We had spent 48 hours acclimatising to the rarefied air of Leh as we’d flown into Leh directly. Surprisingly, I had thoroughly enjoyed these days of relatively less travel, especially as the next 5 days would be long road journeys through the tough terrain of Ladakh. We left early this day (as we would on all the following days) to reach Hunder in the Nubra valley via the high pass of Khardungla.
Last view of Leh as we ascend the mountains towards Khardungla pass
Within 10 minutes of leaving Leh, we started our ascent towards Khardungla. Switchback after switchback we ascended, meeting no traffic on the way, and soon spotting the jagged mountains around the pass.
Far in the distance was the Khardungla pass
Beautiful roads on a harsh terrain, courtesy the BRO
Swiftly, we reached the pass and parked there, hoping for some snow at least. Sadly, most of the snow had melted and we only saw a glacier with a small area with old frozen snow to play in.
We could only reach the small area of snow where a few people can be seen
Play in snow when the sun shines!
We couldnt resist a picture at this really high medical post, meant to aid people with altitude sickness
Up a few steps, was a prayer monument. Those steps weren’t easy to climb, but we sure huffed and puffed our way up!
The hubby races us up the rickety steps
The beautiful Khardungla gompa, serene despite the crowds
The stark mountains seen in the distance through the fluttering prayer flags
Contrast this warm barren Khardungla with a white, snow-covered freezing cold pass 2 months ago when my brother-in-law had travelled. Ladakh is amazing in all seasons!
Pic courtesy Ravi Thapar of the steps leading to the gompa, cleared off the snow
Pic courtesy Ravi Thapar, with snow covering every part of Khardungla
There isn’t much to do here other than click the customary pictures with the “Khardungla Top” sign, but the line to click pictures was too long. Thinking that the bikers certainly deserved this picture far more than us, we head off from the pass and began our descent, and saw small pockets of snow that were accessible.
Snow is snow for us city people, even if a little dirty and not too fresh!
Our amazing driver through the trip, Mr Namgyal
A few turns after descending from Khardungla, where just 2 months earlier, my brother-in-law experienced fresh snowfall
Pic courtesy Ravi Thapar, just 2 months before my trip
It’s a very long drive from Khardungla to Hunder, where we would stay in the Nubra valley. We would ascend and descend several mountains, and the curved roads were nauseating to say the least. We certainly were happy to cross over a bright blue mountain spring and get out of the car.
Crystal-clear cold water that we filled our bottles with!
We would cross many such springs over the next few days, and their sparkling color and force never ceased to amaze me. By this time, it was very hot and sunny. All we could see were barren mountains around us.
Ridges made by melted snow lined the mountains
At some places, the mountains appeared as if they had been cut into
We were tired and hungry, but there was no decent lunch spot to be seen. Finally, after ages, our driver stopped at a lush green spot amidst the brown of the mountains. An oasis of food!
This oasis was run by an enterprising man, who had several activities like shooting, zorbing, river rafting and riverside camping
The teen found a donkey she wanted to pet
After a fresh, delicious lunch of dal and roti (no pictures, we were too hungry!), we set off once more, now running parallel to the Shyok river. We would come by this route again, on our way to Pangong lake, but for now we drove northwards, along the silt-laden river.
2 rafts were seen in the river, but i was amazed by how the 3 jeeps got onto that little island
Just before the oasis of Hunder, we saw the stunning sand dunes. Beautiful beige-white, perfectly undulating dunes of sand, with a backdrop of green poplars and barren mountains, a few topped with snow, were breath-taking.
Truly, a desert
One could be mistaken this for an Arabian desert!
It was too hot and sunny, and we were tired out by the long drive. We went to the resort first and rested a while.
Individual cottages with piping hot water in the midst of a cold desert
Delicious fresh apricots for the plucking just above our cottage!
We were surprised to learn thta Nubra valley shuts down in the winter months. All the resorts and camps are closed, the furniture packed away and stored, with layers of plastic wrapping, only to be reused once spring arrives. The cold desert is deserted.
Refreshed after a small nap (and a bath), we set off in the evening to the sand dunes. By now, the weather was cooler and the sun was no longer roasting us. Small patches of water en-route provided for beautiful reflections.
A small stream flowed along the edge of the dunes, that we had to cross over to get to the sand.
People sat by the edge of the water and dangled their legs in the cool stream
One of the many rickety bridges to cross the stream
Photographs do not do Ladakh justice, nor do videos. One has to be there and feel the gentle wind, see the sun setting behind the mountains, and dig their feet in the soft sands.
The hubby was fascinated by how the dunes formed along the course of the Shyok river
The mountains cast long shadows on the sand, making this area a very comfortable on indeed!
This area is known for the Bactian two-humped camels, that were first brought into the valley in order to carry goods on the Silk Route. Now, they’re a local money-making enterprise for joyrides for visitors.
They are really cute!
Groups of camels set off in a row to the farther areas of the dunes
Anti-animal-abuse me refused to get onto a camel, but the kid was tempted after seeing them. However, the camels were so overbooked that no further reservations were taken. Camel rides in Nubra are like Michelin starred restaurants!
We returned to our hotel early and had a delicious dinner of yellow dal, alu sabji and hot rotis. It’s a privilege to have electricity and fresh food in such a remote far-flung location. The power of tourism is truly strong.
We slept early, knowing we had another long drive to Turtuk the following day, with sweet dreams of the beautiful sand dunes.
After visiting the stunning Gulmarg, we headed onto Pahalgam. Pahalgam, the valley of shepherds, is most famous for a religious excursion and fabulous summer high altitude Himalayan treks, that don’t take place in May. The hubby was told that Pahalgam was “strictly average” and could even be missed. Contrarily, I had loved it the best during my childhood trip to Kashmir, and was looking forward to the pine cones and the gurgling green Lidder river that I had once been enchanted by. However, Gulmarg had been such a perfect place that poor Pahalgam had too much to live up to!
My parents beside the river in Pahalgam circa 1988
My beautiful mother and super cute sister in 2008; unknowingly, we stayed in the hotel seen in this picture in 2023
35 years down the line, we stayed at the hotel in the picture above
We had left Gulmarg with wonderful memories and pictures (Kashmir-May 2023-Gulmarg II) and drove to Pahalgam via Srinagar. En route, we stopped at the ruins of a 9th century temple in Avantipura. These small but well-maintained ruins were preceded by a beautifully manicured garden.
Dedicated to Lord Vishnu and built in late 9th century, it was reduced to rubble in the 15th century. In the 1990s, the area was excavated, and the temple, restored. Sadly though, the new construction around it clashes with the stone ruins and destroys a lot of its beauty.
Intricate carvings on the old stone structures
I do love ruins, but the flowers of Kashmir captivated me far more.
My second-most favorite flowers-orchids
The entire Gulmarg to Pahalgam route is a tourist trap route with too many pit stops. The aim of all of these is to make you buy something or the other and waste your time before you reach your beautiful destination. One of these stops was a roadside stall selling Kashmiri kehwa. The tea maker brewed it in an ornate Kashmiri pot and served it with thinly sliced almonds. However, the scene stealer was a truly irritating vlogger who was trying to capture the whole process and adding her own yakkity-yak.
Pity the glasses didnt match the pot
Average kehwa
By now, the cool morning had turned into a fairly hot and sunny day, and we were keen to get to Pahalgam soon, but the faster short-cut through small villages was halted by army personnel. Our driver was furious and proceeded on the longer (and only possible) route, swearing and honking away, but I was thrilled to see this huge expanse of a concrete road.
The lack of a divider surprised me, and our driver told us that it was so that the road could double up as an emergency airstrip. This was truly brilliant!
Willow trees lined the road, and stacks of wood used for making cricket bats were placed on terraces of homes. Fortunately, we had refused to visit one of these “home” factories, from where my brother-in-law had bought a cricket bat on his trip.
The long route had taken us so long that we had to stop for lunch. By now, we had turned into smaller roads and were pleasantly surprised by a different type of traffic jam!
The entire district around Pahalgam is very fertile, and apples and walnuts, in particular, grow here. Soon, we were passing through apple farms and of course, another pit stop was at one to drink apple juice. I was stunned to see apples hanging from the trees, as apple season was far-off, only to realize that they were artificial. As we were waiting for the juice, our teen squealed happily. She had seen a tiny rabbit in a cage, and our driver kindly took out the rabbit and put it in her thrilled hands.
Happiness is an unexpected rabbit!
An excited young girl is not happiness for a rabbit, as he soon started to clamber out of her arms and jump off. She held him tighter, trying to put him down, but he kept scratching at her hands. Finally, we hurriedly got the rabbit in his cage and moved ahead!
