I love teaching children besides that I love travelling too. So instead of making this blog a sad one, I would like to share my experiences about this wonderful journey with my husband in this paradise on earth, yes you guessed it right. I am talking about Kashmir.

      So the last month, that is March 30, 2021 I lost my job and had almost gone into depression as I was very much attached to my children, colleagues and my institution too, that’s when I decided I need a break from all these and want to free myself from all these for some days. I was just browsing one of my social media accounts and saw some posts from Kashmir, same day I started to search about it on YouTube and took some more information about the expense, weather and things like that. Well, our budget was so low that we could only afford oyo hotels. Lol. But still I decided to give a try. When I spoke to my husband about it, even he showed some interest. one of my cousin and her husband were interested too, so we four of planned accordingly. April 16 was our departure from bengaluru airport where as we stay in mangalore but the airline tickets were a lot cheaper from Bengaluru and that’s why we thought our departure from Bengaluru. We were asked to get a 72 hour prior negative report. On April 14, 2021 we four went for a test to a nearby Govt hospital and got ourselves tested. We were busy in packing as April 15 was our bus from mangalore to bengaluru. And that evening we get a call from hospital saying my cousin is covid positive. It was heartbreaking and I was shattered, with a lot difficulty we had arranged for the funds and what not. We called our agent and asked if we two can travel  but they themselves were confused regarding what they can do. Our bus would leave at 9:30 PM and at 7PM we were confused whether we are leaving or not. Finally at 8:45 we get a call saying we both can travel but with an extra cost of 8000. But that moment of time, we couldn’t think of any better option and had to accept that condition from them. 

       Finally, we reached bus stand at 9:25 and the bus left at 9:35. We were so happy that finally we are leaving but god had different plan. We reached Bengaluru at 5:30 AM. 
As usual we had snacks and coffee outside the airport and at around 5:45 we went with our adhar card to the entry and we were shocked to know that our tickets are cancelled.  My eyes were filled with tears, had all mixed emotion. We called our agent at 5:45 in the morning and bursted at her yet she had no idea about it. After waiting for 1.5 hour we get a call saying you need to book the tickets on your own and the company will refund by evening. The ticket cost was coming around 13,875 Rs for 2. We had only 21k in our hand. But then we had no option but to book it there. 
        Finally we reached Srinagar airport in Kashmir at 4. The feeling was unexplainable. That cool breeze, fair people with red cheeks, lush green trees everywhere, everything about Kashmir was so beautiful. 
       So our day 1 was in Srinagar. We stayed at a houseboat in dal lake. It was so beautifully carved with deodar trees. There were around 100-150 houseboats all carved with deodar trees. They say deodar trees are so strong that they can apparently last upto 100 years. They welcomed us with a hot and tasty khava. The entire houseboat was carved with wood yet it was reasonable. It was 2500Rs per night for 2 including breakfast and dinner. we spent the entire day relaxing there enjoying the beauty of the houseboat but it was getting colder with time and as it was on a lake, the cold was merciless. It started raining heavily and we came to know from the locals that weather is not really good from last few days. We neither had any heater nor power blankets. My excitement started coming down with time. I didn’t have my dinner there as I was shivering very badly. By 10PM my husband started snoring and I was there shivering and almost crying. I had almost 4-5 layers on me with 2-3 blankets which of was no good. I don’t know how I fell asleep but when I got up in the morning the weather was good. We got up at around 7PM and when we went out of our houseboat the scenery we witness was unexpected. Something that we wanted to capture with our cameras but pictures weren’t doing any justice to the beauty. Well, I can just say we both couldn’t talk to each other for 2 mins as we both were completely into the scenic beauty. We quickly had breakfast, clicked some pictures and then left for Gulmarg. 
