Srinagar

Day 16 – Aru to Srinagar – 9th Sep 2018

The roads are really good on this stretch of NH44. The army convoy that can be spotted very often gives us an anxiety for sometime, but then we get used to it. 

As we left Pahalgam, we encountered our first meeting with the lovely apple orchards, spread across both sides of the road! It was a treat to our eyes, and that is when Insha learnt that apples grow on trees, and not in the super markets! We stopped at the very first orchard, and asked the lady there for permission to click few pics. She promptly agreed, and even happily handed over few apples to Insha when we were leaving. Soon we realised that the whole road ahead is filled with orchards, and it is a mandatory custom to stop and roam around the orchards and pluck some apples from the trees and also taste the freshly pressed apple juice at the road side stalls.

As the altitude reduced, apple orchards were slowly replaced by stretches of walnut and chinar trees. As we drove ahead, willow trees appear on the road sides, and at Awantipora we stopped at a shop selling the famous Kashmiri willow cricket bats. The bats were really cheap and we bought a few for the cricket fanatics back home. 

The next stop before Srinagar was Pampore. For those who don’t know, Pampore is the place to buy original Kesar(Saffron). We stopped in one of the shops named Anmol Kesar Company and started checking for saffron and dry fruits. You get saffron for a better price here than anywhere else and the quality seemed to be really good. The owner served us the Kashmiri Kahwa with their saffron, and also asked us to taste some of the dry fruits. 

As we were sipping the Kahawa and talking to the shop owner, I noticed that the left front tyre of the car had less air. The car had been running without any issues all the way from Bangalore  for almost 3500kms. I rushed to the car and found that the tyre was punctured and the air was leaking badly. The shopkeeper was very friendly and he told that there is a puncture shop nearby. I asked Fasi and Insha to stay there itself and took the car to the puncture shop, unfortunately it was closed. I couldn’t find any other shops nearby. I finally decided to fill air myself from the portable tyre inflator. The inflator came to help for the first time in the journey. I was so happy that I carried it and it was very easy to use. The pressure had gone below 20 psi. After continuous effort for 5 mins, I could fill the tyre to 35 psi. It was a very bad cut on the tyre and that too on the edge. I was little worried as a puncture on the sidewalls is always nasty, and hence inflated the tyre more than required, and returned to the kesar shop. Fasi was anxiously waiting there as it was taking more time, however she had chosen all required items from the shop. I too went inside, and we decided to grab some smaller packs of Kesar for people in our office as a souvenir from Kashmir. Apart from Kesar, we also picked several combinations of dry fruits, for friends and relatives.

I was still nervous about the puncture, as we moved forward, because it was a Sunday and we could not find any puncture shops yet. We stopped in between at a small road side cafe for lunch, and had a decent meal of Arabian rolls and french fries! Luckily, post-lunch, we found a small puncture shop and there was only a little boy there. He checked the tyre and told that the puncture looks little bad and he will try to fix it with the rubber fix . But, he was not confident if it would stay for long as it was on the corners. But to my surprise, that fix has stayed until I replaced my tyres after running 98000kms and that too traveling almost all terrains across India, Nepal and Bhutan. 

Finally, we reached safely, in our stay The Orchard Retreat and Spa in Srinagar, which was a blissful location amidst apple orchards and nature. The room was really spacious and cozy, we were actually sad that we don’t have enough time in Srinagar to relax in this room, a bit more. The bright flowers, shady trees, tranquil atmosphere and the clean rooms made it really an awesome stay!

After freshening up, we headed out for a quick visit to the Shalimar Bagh/Mughal Garden. The garden was right next to the pristine Dal Lake, and had a serene water canal with fountains running right through the centre. The colourful flowers and the green trees inside were so enchanting, however the garden was so crowded that we did not spend much time there.

We soon went out for the mandatory Shikara ride in the Dal Lake. The city of Srinagar is wrapped around the majestic Dal Lake. An evening ride here would be the most relaxed thing on earth, provided you have a boat driver who won’t keep talking to you. In an effort to keep things friendly for a tip at the end of the ride, the shikhara driver kept on talking, but we actually preferred a silent ride so that we could enjoy the soothing serenity of the lake.

The driver also managed to get us some beautiful lotus from the lake, and Insha was so excited seeing them that soon she spread the purple stain of the flower all over her pink dress! The ride took us to the calm interiors of the lake, where the driver halted the boat for sometime, so that we could enjoy the real beauty of the lake. You got to bargain for the boat ride rates, but it is definitely worth it.

After the boat ride, we went on a HOP-on-HOP-off city bus tour to just roam around the lake. We had parked our car near the lake and went on the bus. It was a double decker bus with an open top. The nightlife along the lake side looked so enchanting. We stood on the open deck in the cold climate and enjoyed roaming around the city.  The ride was so amazing with some Hindi music playing out loud in the background. But the bus guys didn’t return to the starting point as they promised, however, they were really helpful and made sure they dropped us in an auto to the starting point.

We had a delicious Arabian dinner from Srinagar city, and then went back to the hotel. It is at the hotel that we realised that we had missed one of our mobile chargers at the stay at Aru Valley, the first and last thing to be misplaced in the whole journey! We soon slept off, exhausted after a really long and happening day!

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