After driving for what seemed like forever, we saw a very welcome sight, the swift swirling clear blue-green waters of the river Lidder. Coming directly from the glacier, this beautiful river was everywhere to be seen in Pahalgam, and the best part of our stay here.
The glacial Lidder river, my favorite memory of the earlier Kashmir trip
Scores of hotels and homestays by the riverside, far from the center of Pahalgam
We drove higher and higher towards our hotel. The sun turned grey with clouds, but the river stayed its lovely blue green color. I was really excited about our hotel, as it was just beside the river, and we’d booked a river-facing room so that we’d hear the sound of it gushing along all the time, like I had when I was a kid.
Once we reached there, the hotel was gorgeous, with a wooden bridge over the river to walk to the hotel itself, but the room given to us had a teeny-tiny sideways view of the river. Naturally, I got it changed, and managed to get a huge corner room, with large French windows overlooking the river and the lawn, a rocking chair and a beautiful window side seating.
The much fought-for room!
Floor to ceiling windows looking out to the river and the mountains
The hubby naturally wanted to spend all evening in the room, I, naturally, didn’t. It was cold and raining, so we grabbed our warm jackets and headed off to a nearby beautiful park we’d seen on the drive. Sadly, it was shut, so we walked to the market. It was awful amidst scores of horses and we struggled to avoid horse poop-mixed-puddles of water. Sheer willpower, and more importantly, hunger and the cold pushed us to the marketplace, which was a tiny lackluster lane lined by shops and restaurants. Disappointed, we rushed into the first cafe we saw.
Warm and welcoming cafe with delicious food
The airconditioner here was actually set at 32 degrees. We were amazed! The tiny cafe served us delicious sandwich, fries and coffee, though it took forever to deliver our order.
Warm and well-fed, we decided to walk down the market. Suddenly, everything looked better. We noticed the cute lamps, the cobbled streets and the small old buildings and shops.
The shop windows were alluring and the kid and I oohed and aahed over dusty pink jackets, that we never bought. There were many stores selling clothes and shawls with intricate Kashmiri embroidery and bright colors.
A shopper would have found his or her heart’s delight here, but we were contented with mere photographs and found my heart’s delight at a small bakery instead. The cakes looked interesting, but it was my much-desired apple pie, that didn’t last long enough for even a picture!
Designs of the cakes influenced by local flora
As we walked back, the crowds were less, and the rain had stopped. We chanced upon a pretty looking park and headed inside to see a perfectly manicured garden with lovely flowers and trees and a small, tiered water body running through the center.
Lovely little park that was so well-tended, with no one inside other than us
Perfectly manicured hedges lined the center channel
At one corner, the grass was overrun by tiny white and pink flowers, looking like a carpet, surrounded by unusual trees.
The pretty white and pink wildflowers
A set of trees with colored leaves
Back at the hotel, we were thrilled to see a heater in the lobby and central heating in the room. Soon, a thunderstorm set in, battering the window-panes. The entire place became freezing cold. We ate a quick and not very good dinner and retired for the night.
Comfortable in the warm and cozy room, we slept a good night’s sleep undisturbed by the lightning and thunder, looking forward to our next day at Pahalgam. However, that day’s travels will be told another day by me, as I’ve already gone on for too long!
We had already spent a fabulous day in the lovely hamlet of Gulmarg (Kashmir-May 2023-Gulmarg) and I had woken early to see a stunning sunrise over the mountains. It was too pretty not to step out and so I had rushed out to walk along the path I had seen the previous day. The golden snow on the mountains and the beautiful meadow with the dark green pine trees were worth bearing the biting cold.
The cable car till the top was clearly visible till the first level but the next part was shrouded in clouds
After a heavy breakfast and lots of layers, we started to walk down to the cable car station. The cable car was called a gondola here, not a cable car, perhaps because it’s built on a continually rotating system. The initial half kilometer walk to the station was very irritating as numerous cabbies, salesmen, guides, pony owners and what-have-you heckled us non-stop. The teen desperately wanted to ride a horse, but we chose to walk instead so we’d feel warmer.
After walking for what seemed like forever, we reached the cable car entry point with no lines at all as we were so early. My friend who’d been here the year before, had warned me to reach very very early or get stuck in a three-hour queue and I had followed her advice to the T. Sage advice indeed, as the crowds we saw on our return proved.
The gondola doesn’t really stop, it just slows down, and you hop in, and the doors shut. A little frightening for me, but there was no other option. Up to the first level, called phase 1, we saw no snow at all. We weren’t sure whether we would be able to go up to the highest level (phase 2, where all the snow is) because of the fog. As we got off at the phase 1 level, we saw a host of restaurants and a tiny line for phase 2.
The snow at this level was really far off in the distance. Now we could understand the need for the gum boots, because you have to walk through the slush to end up reaching The Dirty Old Snow. We felt really lucky that we had tickets for phase two. And my greedy heart desperately prayed that the gondola would work till the top.
A fleeting view of the cables up to phase 2, as the clouds moved aside.
After almost an hour, the gondolas started moving from phase 1 to phase 2. The (now very long) line gave a collective cheer. We still couldn’t get on, as we had to wait for the gondolas to return, that took a really long time too. We killed our time chatting with a young couple who’d traveled on an Enfield bike to the Gurez valley and praised it no end. Seeing their pictures, I was really inspired to plan a visit to the lesser explored regions of Kashmir.
Finally, we got into the gondola to phase 2. I was really excited, and a little scared as I don’t like cable cars or heights. Luckily, visibility was poor, so I couldn’t see how high we were. But what I could see was a glimpse of pure white snow right at the top, and then the clouds enveloped us till we reached the top.
As we got off, the first thing to hit us was the bitter cold. Even with layers of thermals, sweaters and warm jackets meant for zero-degree temperature, we froze. Rather, the teen and I froze. The hubby cooly sauntered about with a single jacket. The second thing was the amount of white snow all around. It had snowed here the previous night when it was raining in Gulmarg and the result was sheets of fresh glistening-white snow. A dream come true!
Unsurprisingly, our reactions to what we saw matched our basic personalities. I ran around, jumping with joy and behaving like a 5-year-old. The teen walked about elegantly and posed like a lady for pictures.
And the hubby? Well, he was busy being, the hubby.
Shortly, the teen got tired of behaving all lady-like and decided to have some fun. We ran about, pelted each other with snow and made a ridiculous-looking snowman. Inspired by the snow-owl of Sonmarg (Kashmir-May 2023-Sonmarg), we gave him my sunglasses for a while.
Doesn’t our snowman look like Olaf? Maybe with a little imagination!
As in all tourist areas in Kashmir, a huge number of locals started asking us if we wanted photographs, or if we wanted to go skiing or sledding, or if we would like to go and see the Line of Control. This time, we were better experienced. We politely said, “No, thank you,” to everyone and continued having our fun in the snow, something I couldn’t enjoy in Thajiwas glacier of Sonmarg.
The teen and I lay down in the snow, ate it, and made snow angels. The hubby did what he loves the best, taking some weird selfie on top of a small rock.
Such an effort for the perfect selfie!
The end result of minutes of preening for the perfect selfie!
A little bit of the mist moved away, and we could see the beautiful snow-covered mountains in the distance. As the fog moved on further, we could see that the trees lower down and the snow at a higher level. It was stunningly beautiful. The clouds kept floating past, adding to the beauty.
One of the most gorgeous sights of my life
I leaned against a rock, staring at the landscape around me. Most of my trips to mountain peaks had been filled with fog, clouds and rain. Very rarely, did I get a clear view of the snow-covered mountains I loved so much. This was truly paradise for me. And to find it a mere few hours away from home, even better! I just stood there, letting it all sink in, unbothered by the cold, the sun, the people, anything at all.
Suddenly, the hubby’s voice snapped me out of my reverie. The smart young couple we had come up with had mobilized us all to go tandem skiing. Even though we’d decided not to give in to any more tourist scams, this was too tempting (and cheap, thanks to the smart couple!). And so, we set off, behind the ski instructors, to a spot fairly far off from the main area.
This area was even more beautiful than the previous one we were at, the numbers of people were far fewer. The entire floor seemed like a carpet of fresh, soft snow. It was difficult to walk on, but once we learned to wedge our feet in, we were able to do it.
I couldn’t imagine that a day that started out so foggy could be so bright and sunny in a few hours
By now, the sun was out in full force. Our sunglasses didn’t seem enough. The clouds had shifted away and spread out in front of us, were stunning snow-covered peaks.
Is it my imagination, or is he frowning?
Probably not, he’s got the same expression even with his daughter!
