Gulmarg

 18th October 2022

As promised, here are some pictures of the lake with minimal number of humans on it.

That is last evening.

And, this morning.

Left the houseboat this morning by 0830. They give a courtesy ride from the road and back.

Picked up the vehicle from the parking. And, entered the traffic.

Srinagar is a mile worse than Bangalore. People have no lane sense. That is acceptable. But here, they make u turns in front of oncoming traffic. So, basically, traffic flows at a little more than walking speed.

Exited Srinagar, or at least, thought it was an exit. Tanked up with petrol.

The drive was all of 60 odd kilometers. Had already done 10.

There is no let up of populated areas till the left turn to what they show as the Gateway to Gulmarg. 

The drive on that road is no different. It runs 30 kilometers till the climb starts. 

And, it is beautiful green. The pine forests on the climbing mountainsides, with grassland all around.

But, there is traffic. Drove as slowly as I could, letting cars pass, creating as much as a gap as I could to take some pictures.

There is a lot more of the same.

Got in to Gulmarg. And, chaos.

Of vehicles, people, ponies, touts.

Half a mind to run. There was no clear view for a shot of any mountain. And, there was no mountain with any snow on it.

Gave in to a persistent pony guy. He tried to convince me that he would take me above the tree line where not a soul goes.

15 minutes later, joined a queue of ponies in the same direction.

Change of plan. Told him to take me where no tourist normally goes.

He had one thought in mind. Time. Each hour or part thereof was money.

In the end, both were satisfied.

The initial part of the ride was a bore. Except it drizzled a bit, so we stopped under some trees.

Then we got back on the road. Was getting a bit fed up when I saw that the road was ending in a forest line. Went past a potato patch that had seen better days. Started climbing towards the forest line. I had been on the pony back for an hour and a half. My body was protesting. And, I felt like walking. So got off. The pony was happy.

Walked the next hour or so. It drizzled. Snow came down. But, all was good. We had the forest to ourselves - me, the pony and the pony man. 

And, I got stories about black bear in the area. So, a bit of excitement when I went around the next bend.

That was where we sat a while before venturing into the forest. Had got off the pony on the flatland you can see.

The walk in the forest trail was about 30 minutes. These trails have lots of light, very unlike our rain forests, which get dark and wet.

Came out of the forest to find it raining. With snow in the rain. Not ice. Not flakes. Just pieces of snow floating down. 

And, the wind picked up.

 
As we walked along, was asked to take a picture of the mountainside.

Will leave you with that.