3rd day, we wanted to go away from the hot weather of Sringar. So we headed to Sonamarg. About 80kms from Srinagar, a drive would take 2-3 hrs owning to huge traffic on the way.
Once we reached Sonamarg, taxi dropped us at the taxi stand, to move beyond we needed to hire a local Sonamarg taxi. It didn't seem right to me, but that's how the taxi association work in and around Srinagar, that Srinagar taxi will only get tourist to a place, from where local taxi needs to be hired for local sight seeing.
Once we reached Sonamarg, taxi dropped us at the taxi stand, to move beyond we needed to hire a local Sonamarg taxi. It didn't seem right to me, but that's how the taxi association work in and around Srinagar, that Srinagar taxi will only get tourist to a place, from where local taxi needs to be hired for local sight seeing.
After settling the logistics we went to Zero point. Zero point is on the same route which leads to Leh from Srinagar. The road till Zero point is not good, we passed Baltal (place where Amarnath yatra starts), Zojila pass and other scenic points. Every few meters the scene was changing on the way and each view was better than the last one. We were all mesmerized and our eyes were just wide open to absorb the beauty.
Once we reached Zero point, it was too crowded, so we asked our driver to take us to Gumri which is further 2 km from there. Gumri is a military check post and also has a war memorial. Near to this place also, there are glaciers and glacier lake where we enjoyed alot. The view has everything from mountains covered green at lower levels, snow at the higher levels. We even played silly in that freezing water of glacier lake to keep our feet in it for a long as possible. :) . As there were not many people there, it was a nice experience. It was cold and windy there, but snow jackets and boots were not required.
Once we reached Zero point, it was too crowded, so we asked our driver to take us to Gumri which is further 2 km from there. Gumri is a military check post and also has a war memorial. Near to this place also, there are glaciers and glacier lake where we enjoyed alot. The view has everything from mountains covered green at lower levels, snow at the higher levels. We even played silly in that freezing water of glacier lake to keep our feet in it for a long as possible. :) . As there were not many people there, it was a nice experience. It was cold and windy there, but snow jackets and boots were not required.
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| Majestic View - Sonamarg |
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| View on the way to Zero point, Its a valley of Baltal |
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| View on the way to Zero point |
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| War memorial at Gumri |
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| View of lake at Gumri. At back Army camp can be seen |
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| View at Gumri |
We even had some snacks - maggi , samosa , tea etc. in the military canteen. As we came back to Zero point, people with sledges, snow scooters, horses started coming to us. As we were not interested we just roamed around for some time and started driving back to Sonamarg. While returning traffic was really horrible on a small road and it took 2 hrs to cover that 30 km. We started back towards Srinagar around 7 in the evening and reached by Srinagar at dinner time.
Some notes:
1. Don't take snow jackets and boot in this weather from Sonamarg. You can find them at Zero point if required.
2. Plan to stay over night in Sonamarg to enjoy the beauty all around.
3. In Sonamarg, there is another glacier other than Zero point, Thajiwas. That is about a km to two from Sonamarg. If time permits, this place can also be visited.
4. Visit TRC at Sonamarg to find out the taxi rate for various places.
Link to Day- 4 : http://manyrainbowsofmylife.blogspot.in/2016/07/a-trip-to-heaven-on-earth-kashmir-day-4.html
4. Visit TRC at Sonamarg to find out the taxi rate for various places.
Link to Day- 4 : http://manyrainbowsofmylife.blogspot.in/2016/07/a-trip-to-heaven-on-earth-kashmir-day-4.html
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