The sun finally got to us. The kid started feeling very uncomfortable, and we reluctantly got pulled back by sleds to the crowded area near the gondola. Now, the crowds were huge. We wanted to leave because of the direct blazing sun and the crowds, but also stay and have a little more fun in the snow. We were quite hungry too. Just then, we saw a makeshift shed with the trademark dirty blue plastic cover selling coffee, hot chocolate and Maggi, all under shade. What more can one ask for at 13000 feet?
Much needed nutrition and shade at the top of Affarwat peak
Feeling a tad better, we stepped out. Once again, the sun really hit us. We tried to walk ahead and play in the snow but were too exhausted and uncomfortable. So, we walked back to the gondola station.
Posing with someone else’s well made snowman
Waiting in the long queue to go down from phase 2, we saw a signboard that we couldn’t believe.
Just within the gondola station was a small counter manned by our favorite Gulmarg cafe owners, and we had to stop and have their pizza. It was certainly delicious, but by then, my headache was too severe to enjoy anything, and I just wanted to get back to the hotel. So, the other two hurriedly ate their pizza and we rushed back down as soon as the long lines would allow us.
The sea of snow on the mountain as we descended
Fortunately, neither of them wanted to stop at the intermediate level. By now, I was feeling very sick and the hubby was quite worried about me. For some reason, he thought that I had an intestinal perforation or gangrene, that I was sure I hadn’t. It was only when I got down and felt better after half an hour, that I realized that I might have had acute mountain sickness.
Outside the pretty building of the gondola station at the base at Gulmarg
The teen and I wanted to take a cab back to the hotel, but the hubby forced us to walk back (lucky that I didn’t have a perforated intestine!). It turned out to be a good move as the fresh air, the now-cloudy skies and the beautiful meadow helped me feel a lot better than would have a ride in the crazy honking cabs driving at Formula-one track speeds.
Gulmarg golf course
After some delicious desserts from the market and rest in the room, the teen and I wanted to head out. The hubby was horrified that his “dying” spouse was now raring to go. Funnily enough, I felt perfectly well and was all set to explore all of Gulmarg. Unfortunately, after some delicious hot chocolate, it started pouring, and the hubby and teen refused to accompany me on my walk around Gulmarg.
So, I set out alone, a little miffed with them, unknowing that the next few hours would be some of the best ever.
Determined today to complete the outer ring road walk, I walked on quickly on the same path as the previous day, but speed was simply not possible, as every few minutes, I had to stop and stare around me.
The rain was gone, and the clouds retreated to the distance. The sun was sinking behind the Affarwat range. Every few steps provided a different view, a different set of colors and never-ending beauty.
My irritation at being left alone was long gone. I felt privileged to be alone in this little piece of paradise. The cool breeze, the greens the blues and the greys around me, the complete silence, the fabulous views everywhere I looked, all made me feel so calm, so peaceful and so happy.
One of my favorite spots on the walk; I love reflections of the sun
The meadow glowed golden with the dark grey rain clouds behind. It was simply magical. Sunbeams shone onto patches of dark green pine trees and reflected off from rain puddles. A group of horses clopped past me, carrying people too tired or lazy to walk, not knowing what they were missing.
Looking at the road, Frost came to my mind, ” be one traveler, long I stood, and looked down one as far as I could, to where it bent in the undergrowth“
It was so tempting to cross that bridge and wander on into the forest, but I didn’t take the road less travelled
Tiny flowers grew beside the road
Such an amazing sight of the glowing meadow with the grey skies behind
A few horses and the occasional roaring vehicle were the only sounds to break the peace and quiet
Cute little wildflowers growing by the side of the road; they would be replaced in July by sheets of lavender lupine flowers
I could see a dense forest of pine trees on either side, with the road cutting through. A stream came from higher up and made its way under my road, gurgling along. There was no one to be seen for miles around and nothing to be heard other than the water, the birds and my own breath.
The reassuring sight of the Affarwat range convinced me that I was on the right track and would soon reach the gondola station and the Gulmarg golf course.
This adorable fellow trotted with me through the forest
The gorgeous Gulmarg meadow as the sun set
A sight tough to tear myself away from
By the time I reached my hotel, the hubby and teen were frantically looking out of the window for me. I had walked more than 8 km at a stretch, so naturally I took ages to get back. Unused to walking so much, I was tired, yet rejuvenated. I was so happy that I still can’t find words to describe that feeling of that day.
This walk will count as one of the best travel experiences I have ever had. Even today, sitting in my concrete tower, I can see that meadow and smell the fresh and clean air of Gulmarg. Some things are not to be forgotten.
So ended our 2 days in Gulmarg. Gulmarg was a place I went to with zero expectations. In my childhood trip to Kashmir, both Sonmarg and Gulmarg had been terribly disappointing. I found both outstanding on this trip, though Gulmarg stood out because of the fabulous snow experience at the mountaintop and the outer ring road walk.
I will certainly return to Gulmarg, hopefully in the winter, for the snow. Maybe in the summer, for the lupines. Actually, any time, just to walk this road again.
It was our third day in Kashmir. After a wonderful and too-short stay in Sonmarg, we moved onto Gulmarg, the most famous hill station of Kashmir, thanks to the cable car to the top of the Affarwat peak. We had smartly (thanks to the hubby) booked our cable car tickets well in advance, and not depended on the make-my-trip team. Even smarter was booking the tickets for the next morning so that we would have a chilled day at Gulmarg. Thanks to the weather, that’s literally what we had!
Beautiful villa as we drove out of Sonmarg, I would love to stay here!
The drive was yet another stunning drive past green fields and snowy mountains, back to Srinagar and then onto Gulmarg. The recent rains had left the fields even more green and lush than ever, and clouds flitted across the sky.
As we approached Srinagar, we drove across the river Jhelum.
Cherry season had just begun and people were selling boxes of luscious cherries on the roadside. We stopped and bought some of the best cherries we’ve ever had. Cloudy skies, green pastures, dark green trees, smooth roads, Arijit Singh and cherries were the recipe for a perfect road trip.
Adding to the natural beauty were the newly beautified and tarred roads from Srinagar to Gulmarg that were made into a smooth dual carriageway because of the recent G20 summit. Our driver told us that the drive was so much better because of the improved roads, and that the same route used to take 6 hours in the past.
Just before the ascent to Gulmarg, there is a small, picturesque town Tangmarg, filled with small stores renting gumboots and jackets to carry to the cable car, and a few hotels. A small detour goes to Drung village and waterfall, which gets totally frozen in winters, a sight I need to come back to see.
What a quaint village!
The ascent to Gulmarg is through pine trees that surround the cup-like depression that Gulmarg lies in.
We drove up curving roads with charming company.
As we drove higher, a layer of fog enveloped us. Cool wind blew in through the windows, clouds surrounded us and obscured the valley and the mountains around. We could barely see the road ahead and a few trees on either side. We leaned out of the windows, feeling a gentle drizzle on our cold cheeks. It was magical, like floating through the clouds.
I stayed in this happy state as we entered Gulmarg, even as I saw the huge crowds near the market area, as we drove to our charming hotel. Recommended by my brother-in-law, this quaint old hotel had stunning dark wooden decor, fireplaces, books around coffee tables and even, a vintage comments book!
I requested for a room with a view, feeling rather stupid, as I couldn’t see anything beyond 20 meters, and was given a lovely room looking over the meadow, with a couch to lay down and stare out of.
A seat like this will always be fought over and naturally, guess who won!
There was nothing to stare at however, all we could see was dense fog with patches of green in the background. Slightly disappointed, I unpacked and settled in, and looked out of the huge windows after a while and gasped. The clouds had shifted and we could see the green meadow with the beautiful snow-covered mountain range.
View from our room
Excited by this, we quickly layered up and rushed out to see a sea of white again. We walked towards the markets, amidst the huge crowds of day trippers and their cars and vans, and ponies with their riders calling out for rides to the gondola station. The cacophony was unbearable in this gorgeous place. Desperate to get past this messy area, I rushed on, just to be pulled back by the hubby, who wanted to visit the temple that we’d seen from our room (red roofed structure above).
Crowds of vehicles, people and horses line the entrance to Gulmarg
Reluctantly, the teen and I followed. The route to the temple was filled with slush and horse poop. We squeamishly walked through the agonizing road, struggling to keep our noses closed, eyes on the temple above and trying to avoid the poop, while the hubby grinned and swiftly made his way through.
The rented gumboots lying in the hotel room would have partially eased the anguish of walking on this road
It was worth it to see this beautiful view
Hungry by now, and desperate to get back to concrete, I rushed down past all the muck to reach the main market area. Fortunately, I had researched the restaurants in Gulmarg and we entered a cute cafe that would become our favorite haunt for the next two days, with some of the best hot chocolate I have ever had.
