Hi guys! 🙂

I know I am doing too much posts about things that happened in 2013 like this post but I guess that’s fine if the things are as beautiful as Kashmir, right? Well, truth be told, I might do more posts about 2013! 😛

Talking about Kashmir, who doesn’t know that it is heaven on Earth? Indeed, it was very beautiful. No wait. Very, very beautiful. However, might I add, I am sure there are other places in the world (and in India) which are extremely beautiful, somehow they are not treated in the same league as Kashmir. Maybe, when I visit them, I will be in a better position to decide. I loved Kashmir but I think there are other places just as beautiful?

I would like to talk about a few things about Kashmir:

1. The highlight of the trip for me was Dal Jheel. It is a long stretching lake in Kashmir dotted with house boats and Shikaras.

 Shikaras are cutely adorned beautiful boats for tourists to roam around and enjoy the beauty of the lake. The most unexpected part was that these Shikaras were also used by shopkeepers to sell things on the go in the lake itself! Like, we had hired one Shikara and while we were roaming in it, out of nowhere used to appear another Shikara every once in a while selling Jewellery, herbs, nuts and other knick-knacks for which the area is known for.

Also, there is a huge market selling Kashmiri clothes and wooden stuff located on the lake itself. Its very beautiful and a different experience altogether. 🙂 I loved the Dal Jheel experience the most during my whole trip. Did I mention that the houseboats were E.X.T.R.E.M.E.L.Y. beautiful with carved wooden walls and all?

2. We visited Pehalgam, a small village on the outskirts of Srinagar, which is famous for certain tourist points and apple fields that lead to it.

3. We also visited Gulmarg, which is like the heart of Kashmir, it is very beautiful and the snow there glitters making it such a perfect sight.

4. As most already know and must have observed, Kashmiri people are very beautiful, be it a girl or a boy. They have very sharp features, perfectly carved. 🙂

5. When in Kashmir, drink the original Kashmiri Kahwa. It is a type of tea that is big on dry fruits and is supposed to provide warmth. There’s absolutely no way that you won’t like it, doesn’t matter whether you are a tea person or not.

6. Kashmir is famous for dry fruits like Walnuts and almonds and for Kesar (Saffron) too. However, it is very easy for tourists to get fooled into buying fake stuff. So, either be sure or don’t buy in huge quantities at one go. Definitely buy Kashmiri clothes like shawls, warm suits and sarees, jackets, kaftans etc. There are some big markets in Srinagar called Lakkad Bazaar and Lal Chowk.

7. There are two things which were very striking about the life there. People are always wearing this thing called phiran over whatever they are wearing to provide comfort. The picture in the link is a very fashionable type, the ones that people wear there in routine are very rugged and even men wear them, the ones for men are usually of plain or tartan print. Secondly, they always carry this fire-pot called Kangdi with them to keep themselves warm.

8. We couldn’t visit the famous Mughal gardens and this place called Sonmarg due to lack of time. Hoping that I would visit these places some time! 🙂

Oh, and, just because we are discussing travel, I would mention that I love clicking people, emotions, streets and culture more than I like clicking nature. So, I love Shimla a lot because there are people, there are markets and there are the British buildings. You get me? For the same reason, I love Rajasthan, I loved Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Jaipur. Well, Jaipur is one of my favorite cities. 🙂   For the same reason, I want to visit Pushkar, Lucknow and Kolkata. I think street photographers will get me? 😀

Take care & stay happy,

Srishty 🙂