Thread: Short Trip to Srinagar with Daughter on Caliber 115

PRELUDE

It was in 1988, when I had first planned to visit Srinagar, the Paradise on Earth

just after my marriage. All the arrangements were made but the visit could not be made due to insurgency problem that had erupted in the Valley. Since then I was looking for a suitable time when I could visit Srinagar and that time came last year when I made a trip to Ladakh via Srinagar.

Last month, I visited Mata Vaishno Devi alongwith my daughter and had the Darshan at the Darbar without any long wait. Since we had enough time, I decided why not take my daughter to Srinagar since the situation is quite normal in Srinagar these days which I could see after a long wait of 24 years. Hence the visit to Srinagar, though short, which was not planned got matured and I must admit that my daughter enjoyed the short stay at Srinagar thoroughly, and that’s is what matters the most to me.

Triplog Approved

Fantastic!!
On Bike??

Day 1 & 2 : 10-11/6/2012

With the bare minimum baggage, started the journey at 5.30 a.m. with my daughter who are very excited for this trip.



As the day progressed we had to stop at many places specially especially in Punjab, as the heat became unbearable. Thanks to the good Samaritans in Punjab who were offering sweetened chilled Sharbat/Lassi at many places. One major problem I would like to mention here is that as soon as you enter Punjab all the sign boards are in the local language, that too being few in numbers and you find it very difficult to take the right route as long as you are in Punjab. Although I had been on this route earlier, even then I missed on crucial right turn and overshot by many miles before realizing the mistake. All due to absence of sign boards. Another hurdle in Punjab was that the high way is being widened and after every few kilometers you find heavy traffic on single carriage roads resulting in loss of crucial time. Early evening entered Jammu and got the refreshing view of beautiful landscape.

Although it got late but we reached Katra and stayed for the night there.


Early morning next day after getting the registration slip, we started for the Padyatra for the Darbar.



With regular breaks at Ban Ganga and other places











after covering around 7.5 kms, reached the point from where one can either take the older route via Sanjhi Chat, Hati Matha etc. covering steep ascend or can take the new route which is quite easier and 1 kms shorter.


We took the new route and it was really quite comfortable.











Reached Darbar by late afternoon and after taking cold water bath, had the Darshan on the Darbar. Since we had decided to descend during night, my daughter had the chance of having Darshan second time after the Aarti at around 8.00 p.m., courtesy a gentleman security personnel who let her in.


My daughter was really thrilled to had darshan for the second time in few hours.



We started decending padyatra at 4 a.m.




after taking rest inbetween reached Katra without any great stress.

Vaishno Devi is in my list since 3 years but no call from mata yet... Eagerly waiting..

Day 3 : Katra to Banihal (distance 160 kms)

After taking brief rest at Katra for Breakfast, as decided we moved towards Srinagar, which was another 260 kms away. The journey was going on smoothly and we crossed Patnitop.










We had tea/cold drink breaks at few places and crossed Ramban. On the way to we met few military personnel who were very excited to see us there. In fact one of them had done bike ride from Gujarat to Ladakh and after a brief stop over we moved towards Srinagar. As we were crossing over a landslide prone area, we were caught in the zone where sudden landslide had just started. To make the matters worst, by bike got punctures right in the most dangerous zone and had to rush to a safer place by pushing the bike and by daughter running all the way to safety. In the meanwhile the military personnel, we had met on the way again met us as they were returning to their camp. They tried to inflate the tube with the help of the equipments they were carrying but it appeared that the tube had damaged a lot and hence they could not do much. They advised us to return about half a kilometre where we could get the puncture repair shop. It was a dangerous situation as we had to again cross the zone where small and big boulders were still falling within short intervals. Since there was no other way, I asked my daughter to run across that area and I started pushing my bike. As I was crossing that dangerous zone I saw one Car being damaged by a big stone of the size of a volleybal. The driver somehow managed to control the car and moved away from that dangerous zone. By grace of God, my daughter and I also crossed that area and as we were moving a number of cars stopped to offer help in whatever way they could. On sikh gentlemen when saw us in trouble, immediately stopped a truck passing by and ordered him to load the motorbike in the truck which was empty. The driver immediately agreed and with the help of his colleague and a little bit effort from our side, the bike was loaded in the truck and tied with ropes.




The sikh gentlemen Mr. Manjit Singh who was an Officer in the Insurance sector and who was posted near Ramban accompanied us (we were now travelling in the truck) to various puncture shops. As we could not find fresh tube of the desired size, we had to move all the way upto Ramban where we could get the right sized tube. The bike was somehow brought down from the truck and the ordeal was now over, only with the help of these angels who had come to our resque at the right time. When I offered some money to the truck driver and his colleague, they simply refused to take even a single rupee. Manjit Singh ji stayed with us right through the moment till the bike was repaired. As lot of precious time had been consumed and it was not possible to reach Srinagar, he advised us to not to move beyond Banihal and stay at the Gurudrawara for the night. This was a wise decision since I was with my young daughter and after thanking the Drivers and Manjit Singh ji, moved towards Banihal and found the Gurudwara on the Road without any difficulty. The Granthi and Sewadar at the Gurudwara provided us all the help they could and we spent the night at the Gurudwara.


A few of the other solorides :


Beyond Rohtang - Solo Ride to Pangonglake

8 Days' Solo Ride by Caliber 115 - Udaipur, Sasan Gir, Narayan Sarovar,Rann of Kutch

Nice triplog Hoodibaba and great pics too. Rating your thread 5 stars. Great to see the hoodibaba handle so much thrown at it from your tlogs. Must commend you and your daughter too. Kudos.

But where is the remaining part though? Please carry on..

Day 4 : Banihal to Srinagar and back upto Batote

Started for Srinagar at 7.00 a.m. and due to heavy tourist rush on the highway, could reach Srinagar at around 10.30 a.m. Hence we had only few hours to spend at Srinagar as I had planned to return the same day. But, I must say that my daughter enjoyed every second of the time spent in Srinagar and the local Kashmiris were amazed to see us on a small bike having come all the way from Delhi. They wished us good luck for our return journey.

The stay in Srinagar can be best expressed in picturial form :

Coffee time at Cafe Coffee Day, Srinagar :

Now the shots of famous Dull Lake :

Boating in Shikaras (it was quite cheap as we paid only Rs. 400 for two persons for 3 hours)

If we had enough time and reached the day before, we would have stayed in these Houseboats. The room rent ranged between Rs. 1500 and 3000 which was cheap in comparison to the exhorbitant rent for small, filthy, unhygienic and filthy rooms being asked at Katra (1000 to 1800) for a few hours stay at night as we had to leave early at around 6.00 a.m. for Darshan at Vaishno Devi Darbar.

Floating shops !!

Gul, Gulshan Gulfaam serial was shot here :

Photo shoot out time in traditional Kashmiri Dress !!!!! It costed just Rs. 50 for the dress.


Bubbling with joy !!!

Water skating costed only Rs. 300/- for a big round and it was thrilling and my daughter enjoyed it the most in this trip.

Floating shops selling all types of wares and traditional and fancy cloathes in Dal Lake :

Floating Gardens and fields in Dal Lake !!! Is it not amazing. The locals relocate these gardens and fields to any place of their choice whenever they decide.

The famous Kangri of Kashmir :


There were hundreds of such shops selling Zaffron on the Highway:

She must be one proud Daughter.

Great Trip.

Great trip! Your daughter is very lucky to have such adventurous father. Loved this travelogue, and voted 5 star.