2022
When people say Kashmir is a piece of heaven on this earth, they are not exaggerating. Last month, I had the opportunity to visit Kashmir, and I can confirm that Kashmir is a literal piece of heaven on the face of this earth.
If you are not convinced by this statement, or everyone's who has ever been to Jammu and Kashmir, here are some photographic proofs to back this claim.
But before I start, I should tell you that no photos can do justice to the beauty of Jammu & Kashmir. More importantly, I am not a professional photographer in any sense. The photos I've shared here are taken with my phone camera. The actual places are ten times better than what you see here. So, if you ever decide to visit Kashmir, prepare to be shocked as these photos aren't even close to how these places actually look. Kashmir's true beauty can only be appreciated by one's own naked eyes.
Also, this will not be a travel guide and travel blog for my tour. This post is more like a photo album of the places I visited. In case, you want to read about my India tour in its entirety, here's the link.
Enough intro, let's start.
The first realization of Kashmir's beauty came when I was passing over Jammu with The Himalayas on my right. Luckily, my seat on the flight was by the window, and I was able to take these photos.
I have a video recording of this view on Instagram. You can watch it here.
Imagine this view from your plane window while you sip over your morning coffee and prepare to land in a place that people refer to as "paradise".
After I landed in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir's capital, I checked into a hotel near the famous Dal Lake.
The next morning, I rented a taxi to visit Sonamarg. I am not exaggerating when I say that everywhere I looked from my car window, it was like a picture-perfect frame, ready to be clicked. The whole road trip felt like a sightseeing journey, especially while I was passing along the Sind River.
After reaching Sonamarg, Shakwat bhai, and I rented ponies and went to Thajiwas Glacier, which was undoubtedly my favorite place in Sonamarg.
After all this climbing and trekking, I sat by a waterfall and enjoyed maggie from a local tent shop before returning to the hotel.
The next morning, we went to Pahalgam, another famous tourist point in Jammu & Kashmir. The road to Pahalgam was equally beautiful. But we heard that the road to the spots is very risky and dangerous. So, we took bigger horses this time, and it was a good decision as almost all the places in Pahalgam are atop hills, and the roads are filled with rocks. So, without a horse, there was no way we could make the trip and visit all the places we wanted.
Here are some photos we took on those sites, including Kashmir Valley and Mini Switzerland famed Baisaran Valley.
Before I left, I zip-lined across the Baisaran Valley. It was a one-of-a-kind experience because I was literally flying in between the mountains of the Himalayas.
You can see me zip-lining across Mini Switzerland in TikTok.
The next morning, we rented a Shikara boat to see Lotus Lake, Dal Lake, and the floating market.
Floating in the Dal Lake is something that can't be described. Even though we had a flight back to Delhi that afternoon, we were in no rush to get to the land. We tried to spend as much time as possible on the lake, drinking Kashmir's famous Kawah and shopping in the floating market.
On our way back to the airport, we stopped to see the Botanical Garden.
That night I left Kashmir and came to Delhi and the next morning to Dhaka, which concluded my 6-day India tour to Kolkata, Delhi, and most importantly, Kashmir.
My takeaway: half the beauty in the world was given to women-kind and the other half to Kashmir. So, even if it costs you a lifetime of savings, you should visit Kashmir at least once in your life.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
