Day 5 : Gulmarg

Though one will find lots of literature comparing Gulmarg with Switzerland , however I had come with an open mind with no expectations. Even as we were in the valley itself, we could see a high ridge structured mountain which the driver pointed out as Gulmarg and that was where we were going to go. Just 4-5 days back Gulmarg had the winter's first snow and so it was glistening white in the sun. We started moving up the hill through the curves and corners amidst the towering evergreen trees of fir and pine. It got a bit dizzy as the altitude suddenly scaled up. We were now at about 7000 feet height. We reached our 'Pine Palace' resort and ordered for lunch and after a little rest started on a sightseeing tour of the town.

As we walked down to the pony point, I could see that the whole of Gulamarg was basically a bowl shaped meadow which was a golf course in the summers and converted to a skiing resort in winters. Though at this time of the year, the course did not look so green, however the putting points had been conserved green by putting boundaries.We took a walk around the golf course then took a taxi which showed us a few points i.e. skiing training institute, children's park, lake. From the park as I looked up the ridge, there was an uncanny resemblance to we all know what...yes switzerland. It was dejavu! The snow capped hills and below them colorful wooden cottages and then the greenland with lake, it was like picture out of a postcard. Now I know from which angle kashmir is like Switzerland.

After taking one full round of the gulmarg main road which was around a saucer shaped golf course, we retried to our hotel to a warm and wlcome cup of kashmiri kahwa. It was just around 6 in the evening but already getting dark and cold. In Kashmir our routine had been to retire by 6 and then spend the next two hours with chai and chatting and tv till an early dinner of 8 pm and next day breakfast at 8 am. Mornings were always relaxed since we woke up early and enjoyed a lazy breakfast, coffee in the morning sun and set out by 9- 9:30am. Nights were cozy with layers of blankets and also unique heating systems in the hotels. In Pahalgam, they had a bed warming electric pad which made the beds unbelievably cozy. Gulmarg had the central heating in the rooms which was even more comfortable.