My motto on the trip!
The kid had the same motto, so we stepped out of this cafe, into a neighboring dessert cafe with delicious cinnamon and chocolate buns and rolls.
Too busy eating to even look up for a picture
This would end up being another standard haunt of ours. I must also admit that a major reason for us to be in the cafes was to be away from the freezing cold outside. Or so I consoled myself!
It was really tough to step out from the warm cafe into the terrible cold. Even though we were layered well, it just didn’t seem enough. While the kid and I shivered trying to get to stay warm, and thinking of getting to the hotel to get more jackets, the hubby rushed around trying to find softy icecream.
He roamed the entire length of the market but couldn’t find any softy. None of the (many) softy machine owners were running a softy machine as nobody would eat it in this rain and cold, but they hadn’t bargained for the hubby. Eventually, he bought a chocobar, that was frozen stiff.
Kindly note: he never eats ice cream in Mumbai or any beach holiday either!
We walked towards our hotel and on around the meadow. The meadow is encircled by an eight-kilometer road, with marvelous views, and I was keen on walking the entire route. Of course, I didn’t reveal this plan to the other two, as they would never have joined me.
The icecream took forever to “unfreeze” enough to be consumed
It was very cold and there was really nothing to be seen. We were about to turn back when, once again, the clouds shifted, and we could see the snow-covered mountains all around us. We could also see the cable car pathway though we couldn’t see the peak it went up to. It was simply magical. Fat rain-laden clouds floated over the wet green meadow. It was pretty for words.
We could catch a glimpse of the Indian flag fluttering in the wind, far away on a pole. I wanted to head there, but soon, the hubby and teen ran out of patience and decided to turn back, and I walked on alone.
A pony for company
Hopeful of completing the entire outer ring walk, I plodded on. Soon, I reached the army cantonment where the flag was hoisted.
The road wound on and on. It didnt feel so cold anymore, just really special. There were no people here, such a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the market.
Cringey but true
Magical Gulmarg
Standing across from where my hotel was, I could see the stunning Gulmarg laid out in front of me. I had just done one third of my planned walk but was sure I could carry on. However, within a few more minutes, the clouds blew in and settled over the meadow, covering everything around. Not much could be seen. A few cars zoomed by with headlights on full beam, the only reason I could see them. A few locals passed by, asking me how I was. As I walked further, visibility dropped to a few feet. It was very cold and very lonely. At that point, I decided to turn back and walk home.
This adorable fellow walked alongside
The viewpoint for Mount Affarwat, where precious little could be seen
Back in the hotel room, it was wonderful to feel warm again. We did step out later, for a delicious local dhaba dinner, and slept early as we needed to be at the cable car station early the next day.
That must have weighed on my mind when I woke up at 5 am for no reason at all. Wide awake, I looked out of the window and gasped. The rising sun cast a beautiful golden glow on the mountains, and I had to go out and see this view.
The Affarwat viewpoint at sunrise
The start to this day was fabulous, as the rest of the day turned out to be. But that will continue in another post, as there are already too many pictures on this one.
This was the second day of my very eventful Kashmir trip, when we were to travel to Sonmarg, a very picturesque village on the Srinagar-Leh road. Frequently visited as a road trip from Srinagar, we were to stay for a night and then move to Gulmarg. At Srinagar, our driver had asked us to leave early to avoid traffic jams. Accordingly, we woke up very early, only to discover that there was no hot water in the bathroom. It was really awful to be stand in the shower in the cold, waiting endlessly for hot water to start. After freezing, I gave up the idea of a bath, got ready and headed down for breakfast. That was disappointment # 2, a very lackluster breakfast, that wasn’t even ready on time.
Fortunately, our driver was there on time. He was as punctual as us throughout the trip. He drove well, with minimal bumps, gave us great food recommendations and didn’t chat too much. The only problem with him was that he was a huge honker and thus, made driving through crowded areas quite a pain.
Snowcapped mountains as soon as we headed out of Srinagar
Wooden bungalows with pretty shutters and sloping roofs dotted the roadsides
The drive to Sonmarg took a little under 3 hours, thanks to a lot of heavy vehicular traffic on the road. We passed through a lot of fields and gradually ascended and found ourselves with a view over a beautiful valley.
As we continued our drive, frozen dirty ice trails of the melting glaciers started showing up. Far and few initially, soon, every 10 meters would have an ice trail. Our driver told us that this was the trademark of Sonmarg.
Tall mountains with dark green trees of pine and fir with glacier trails on each side, were grabbing my attention non stop. Excitedly, my camera kept clicking away as if on auto pilot!
We turned into the tiny village and drove through the entire length of the tiny market area filled with crowds and slush, past the lush green meadow with few hotels dotted over it.
Sonmarg, tiny by itself, has quite a few places to see, the easiest and most popular being Thajiwas glacier and Zero point on the road to Leh. There are many treks, especially in the summer, but that wasn’t on our agenda. Our plan was to trek/ horse it to the glacier and see the snow at Zero point. Unfortunately, that day, Zero point wasn’t possible because of road closures, so the glacier and Sonmarg meadow were on today’s agenda.
In most tourist places in Kashmir, you can’t take your rented or personal car for sightseeing. You have to use local cabs and/ or horses only, all of which are hand-in-glove with hotels, drivers, travel agents,etc.
The jaw-droppingly beautiful meadow with the glacier in the distance
Our driver took us to the parking lot, where we were assaulted by the horse nexus. This would remain a common thread in Kashmir. “Walking is a sin, you must get on a horse, you must get on a shikara, you must buy the wares, you must take a sledge or a ski ride”, so on and so forth. The incessant heckling can make you want to yell at times. At (most) other times, you feel really bad for them, when they ask you to give them some business. And that’s how the gullible us got ensnared quite a few times.
The hubby and teen wanted to take a horse ride, I wanted to walk as I’m scared of horses. The driver and horse owners laughed at my idea of walking. They politely told me to get onto the horse for the initial steep part of the journey and get off when the road was level. They also assured me a small gentle horse.
With a lot of trepidation (me) and excitement (teen), all of us climbed onto our horses. As in, hubby and teen climbed on. I had to be shoved on. I was terrified when I saw how much higher than the ground I was. The hubby was very happy that I was on a horse as he was sure that I couldn’t walk the entire distance (and once again, he was right).
So we set off, a motley crew of 2 happy and excited people led by just one horse handler, and 1 scared-to-death woman on a mild-tempered horse with a very gentle horse handler. Ahead of us and behind us were many people on horses. As Zero point was shut, the entire crowd and more ended up at Thajiwas. It was lucky that we’d reached early. The crowds we saw on our way back were deterring to any form of enjoyment.
That’s me putting on a brave show for the camera
As the horses clippity-clopped their way to the glacier, I tried to sit straight, keep my core tight and match the horse’s movement. All I achieved was straining my shoulders and bouncing about on the horse, quite painfully. Finally, I just relaxed and sat, thinking that the worst that could happen was that I would fall off. After that, my ride was fairly pleasant. Of course, the constant sitting in abducted position was tough, but my ample gluteal fat protected my ischial tuberosity from the pain that my skinny hubby and teen experienced at the end of the day.
It certainly helped that the views were breathtakingly beautiful. As soon as we set off, and till we came back, it was tough to know where to look. The entire route was stunning.
The initial climb was steep over many stones. Soon, it leveled out onto a gentler, more defined path. I actually managed to look around and take some pictures while holding onto the bridle for dear life. The hubby and teen were comfortable on their own horses, as though they were born onto them. Soon I saw that they were trotting along, leading their own horses. Great, now I was scared for them and for me!
Not a very reassuring sight to see these two galloping away
We ascended slowly amidst trees, getting closer to the glacier. It was fairly cold by now and I was grateful for my many layers of warm clothing.
Climbing up and then down a small hill towards the glacier
As we got closer to the glacier, we approached a lush green field, supposedly where the movie Satte-pe-Satta was shot. I desperately wanted to run on that meadow and twirl like Maria in the movie The Sound of Music, but was too scared to get off and then on the horse again. This was the biggest disadvantage of taking the horse, not being able to stop where I wanted.
Past the field, the route was very muddy and over a lot of rocks. I must credit the horse handler because he really took care to make sure I felt safe.
Soon I could see the glacier ahead and I decided to get off the horse as I was really struggling on the horse. The horse handler walked with his horse alongside me. The view of the green slopes on one side and the snowy white glacier sloping down to the valley floor was breath-taking.
