Pahalgam, J & K, India

So I am back after quite a bit of a hiatus. Desperately needed some respite. Actually life has been a bit on the tougher side for these few months (it still is) but I hope we will sail through. Anyway, back to where I had left off.
So my school buddy was waiting for the opportune moment to blast us off for continuing our plan to come to Pahalgam as soon as we were denied exit out of main Pahalgam town so that we could proceed to our Hotel Green Height.

This was our view from Hotel Green Height, located at the outskirts of Pahalgam

We could not understand what might have caused the army/police to take such action and hence we went to Pahalgam Police station. The temperature slowly started plummeting & we started shivering. The guys came out of the police station with the news that there was a round of open fire and some terrorists as well as some jawans from our Indian Army were killed in the firing at Anantnag (a town famous for willow trees and cricket bats manufacturing hub) which is between Srinagar & Pahalgam & always a hot spot for terrorist activities), therefore nobody was being allowed to leave from Pahalgam lest they get trapped at Anantnag (all for the security of the tourists & blah blah). All our reasoning fell on deaf ears and we were left with no other option but to search for a hotel within Pahalgam in the main market. Meanwhile, our driver Khurshid left for Hotel Green Height to bring all our luggage. We roamed about the Pahalgam main market searching for a hotel. To be honest, I was quite pepped up to be a witness to how actual "adventure"would feel like (yes, many of my readers won't agree to it citing reasons like how it is quite painful to live/reside like this amidst so much distress & agitation years after years & I fully concur with them - it is indeed tiring to be amidst such turmoil years after years).

View while having lunch at Cafe Log Inn, Pahalgam

So at first we went to Hotel Cafe Log Inn (picture below, yes the same place where we had our lunch on the same day). But the price they quoted for one room per night blew us off (it was INR 8000 per night) so we had only coffee and left as fast as our legs could carry us. We strolled around for more home-stays/guesthouses but either the prices or the washrooms or the rooms- some or the other always was a turn off hence we could not zero down on any of the accommodation places available. Lastly we went to Hotel Woodstock, Pahalgam, Kashmir located a bit far from the main market but it's a beautiful heritage hotel with spacious rooms (I was very impressed with the washrooms as well :P ).

Hotel Woodstock Pahalgam

We immediately booked 3 rooms facing towards the mountains and the Lidder River, got fresh and settled down. All of us were really enjoying the adventure we were experiencing for the 1st time in our lives except one who was pretty tensed, owing to the tense situation all around. We relaxed and started our usual schedule of playing card games and dumb charade. Pretty soon we were called for a nice sumptuous dinner after which we continued our discussion on the desolate ambiance of such an artistic place like Pahalgam.

Morning view from our room

We woke up pretty early - at about 8 am (I was quite surprised as I never wake up before 10/11 am when I am at home on weekends) and I was taken aback by the breathtaking view from our room as soon as I opened the curtains. I felt thankful, to be harshly honest, that we got stuck in Pahalgam due to the ongoing terrorist activities at Anantnag, else we would have missed such heavenly spectacle. We had an enjoyable complimentary breakfast in the pleasant lawn overlooking the Lidder River, we could see the helicopters leaving with the yatris from the Amarnath Yatra base camp on the opposite bank of the Lidder River.

Helicopter carrying Amanath Yatris

Helicopter carrying Amarnath Yatris flying over Hotel Woodstock

Small birdie

View of the compound of Hotel Woodstock Villa

After our breakfast, we thought to exploring the Pahalgam market a bit as we didn't have anything to do the whole day. So we ventured out from our hotel and visited Paradise Hotel to have our lunch there. But who knew we would be having the shock of our lives when we ordered Mutton Rogan Josh, Mutton Biryani and some paneer dish. The non-veg dishes were disastrous and abnormally over-priced that we were forced to order more paneer dishes as it was comparatively better in taste. Anyway, we still were not fully satisfied with the lunch and then strolled along for sometime. Fortunately, I saw a fuchka/panipuri wala and thought of satiating my hunger with some fuchkas. As God would have it, the fuchkawala turned out to be a Bengali who left Bengal 10 years ago & since then he is selling fuchkas here at Pahalgam, visits his home only during the Durga Puja season.

Pahalgam after a fresh spell of rain

After our fuchka session, we asked around what tourist spots were there worth visiting in or around Pahalgam. Some suggested to visit the Pahalgam "zoo" which on the way to Betaab Valley. We started striding towards the zoo asking any local how far was it to which many answered "there", "nearby", "2 -3 kms more" etc.

Iron bridge on Lidder River

Finally we did reach Pahalgam "zoo" after walking for about 4-5 km uphill from our hotel. We were quite disappointed after reaching the "zoo" as it was "home" to only 1 tiger and 2 bears. Nonetheless, we enjoyed watching the bear lazying around in its cage while the tiger was hanging on one of the branches of a small tree inside its cage. The Amarnath Peak could be seen from this zoo, fully covered in snow.

Lidder River flowing towards Aru Valley, Pahalgam

We made our way back to our hotel, watching small kids return home from their school. Amidst such uncertainty, the life of these people are very much similar to us except that they, sometimes, are put under curfew or their business get affected due to such agitation every now and then.

Silver Lining