Valley of Flower

Relatively unknown, compared to the other tourist spots in the state Patnitop is no less beautiful or serene. If one is aiming to get away from it all for some time, this place is hard to beat.  With all its beauty at a hill station, it is a charming plateau at 2, 024m. The meadow is surrounded by dense woods and lush greenery of Pines. Tracks lead to pockets where time stands still and calm prevails. Picturesquely situated at a high altitude, there are many pleasant walks around this popular hill station. Patnitop is a good starting place for many short or longer treks into the nearby mountains. An attractive one-day walk is to Shiva Garh, about 11-km from Patnitop at an altitude of almost 3,500 meters. Good bridle paths passing through wooded lanes and fascinating scenery link Patnitop with Kud and Batote. There are three, gushing, ice-cold freshwater springs in the area, which are said to have medicinal properties.

Indulge in the romantic spur of houseboats, historic gardens, distinctive Kashmiri wooden mosques and a mild summer climate combine to make Srinagar one of India’s top domestic tourist attractions. Srinagar’s three main areas converge around Dal gate, where the southwestern nose of Dal Lake passes through a lock gate. Northwest lies the fascinatingly chaotic Old City. The busy commercial centre is southwest around Lal Chowk. The city’s greatest draw card is mesmerisingly the placid Dal Lake, which stretches a southwestern channel-spur towards the city centre, paralleled by the hotel-lined Boulevard. A bright array of houseboats here forms particularly colourful scene. The famous Mughal gardens are strung out over several kilometers around the lake.

Surrounded by high peaks, the Lidder and Seshnag rivers tumble down picturesque, deep-cut mountain valleys covered with giant conifers. The surrounding mountains contain many beauty spots and over 20 lakes to which countless guides and horsemen are more than keen to take you for a ride. The most popular hike of all is the multi-day pilgrimage to Armanath. The main accommodation centre is the sprawling low-rise resort town of Pahalgam with over 230 hotels and guesthouses, several manicured parks, temples for different religions and a super mountain-ringed golf course. Rafting a 2.5km stretch of the Lidder is possible from a point 12km west of Pahalgam.

For a short, easy unguided walk, heading up the very pretty Lidder Valley towards Aru gets you fairly rapidly away from the worst of the pilgrim crowds. Given around three hours, horsemen will be more than happy to take you on a standard road-less circuit to a lake, viewpoint and upland meadow. Guesthouses are likely to encourage you to go for longer treks that take you well into the glorious alpine scenery. While the landscapes are undoubtedly lovely, prices tend to be far higher than for equivalent hikes in Ladakh, so if your time is limited, think carefully as to which area suits you better.

Pine-fringed Gulmarg is the nearest in India, to gets to a ski resort. It’s not so much a town as a twisting 4km-long loop of road ringing the undulating ‘Meadow of Flowers’ for which it’s named. The meadow is given some visual focus by the modest 1890’s Anglican Church of St Mary’s sitting on a lonely hillock, accessed off the dead-end road linking historic Gulmarg Golf Club to the 1965 neo-colonial style Hotel Highlands Park. However, the main reason to come to Gulmarg is to venture up through the backing stands of mature pines towards the bald ridge of Mt Afarwat. This can be done on foot or with ponies but is easiest using the two-stage gondola cable car that whisks you to 3747m for outstanding clear-day views, reputedly encompassing Nanga Parbat, the world’s ninth-highest mountain across in Pakistan. The gondola’s base-station is around 1km west of the bus stand.

Located at an altitude of about 2500 feet above sea level, Katra is the base camp for the Yatra to the Holy Shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji. This is the last point uptill which any type of modern transport can go (except the recently started Helicopter service, which takes the pilgrims right till Sanjichhat, just a couple of kilometers from the Holy Shrine). Therefore, for all practical purposes, Katra serves as the base camp. From here a trek of around 12 kms takes a pilgrim to the Holy Shrine. One can undertake this trek on foot or on horses/ponies or on palanquins (palkies or dolies). While most of the pilgrims prefer to go on foot, some who find it difficult to negotiate the climb hire a pony or a palanquin.