When you can’t wait to get around the bend
Finally, we reached the at the base of the glacier and dismounted. Once again, I had to be carried off! It started raining and became very cold. We rushed into a food stall for cover and had delicious coffee, Maggie and the lemon tart from the Srinagar patisserie.
The best lemon tart ever
By the time we were done eating, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. We walked a few steps towards the snow, planning to run up the glacier and flail about in the snow. Just then, our horse handlers (and many MANY more people) started pestering us to go sledding on the glacier. As the teen was very enthusiastic, we agreed and started our very ineffective bargaining. Note to all who plan to visit Kashmir: it is very challenging to bargain, especially because you feel really bad for the effort they take. It’s probably better not to try it at all.
Our horse handlers/ sled pullers were very helpful and resourceful. They helped us clamber over the slush, dragged our considerable weights and took amazing pictures of us.
They wanted us to shoot a romantic pose, but it looked as though the hubby was trying to strangle me!
They even told us where to stand for the best backdrops and made interesting reels. They made our teen this adorable owl-man and made him wear her glasses.
Hoo’s cuter?
It’s not that easy to walk on a snowy slope. Clumsy me stumbled all the time, and the smarter teen simply slid on the snow.
We felt and behaved like kids in a candy shop. We threw snow at each other. We ate the snow. We made snow angels. It was a perfect day.
She was pelted so hard with snow that she fell down!
The “innocent” perpetrator
He got back what he deserved!
Then we sat on our sleds and were pulled down the slope and right across the muddy slushy area we had struggled to walk in. Though I felt really bad using human labor, I had really enjoyed my time thanks to these 3 terrific people as well. By now, the crowds were swelling, and the horse handlers told us to head back soon. Reluctantly, I turned for a last view of the beautiful snow-covered mountains and the glacier flowing down to the center with a patch of water in the center.
The magical Thajiwas glacier
Just then, a man with a pigeon approached us, a little snowy white pigeon that the teen went crazy over. This was the best part of the day for her.
Crossing a little stream in gumboots
To get back to the horses, we had to cross a gushing stream of water with a rickety bridge over it. I was shocked to see the huge numbers of people at that point. There seemed to be no law and order to cross, and everybody seemed to want to go across (both ways) at the same time. At this moment I was sure that someone would fall into the stream. We only made it across because of our kind horse handlers.
Very friendly, helpful and tech-savvy Kashmiris
We hurriedly climbed/ got shoved onto our horses. The narrow route was filled with horses and handlers. Horses kept bumping into us and injuring us. Our handlers took us on a slightly different path so that we wouldn’t be head on with other horses. At one point we rode through the water.
From the terrified one at the beginning
To the confident river rider!
The views on the way back seemed prettier to me, possibly as I was less scared. This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and I really have travelled a lot.
Rani, Raja and Sultan were our gentle steeds, and this time, even my smile was genuine!
By the time we got back, we were very hungry. Our driver took us to a fabulous hotel, perfectly located facing the beautiful Sonmarg meadow on one side and the flowing Sindh river on the other, beautifully manicured with little cottages everywhere, and a view to die for from the dining room. This is the ideal place to stay in Sonmarg, but I just can’t remember the name!
After a delicious lunch, we followed a path right down to the river Sindh, a glacial river flowing at great speed. The hubby and the teen touched the freezing cold water and then were too frozen to stay out in the cold anymore, so we rushed into the warmth of the car and drove to our hotel, instead of spending longer on the Sonmarg meadow.
The drive back to the hotel was gorgeous. As we turned out of Sonmarg, we could see the river, the tiny village, the huge undulating meadow and the glacier behind it. Postcard perfect view.
Sonmarg in a single frame
Melting rivulets from the glacier on our drive back from Sonmarg to our hotel in Gaganmir
Too pretty a view to just zoom by in a car, the only thing missing was a bhutta
Our hotel was 15km away from Sonmarg. I felt very cheated by MMT when I figured this out, especially as I was very keen on staying in Sonmarg itself, and I wasn’t told that this place wasn’t in Sonmarg proper. Fortunately, it was a new and beautiful hotel right by the edge of the river, with a grand view from the balcony.
Huge cozy room
I could have sat here all day!
Cattle grazing on the grasses just opposite our hotel
We then stepped out, needing some hot tea. Unfortunately, the dining area had no view, but the kid discovered a glass-enclosed sit-out where we had delicious tea, hot chocolate and buttered toast.
We walked down all the way down to the riverfront. The river was flowing at a very fast rate and I was really relieved to see that there was no access to the water itself. There was a big boundary which walled it off. The towering sound of the river gushing by and the beautiful mist around us made up for not staying in Sonmarg itself. MMT had finally delivered.
A huge common balcony right outside our room looked out to this view
Contented with our day and well fed with tasty food, we slept soundly and woke up the next morning to see the little clouds hanging off the mountains and a beautiful view of the snowcapped mountains all around. We walked down to the river again and simply listened to it gush along, over the stones. It was the perfect morning.
I had no expectations from Sonmarg as my childhood trip to Sonmarg in August had been horrible. I loved it this time round, and truly regretted not staying here for at least 2-3 days. Some day in the future, I hope I will be back. Till then, this view will stay with me.
When my friend and travel guide Yogesh Shenoy told me to finish writing about my trips within the year I travelled in, I laughed at him. Now I realize that he understood me better than I understood myself. Covid-19 turned into Covid-20 and now Covid-bloody-never-ending, has ensured that we cant travel anywhere except locally, and that has sadly pushed my desire to write into a very tiny corner of my head (and a reminder on my phone!) I actually have 4 drafts saved because I cant get back to writing about memories of a different era. Even mask-free photographs of the past seem surprising to me now.
And yet, one year down, here I am, scrolling through pictures of my past trips and having vivid memories of wonderful vacations. Maybe this is what I need to get myself off my current Europe-deprived state, to revisit previous trips and pen them on this blog. My last long vacation was a surprise unplanned trip to Thailand (courtesy Banti mama and Renu masi, my husband’s uncle and aunt). I will carry on that story with our flight to Bangkok after a lovely day out on the beautiful waters of the Phi-Phi islands (Thailand 2019: Phuket and Phi Phi islands).
We found massage chairs to while away the time before the flight
A short and bumpy flight through heavy rain-filled clouds took us to Bangkok, the city of chaos in Thailand. As my brain played “One night in Bangkok” on loop, I couldnt help but remember the movie “The Hangover II” and hope that we weren’t going to lose anyone.
Driving past this billboard to our hotel, I wasn’t too sure about how much I would love it, but I was pleasantly surprised there. Bangkok is very easy to travel about in, has great food, decent temples to see, decent shopping and a vibrant night life. It’s pretty much like Mumbai, just cleaner. And of course, everything seems better on a holiday. So, all in all, Bangkok was a great end to a great trip.
After a short rest, our huge gang of 18 split ways (less to keep track off!) Banti mama and Anup masa headed off to the pristine white Wat Arun, that Banti mama was so desperate to see.
Bangkok is known for cheap shopping, so we followed our more knowing cousins’ advice and headed to a mall, while our husbands slept and watched TV (ideal shopping trip!) What we didn’t realize though, was that the cheaper malls don’t let you try on clothes, and are more like street shopping under a roof.
Street shopping is fun, especially when interspersed with food, and that’s actually what we had more of. Unable to shop much, we got frustrated and headed to the well-developed waterfront with plenty of food options for all of us. After all, 18 people just cannot have the same food choices.
Spacious and well designed, this large open air mall was at the banks of the Chao Phraya river. We enjoyed standing along the waterfront and watching the barges and ships go by. Unsurprisingly, my friendly out-going brother-in-law found some interesting company.
It was an Insta-friendly place for sure!
There was a carnival at the very end, with a ride through a haunted mansion. My extremely arachnophobic teen suddenly decided that she was brave enough to venture in, and did so alone.
Not surprised that this is how she came out!
Exhausted by the long day, we slept as soon as we got back to the hotel, with a plan to visit a few temples the next day. I was keen on traveling to the Ayutthaya complex, but no one else was interested in heading so far out from the main city, so I had to give it a miss. Instead, we ended up visiting a few temples in the vicinity, that were fairly beautiful. Buddhist temples are quiet and peaceful, or so I had thought, till I went to Bangkok, and realized that tourism could kill the peace just about anywhere.
Our first stop on this temple-hopping day was Wat Traimit, which houses the world’s largest solid Golden Buddha and was just a short walk from our hotel.
Bangkok is so similar to Mumbai!
This weird hand-like structure somehow reminded me of GOT
One can’t help but be awed by this splendor (and possibly need a pair of sunglasses). Apparently, this grand statue was covered by stucco and plaster for many years to protect it from Burmese invaders, and was accidentally discovered when the covered statue fell and a bit of plaster chipped off, revealing the sparkling gold within.