          Day 2- Gulmarg. With the previous night experience, I was very scared even to enter Gulmarg as Gulmarg is very cold and completely into snow. The journey from Srinagar to gulmarg is around 2 hours and very beautiful. On the way we visited some kashmiri shawls factory and a small tea stall. We came to know from some tourist that the weather in Gulmarg was very harsh and I thought quitting going to gulmarg because I am the kind of person who loves to enjoy warm weather not cold weather. But somehow my husband convinced me and we reached Gulmarg. Gulmarg welcomed us with beautiful snowfall. That was not the first time I witnessed snow fall but it was entirely different than what I saw earlier. Our cab driver asked us to hire a guide there, we didn’t want one but we couldn’t deny. He said it’s just 600Rs and so we agreed. The guide was sweet and started explaining us about some facts of Gulmarg. We reached the parking and the cable car point was 1.5Km away from the parking point. We first hired some winter jackets and gum boots for 400 each. Guide started showing his colours there. He asked us to take a horse from parking point to cable car point and asked us to pay 700 each. Since it was a budget trip we decided to walk. But the walk wasn’t really easy as the snow there was very slippery and I had jacket of almost 2 Kgs on me and of course the gum boots too. It took almost 1 hour to walk 1.5 kms and then we reached the cable car point. Well the prices are fixed by the Govt and reasonable too. It is Rs 600 for phase 1 Rs 950 for phase 2. One cannot enter phase 2 directly without entering phase 1. So if you want to get in phase 2, you need to buy both the tickets, that is , 600 + 950, well the phase 2 was closed as it was snowing heavily and we purchased only phase 1 tickets and Normally the place is very much crowded with tourists but it was a surprise to see that there were hardly 3-4 families in the gondola station (cable car point). People there were very sad that covid has affected the Kashmir tourism very badly. We didn’t have to stand in any queue for the cable car and directly entered in. The view from the cable car was very panoramic and something that I would like to capture in me forever. The guide started talking about all the activities there, that is, snow biking for 2000 each, skiing for 3000 each and sledge for 2500 each. We were shocked, we had not expected these kind of prices for all these activities. We hardly had 7-8k with us. I spoke to my husband saying let’s not do any activities as it is much higher than our budget. But the guide was manipulative that he succeeded in convincing my husband for sledging. He then asked us to remain quiet in front of sledge people and not talk about the prices in front of them. I was then 100% sure that this guy is cheating but sadly my husband asked me to remain quiet and just enjoy the sledge. We reached phase 1 and there were hardly 250-300 people there. The sledge was very nice and we enjoyed a lot. It was for almost 1 hour, we reached a lot of beautiful points and guide clicked lots of pictures and videos. I was so involved in enjoying the snow that I completely forgot about the cold. We enjoyed cheese Maggie and kesar khavas, we interacted with tourists there and spent some ‘we’ time. Everything was so perfect. We came down after 2.5 hours via cable car and reached our hotel in Gulmarg. Thankfully, there was a heater in the room. I enjoyed my stay at Gulmarg. It was far away from the cities, small and cosy yet beautiful. 
       Day 3- Pahalgam. We left from Gulmarg at 9AM in the morning to Pahalgam. The journey was very beautiful as we saw a lot of apple farms on our way. we had some tasty fresh Kashmiri apple juices, we visited avantipura temple and reached Pahalgam. We can take our car only till a certain extent in Pahalgam, after that one needs to hire a union cab, which costs around 2500Rs per day which was already included in our package. We visited some beautiful places like aru valley, Betab valley and chandanwadi in Pahalgam. People here are very sweet but vendors there trouble you a lot for horse riding and ask tip for the little things. We asked a small boy to click picture and he in return asks for money. It was very late by the time we finished our sightseeing and it was drizzling and I started feeling cold… We reached our hotel called green heights, it was on a hill and the view from the room was breathtaking. I was happy that we had power blankets in the room. The food was tasty. Our stay at Pahalgam was very pleasant. 
        Day 4- Srinagar. We left from Pahalgam at around 9AM and reached Srinagar by 12:30 PM. We started our sightseeing, we were lucky to witness the tulip festival which happens only once a year for a month. It was such a treat to watch different colours of tulips in the garden. They were in lakhs but sadly the tourists were not even in hundreds. Well it was easy for all of us to maintain the social distancing. After tulip garden, we visited pari mahal where we enjoyed wearing Kashmiri outfits. Srinagar is famous of gardens, nothing much other than gardens and dal lake. We visited few more gardens like chashmeshahi and Shalimar garden. Enjoyed Kashmiri wazwan and some local dishes there. Overnight stay at srinagar. 
         Day 5- Sonmarg. Well, a lot of people suggested us not to go to sonmarg as there’s nothing much to do there, but I suggest you all not to miss this wonderful place. Its just scenic beauty and nothing much but it’s very peaceful there. We reached sonmarg by 11AM in the morning. Hotel people had already told us about the union cab in sonmarg just like how it is in Pahalgam. Our cab cab only take us till parking point. Only union cab can take us beyond that. They asked us 4000Rs for the cab. We decided not to take a cab and just go for a walk, as there’s just scenic beauty and nothing much. The driver then came down to 3000 and then we finally agreed for 2000Rs. He took us to few points like helipad from where people leave for Amarnath Yatra, fishing point, last village of Kashmir and took us to a place where we could enjoy some fresh snow. We had some yummy Maggie and khava and rented Gum boots. We came to snow that price for sledge here is 300 each. We felt like fools for paying 2500 each in Gulmarg. We enjoyed sledge again here and left back to Srinagar by 5PM in the evening. 
     Day 6- Srinagar. our flight was at 3PM but we still had not done shikara ride in dal lake. We reached dal lake by 9:30AM and started for shikara. shikara person asked 1500 for one hour but after bargaining he agreed for 700Rs for one hour. It was one memorable experience and a romantic one too. People come there to sell their products, but we didn’t buy any as our driver had warned us that they show one but pack a different one. The weather was chilled and the chicken bbq was like cherry on the cake. Everything about shikara was so beautiful. After shikara, as we had some time left, we visited another garden nearby and spent some time there. We left to Srinagar airport at 12 PM and reached by 12:45. Reached Bengaluru at 7:30. Our bus from Bengaluru airport to mangalore was at 9:30 and reached mangalore at 5AM. 
        Though there were a lot of problems initially, the trip went very smooth and is one of the most memorable trip. It is truly paradise on earth and I enjoyed every bit of it. We left the place only after promising that we will be back soon with my parents and in laws. 
     Thank you candlemonk for this opportunity