There’s no end to the amount of gold in this temple
Ornately decorated door at the side of the temple
The next destination was Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha. We had to drive for almost an hour to get there. Most everyone fell asleep, but I kept looking around excitedly at the city. That’s when I saw the Grand Palace, just behind the very temple we were going to. As no one else wanted to see it, I went alone the next day and truly loved it.
Glimpse of the stunning Grand Palace while driving past that tempted me to go back for more
However, everyone did want to see the huge reclining Buddha. So, on that hot sunny afternoon, we were lined up at the magnificent complex of Wat Pho, greeted by these warriors guarding the entrance.
This huge complex was too large to see at a go and we had a set of irritable and disinterested teens with us, so we ended up rushing through it. We didn’t even take an audio or book guide to help us through it. Yet, it remains entrenched in my memory as a marvelously constructed complex.
Naturally, our first stop was to see the huge reclining Buddha. This was crowded as could be and we really struggled to get close but we finally got our chance to see the colossal structure up close.
We were dwarfed by the statue
It was stunning enough for us to take a full circle around it and marvel at the workers who must have slaved to put it together. But more sights awaited us and we stepped back out into the heat to see the ornate architecture.
My brother-in-law was my only model on this trip
Beautiful colors and carvings decorated the numerous chedis placed all over the complex and got me trigger-crazy
By now, it was intolerably hot and Magnum was our only savior
More and more of the same got too much for all of us (even architecture-loving me), and we were pleasantly surprised to find some really quirky statues and some shade.
My sister-in-law was a very good (and flexible) sport to pose the same way
Thank goodness the hubby didn’t even try!
There are many statues of Buddha in this complex but this one caught our attention the most after the reclining Buddha
I think I liked the flowers and the quirky yogis the most
Yet another lovely doorway
By the time an hour was up, we were bored as hell and desperate to get out and have some food. There didn’t seem to be Indian food nearby (the preference of seniors of our group), so the hubby found an appropriate restaurant not too far away and we promptly hailed Ubers to that destination. Unfortunately, a very very long cab ride took us to the wrong area and we were left lost and confused on the streets of Bangkok (but fortunately together.) Luckily, some enquiries led us to an Indian part of town, with a gurudwara and shopping complex very reminiscent of Bur Dubai.
A resident cat claimed the wares as his bed
An oxymoron, but that’s what you get in Indian areas in Thailand. It certainly was delicious
We were all very tired by the end of lunch and hurried to our hotel to sleep. In the evening, we went to another favorite Indian haunt to shop for bags, purses and gifts for family, items that we haven’t yet used, thanks to the pandemic. As we were ready to leave, it started pouring cats and dogs. We were to meet the rest of our gang at a restaurant near our hotel, but there was no cab in sight. We finally had the best possible Indian dinner right across the mall and then headed back to our hotel, arms bursting with bags.
Retail therapy has never hurt anyone.
This was our last night in Bangkok. The next evening we were to head back home. But we still had the next morning to go sightseeing and shopping, an entertaining story that needs more time to be told.. Hopefully, that will happen in this year itself!
Covid-19 is still having a free rein in 2020 and so the travel-deprived moi shall be content with memories of past holidays. My recent-most trip is almost a year ago, to Thailand with the hubby’s extended family, thanks to Banti mama. I find myself back in time on my second day in beautiful Phuket, continuing on from my last post (Thailand November 2019: Phuket).
The highlight of Phuket is the stunning coastline and the islands just off its coast. This day, we had a pre-booked tour to the well-known Phi -Phi islands. Ideally we would have chosen to stay a couple of nights instead of just doing a day trip like we did this time, well you learn something every day! Fortunately for all the older people in our group, we were booked on a huge boat and not a small long-tailed boat or speed boat, which had been a pain for the poor seniors. After waking up unreasonably early and driving almost an hour to the pier, we stood waiting for the boat to be loaded for another hour. Needless to say, we were (as in Krabi Thailand November 2019: Krabi 4 island tour), completely disgusted by the tour operators; all except Babu masi, who utilized the time to shop. (In retrospect, it might have been the smarter thing to do)
Ever-smiling Babu masi spent the wait time fruitfully
When we finally boarded the boat, we were even more disappointed to find our seats in the lowest cabin area that had tiny cubby-hole windows way above seat level. There goes the view! “Thomas Cook never again,” was everyone’s furious decision!
The ride to the islands is 2 hours and the airconditioning in the claustrophobic cabin ( unthinkable today!) was the only saving grace. Oh and the “Gujju” food bag! With no food service on board, we thanked our lucky stars for our smart vision in carrying the food bag everywhere (and for finding it at Bangkok airport!). Once you are stuffed silly, even a dull ride can seem less painful! Of course, there are mobile phones to while away the time.
Kids can always entertain themselves. Look at the bored/ sleeping adults behind!The hubby needed no device, the kids had a blast playing with him and jumping over him!
However, even mobiles, running and jumping about could get boring and after some time with no beautiful sea scape to wow us, everyone slid into a slumber.
Finally, they allowed us to go onto the deck and there was a mad scramble to get out into the sunshine.
Karst islands rising from the deep blue sea and the stunning clear blue skies ensured that we never went back down
Banti mama enjoyed a chilled beer while the kids had icecream
If you travel by speedboat to the Phi Phi islands, you can get off at the island where the Leonardo diCaprio starrer “The Beach” was filmed, but the big boat tour only takes you to an island where you can snorkel and then on to the Phi Phi islands themselves. So a bunch of us and the 2 teens got onto another boat to snorkel while the senior citizens and the kids went onto Phi Phi directly.
It was my first time snorkeling and I really enjoyed it. Not having carried an underwater camera casing, I have no pictures but this is something I have to do again for sure. It was fascinating to see the pretty yellow and black striped fish and marvel at a rare blue one, and fun to be bobbing in the ocean, trying to stay within the ropes.
Tiny fish in the clear waters off the pier at Phi Phi
Phi Phi island is quite large, very crowded and touristy. And yet, it has a certain charm to it. Maybe it’s the beautiful color of the waters, the delicious food available, or just the chilled island vibe, but I felt that this would be a lovely place to stay at, especially after day trippers like us were gone.
Banti mama loved this island
Our tour included lunch at the main beach area, so we rushed through the market without stopping and had a very average lunch (the only 2 bad meals on the trip were those included in the tour). It probably was for the best as we quickly wolfed down the food and dove in to the best beach I swam in on this trip. White sands and clear blue waters, absolute bliss!
Sadly, we didn’t have enough time to enjoy our seaside bliss, as we had to head back pretty soon. We walked back through the market place, grabbing some slush and icecream on the way, wishing we’d stayed here instead of at the mainland. On the boat ride back, the seniors and kids had a bit of shut-eye, but we had a great time on the deck in the blazing sun, watching the beautiful scenery rush by.
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law getting very tanned on the deck
Back at the hotel, we roamed around our hotel area, making a mental note of places to eat at. We were surprised to see the large numbers of massage parlors in the area, and a little doubtful about what exactly was on offer. We finally decided to actually see for ourselves instead of slandering them without evidence & dived into one. I am happy to report that I had the best foot massage ever and nothing else happened. At least I think so, as I fell asleep!
While in Phuket, one must sample the nightlife, and so we headed off with our younger cousins to Bangla road, the neon lit, pedestrian-only vibrant center of night life in Patong Bay area. The party here is not only in the bars, but all along the road. The long day caught up with us, and we, the older lot needed to call it a day by midnight, which is actually when the ‘day’ begins in Bangla.
Since the last 4 days had been crazily hectic, we decided to just rest the next day and have really no plan but local sight seeing. The kids were desperate to swim, so they leapt into the hotel’s tiny pool, while we walked around our hotel and then headed for a long lazy lunch.
We simply took over the entire restaurant!Beloved food of our teens
That evening, we planned to visit the local beach that was a mere 1.5 km walk from our hotel. As we set off, we were pleasantly surprised to come across the Phuket Patong Bay parade, with beautifully decorated floats and people dancing in their local costumes.
The kids joined in the parade and merrily danced along. The rest of us walked ahead to the beach to catch the sunset, the only sunset we saw at the beach on this trip.
My sister-in-law loved the chilled coconut water at the beach
As it grew dark, the floats lit up, and the dancers put up quite a show for us. This unplanned evening turned out to be the most fun filled evening for us!
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law posed with the prettiest lady in the parade
My niece spotted a Starbucks, and dived in. Kids and their fads! FYI, back in India, my house is 500m from a Starbucks! So much for trying the local cuisine, the curse of globalisation! All in all, it was worth getting in simply to enjoy some air-conditioning actually.
I loved these pretty wooden lamps
The entire beachfront ahead was lined by beautifully decorated shacks, selling drinks and a huge variety of food. But we already had our share of overpriced corporate cake & coffee so we could only gawk at it!
Filled to the brim, we walked back to our hotel. The next day, we had an early morning flight to Bangkok. Phuket turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable place. Food was outstanding and despite the long distances, this large peninsula had enough to keep everyone entertained. And I slept happily, dreaming of this gorgeous sunset.
P.S. Many many thanks to Yogesh Shenoy for editing my very lacklustre post and making it a post worth a read.
September 2020 is when I thought I would be able to take my postponed North Italy trip. Of course, I’ve been living in fool’s paradise with hopes that just cannot materialize. With all plans of travel in 2020 dashed, it’s nice to revisit a wonderful, unplanned and unexpected trip to Thailand almost a year ago, courtesy hubby’s uncle and aunt, Banti mama and Renu masi. I’ve already relived the Krabi trip in previous posts, it’s time to move onto Phuket.
On the third day of our trip, we woke up early (again) for the long 4 hour drive to Phuket. I didn’t know the 2 places were so far apart, and was lucky that I had enough music stored on my phone to keep me company as we drove past groves of trees with no water in sight. Tired by the early morning, everyone else fell asleep but Coldplay managed to keep me up till we finally reached Phuket and planned a long day of sightseeing before reaching the hotel.
As always, included city tours are boring, with visits meant to lure the unsuspecting occasional traveler to overpriced lousy stores and over-touristy destinations from where the drivers get kickbacks. Luckily, we had our own list of places to visit that the kids would enjoy and were spared half of the unwanted destinations that the guide tried to make us visit. After a slow (but delicious) Punjabi lunch at a “dhaba” styled restaurant run by a Sardarji, we went straight to Tiger kingdom.
I really hate the idea of drugging an animal for letting kids and adults pose with them, but we had little kids with us who were too young to understand such concepts and were all charged up about touching a real tiger. Surprisingly, our teens were just as charged up and despite my entreaties, joined the kids in the tiger cub “meet and greet”.
Some day, they will realise their folly, till then, they will be happy with this memory
Delicious mango slush with mangoes while waiting for the kids
Any trip with kids has to have enough for them to do and Thailand certainly provided enough. Straight from Tiger kingdom, we went to Dolphin bay to see a seal and dolphin show. Even with my anti-animal torture sentiments, I loved the show. Dolphins are my favorite sea animals and it’s relieving to see how much their trainers love them, even while making them perform in ways they really shouldn’t be doing.
The highlight of the show was when we could actually touch the dolphins. Having never gotten close to a dolphin, I was the first to rush ahead this time and was shocked by how rubbery their skins were and still amazed by the beauty of these graceful sea animals. Sigh! I really don’t have the right to talk about kids’ folly!
From there, we were whisked away to a temple, only to have our teens groan away at that thought. However, Thai temples are beautiful and peaceful and we enjoyed posing outside and inside the temple.
I was impressed by the photography skill of the driver, who captured all of us with the temple
Ask nicely and y’all will be blessed!
Like all Buddhist temples, the architecture was ornate and detailed, but not a shade on those in Bangkok. We climbed up all the levels to the terrace with a beautiful view of the huge Buddha statue on top of a hill and the surroundings.
Banti mama and Renu masi really enjoyed the temples
It wasn’t just humans and drugged animals who posed nicely for us that day, some animals were naturally forth-coming for their turn on my lens.
It was getting late and dark as we left, but our driver was keen on taking us a viewpoint over Phuket bay, so we drove and drove up a long winding slope to reach a beautiful terrace with a great view.
As we watched the sun set and the city light up, the exhaustion of the day finally caught up with us. Having emptied out the Gujju snack bag, we drove to the hotel past glittering streets and high end boutiques. After some rest, we indulged in some street food (the best street food of the teen’s life, she’s drooling even as I type) and visited a night market for some unique food options.
Tiny tables lined the market
I have never seen so much sea food at one spread
Our teens went off with the hubby’s younger cousins, one of whom was once a chef in a 5 star hotel, to try local cuisine. And did their horizons broaden! For a change, my daughter stayed off pizza and pasta and tried something different, including even octopus and clams!
My sister-in-law and I, much less adventurous and vegetarian, had a blast sampling the exotic fruits and desserts available.
Ice creams and slushes made using delicious fresh fruit
Having had such a hectic but exciting day, we were happy to crash into bed early as we had another long day ahead of us, a full day trip to the famed Phi Phi islands. However, the exhaustion of writing has crept up on me just as the exhaustion after that long first day at Phuket, and so, the story will continue on yet another “locked down” day.
There are some places that one describes as impossibly beautiful, and they stay fixed in one’s mind as impossibly beautiful forever. For me, one of them is Krabi, more specifically, its islands. The soft golden sands with stunningly clear turquoise-green waters and deep blue skies have captured my heart. I have always loved beaches, but Krabi’s beaches are a class apart and I would love to go back.
It was our second day at Krabi and of the unexpected trip to Thailand courtesy the hubby’s uncle and aunt Banti mama and Renu masi (Thailand November 2019). We had to wake up ridiculously early (for a holiday) to go on the pre-booked 4 island tour. Thanks to the rain, we had rested enough the previous day and could wake up on time for a scrumptious breakfast and head off on time, sleepy but very excited.
A sneak peek of the day ahead, shimmering through a gap in the trees
It is a different matter that once we were unceremoniously dumped by the car driver at the meeting point, there was no one to meet. We went to the waterfront, to the few shacks around, then back to the drop-off point, but found no one. Banti mama struggled to call the local travel agent, who didn’t take the calls. After more than half an hour of getting frustrated, we met someone who told us to wait near the waters.
Everyone was grinning at having found the tour organisers
Happy to find a point of contact, we walked right back to the beachfront, cheerfully stood under the trees, admiring the waters and wondering how there was no one around, while the kids shrieked for beach toys. As their mother went back towards the road for the toys, she noticed a large gang of people and approached them to ask about our tour guide. It turned out that we should have been waiting right there, by the road, instead of being misguided by one of their own people!
As we trudged the long walk back, the tour guide actually yelled at us for having wandered off and making everyone late. That was the last straw, considering that we had reached way before anyone else.
However, it was impossible to stay angry for too long, as the tour group was led by an extremely entertaining woman. She proceeded to “orient” us for the better part of an hour. She had us in splits, not because she was funny, but because she was really silly. We could only thank our stars that she was not our boat guide.
Traditional long tailed boats
We set off almost 3 hours after reaching the beach from where the tour started, and it was very hot by then. Still, we were very excited as we approached the line up of long tailed boats, till we struggled to clamber in. Note to all elderly and physically challenged travelers, approach these boats with caution. You need to wade into thigh deep water and hoist yourself over the edge to get in. Luckily, with a lot of effort, all 18 of us managed to get in safe and sound and settled in, and then we set off.
This neat orientation took half an hour to set up and was undone in 5 minutes!
Soon, the beach was a tiny speck on the horizon and beautiful blue-green waters surrounded us. A gentle breeze blew into the boats, cooling those of us not covered by the shade. Fortunately, the Gujju food bag had made its way onto the boat too, and we cheerfully chomped on theplas and chili pickle, interspersed with biscuits.
Once your tummies are full, everything appears more beautiful. The sea appeared greener, the skies bluer and the sun seemed sunnier!
Even the clouds seemed, well, cloudier.
Even the grins were toothier!
Happily, we leaned over the side of the boat and let our fingers trail in the water. The kids squealed as the spray flew over their faces, and we had to hold them down as they jumped about. Tall karst islands protruded from the waters, some with entertaining shapes.
Soon, it was time to reach our first island of the 4 island tour, Phranang Cave on Railey island. As we moved in, we could see that this part of the island was packed with people and boats. Our driver expertly maneuvered between 2 boats, and hurriedly 2 adults, 3 kids and 1 teen jumped out and ran onto the beach. Before any more of us could hop out, the waves started tossing our boat towards the neighboring one. Our driver struggled to control the rocking boat and we to keep our balance. Unable to secure a safe docking spot, he finally moved away, planning to dock a little ahead.
But he hadn’t accounted for a new set of boats coming in. Before we could reach the shore, the landing area was full and we had no way to get off. Feeling panic stricken about being separated from our group, we considered jumping into the water and swimming to the shore, but the driver and guide wouldn’t allow us. Finally the boat had to back away, turn around some rocks in the water and stop on a part of the island far away from the rest of our family.
We spent a lot of time just trying to get to the shore
My sisters-in-law at the tail of the boat
The guide told us that we could only spend half an hour here as he had wasted a good chunk of the allotted time trying to get the boat to the shore. My mother-in-law waited back in the boat as it was a huge struggle for her to get on and off (actually she spent the entire day on the boat till the tour was over).
We rushed to find our children, who had thoroughly enjoyed playing on the soft sands and the clean waters. They dragged us into the waters for a good swim.
The only picture I took with my SLR on this day. I shouldn’t have carried it at all
We had so much fun in the water that we didn’t want to leave this island, despite the scorching heat. But time was short, and leave we had to, so we clambered back onto the boat, to get to the next island, Chicken island.
The boat pauses at the place where the chicken’s head is best seen
While the name got everyone hungrier, this island had no beach to land on. There was a small cove at one edge where snorkeling could be done. Our younger cousins cheerfully hopped into the deep green-blue waters, but the in-laws were too frightened to allow us (and mainly our teens) to get into the waters, so we couldn’t experience that.
Bharti Sodhi, who came up with the brilliant family tee shirts
It was a very still part of the ocean, sheltered away by the island, with very beautiful shades of water.
Once the snorkelers were safely back in, we headed off to the next island, the Tup island. This island is connected to another by a sand bank that you can walk on when the tide is out. I had really hoped that we would be there at such a time, but that was not the case. Instead there was enough water to stand in, and the sand below made it a gorgeous shade of green.
We got off the boat directly into the warm waters
We spent a lot of time in this shallow stretch of paradise. The kids had picked up the snorkeling gear and were practicing with it.
What fabulous shades of color are these waters!
The rest of us swam about, marveled at this place or just floated along.
The hubby’s favorite island
Print-worthy vistas
Had we not been on the tour, we wouldn’t have left this place, we loved it so much. But we were on a tight time frame and we really had to move onto the next stop.
Did I forget, lunch was calling?
Our last stop was Poda island (lunch island for me), where we disembarked and rushed for food, turning our backs to the alluring sea. Lunch, however, was a terrible disappointment. After standing in a huge line, we got some over cooked unsalted vegetables and mushy glass noodles. It was basically food for a fussy toddler and we ate to fill some bit of the crying stomachs, but really hated it. So, we wasted as little time as possible on lunch and rushed to the sea instead.
We just sat and stared at this view
Before we could swim to our heart’s fill, we were called to the boats as the waters tend to get choppy in the evenings. We hopped from boat to boat as there was no ladder on ours, feeling very happy indeed that my mother-in-law had stayed back on the boat. Here, we had a wonderful surprise, finally something to eat to our heart’s content, delicious fruit!
Needless to say, we wiped out the boat’s entire stock of fruit in seconds. The long ride back, the full stomachs, and the exhaustion of the day caught up with us and nearly everyone slept off.
We were very tired once we got back at the hotel, so we made good use of the pool (and its cafe) to recover and catch up with dinner and slept soon as we had an early morning drive to Phuket the next day.
We had had a wonderful albeit short time in Krabi. I would certainly call it the best part of my Thailand trip and would love to go back. However, I wouldn’t take the 4 island tour again and wouldn’t recommend it either to anyone. The islands are doable on their own and its better to choose the island and amount of time you have there rather than be at the whims and fancies of Thai tour operators.
Yet, nothing, not even the mass tourism of Thailand, can detract one from the abundant natural beauty of Krabi and that’s why I loved it. And till I go back, this is what my dreams will be made of.
Some holidays are unplanned, unaccounted for and served on a platter. You have to be lucky to get one of those, and lucky we surely were when the hubby’s uncle decided to plan a holiday for the extended family to (hold your breath) Thailand for his 60th birthday. Thank you Banti mama and Renu masi!
2019-2020 was the year of minimal travel as the teen was in grade 10 and behaving as though she were giving the IAS or CA exam (the toughest Indian exams). We had already enjoyed a small trip to the golden beaches of Tarkarli (Tarkarli-May 2019) and a wonderful holiday in Bangalore with my sister and adorable niece in May of this year. I was busy researching destinations for the long holidays post-Grade 10 exams and having the hubby reject them all (sad face). That’s when Banti mama’s 60th birthday party got shifted from a Lonavala farm house to Goa to Phuket and Krabi. Great jump I say!
Banti mama plans trips at 10x the pace I plan them. He promptly hired Thomas Cook for a 5N Phuket and Krabi package and added 2 extra nights in Bangkok for good measure and booked the tickets before we could even get our heads around the idea. Leaves were sanctioned and the teen coaxed and cajoled to miss her precious classes. The Thomas Cook UK collapse certainly added a big set of flutters, but of course it all worked out.
It only helped that I had colored my hair blue and teal a month ago for my 45th birthday. I was all set for Thailand! Frantic thepla and Gujarati and Punjabi snack shopping, and desperate downloading of songs and movies on mobiles took us to D-day where 14 adults, 2 teenagers and 3 kids assembled in matching tee shirts (courtesy Bharti Sodhi) at Mumbai airport.
We had a stopover at Bangkok airport, where we walked almost 2 km and stood in a crazily long queue for visa on arrival and then another long walk and queue for security check before the domestic flight to Krabi. In all the sleepy haze and mayhem, we forgot the food bag at the counter and only remembered it at the gate, when we were very hungry.
Luckily, Gujju food bags have a sense of belonging and stay true to their owners. We rushed back to security, retrieved the bag and hogged and hogged before the flight. While on it, the teens and the kids were too excited to sleep, but the adults merrily caught their 40 winks.
Beautiful palm trees at Krabi
We loved Krabi best of all the places we visited. If I ever go back to Thailand, I will spend a full week relaxing in Krabi. Lovely beaches, clear waters and great food are all a direct flight away from Mumbai. However,I have no idea when that will happen, given the current mess the world is in and the many other places yet unticked on my bucket list.
Krabi airport is a long drive from the beachfront, but the lovely hotel with its huge rooms and pool livened us all up.
My coffee terrace
We freshened up and headed for a quick lunch, planning an afternoon trip to climb a thousand steps to the tiger cave temple with a great view. Hungry as could be, we ate and ate, while it suddenly started pouring, effectively cancelling all plans for the hike. I was so relieved as I wasn’t sure that I could climb a thousand steps!
The long walk back to the hotel in the now-gentle drizzle was very enjoyable, past the market area. We had fun peeking into the tiny shops with their charming wares.
While the older people enjoyed an afternoon of shut-eye, the rest of had a great swim in the huge pool and delicious French fries, pizzas and cocktails.
Too tired to walk to the beach, with a long day ahead of us the next day, we relaxed in the pool till night, where we headed to a night market right beside our hotel.
I love quaint market places with their myriad artefacts, wares and food. The different colors and smells, the hustle and bustle, all appeal to me. If there’s a night market where I am visiting, I will land up there. Luckily for me, this one was too close to miss and all of us went to see what was on display.
The hubby’s aunts, Babu masi and Renu masi, are great fun and super enthusiastic
This tiny market was filled with stalls of tacky clothes, handbags, jewelry and souvenirs to carry home. As always, I was too busy clicking pictures to even pick up a fridge magnet for my sister, who loves them. That ended up as a repetitive pattern on this trip.
There were lots of food stalls with small tables laid out and we wandered through all, hoping to finish dinner here itself. Sadly, most of the food was seafood, and most of us were vegetarians. There was even a Bavarian beer garden here and that was tempting for a few in the group but they held on for now!
Sushi
I have never seen fruits look more delicious!
Even though there was no food of our choice, there is always the universal favorite – icecream! A couple of cold stone ice-creams and delicious fruit slushes later, we headed off to the main Aonang beachfront for dinner at a multicuisine restaurant so that everyone could have food of their own different tastes.
The signboard was enticement enough and those that had held off earlier gave in now!
Banti mama with the love of his life
With a heavy meal in our tummies we walked back slowly, listening to the waves lap along the beach, deciding that we’d wake up early the next morning to walk along the shore at dawn.
Needless to say, only two people went on that walk, Banti mama and me! Used to the solitude (Did I leave Banti mama behind? I really don’t remember!), I enjoyed the fresh breeze and the sun lighting up the entire beach.
What a great place for breakfast. Sadly, nothing was open
Cute knick knacks outside a public restroom
Having started the day on a happy note, I headed back to the hotel for a delicious breakfast and later, headed off to the waterfront to some of the most gorgeous beaches I have ever been to, as part of the 4 island tour. But that tour deserves a full separate post, so here I sign off, happily dreaming of turquoise waters and golden sands.
