Back from Kashmir

View from Highlands Park hotel

Sindhu in her element.

Rushil with the instructor

Break at the snack shop, waiting for the hail storm to subside.

Sledding was more popular among the Indians

Views of the morning fog from our hotel

When we got back to Bangalore, the warmth was appreciated after the cold weather in Kashmir. But that jubilance lasted only a few minutes,  I remembered why I craved a visit to a hillstation. The hot weather makes me very lazy and lethargic and it's an effort to get anything done.

I'm really surprised that more people don't visit Kashmir. As I've mentionned before, there is military presence everywhere but we felt safe throughout our entire visit.

Gulmarg is at a 9K ft elevation but the snow started melting 2 weeks early  so the ski slopes were a bit slushy and not very well groomed.  The views however were stunning. The locals told us that if we climbed higher that slopes were better but that was really not the case, either way, Sindhu and Rushil were thrilled to be skiing so didn't care. . We rented our skis and gear from a rental place right outside of our hotel, they had everything you could possibly need including gear for the children.  We hired an instructor and a porter for the day. I know that you're thinking that is a bit excessive but there are no chair lifts so we needed someone to help carry the skis up the hill. Even with the help, it was tiring to climb up over and over again.  We were one of the few skiiers, and at one point, one of the tourists took a picture with Rushil as he and Sindhu were the youngest on the slopes.  Sindhu and Prasad skiied together, they climbed higher than Rushil and I. Rushil  picked up skiing quite easily, after another day or two, he could have joined Prasad and Sindhu.  I was able to manage the very easy bunny hills but nothing more but I did enjoy myself and felt motivated to go skiing again.

That evening one of the storekeepers at the hotel introduced us to another family from Bangalore. They had also moved from the US and were in Bangalore on temporary assignment.   It's always interesting to hear their story, how their children have adapted and the reasons they have moved.  They had a daughter about Sindhu's age and a 14 year old son in boarding school and the girls hit it off and exchanged email addresses . 

The next morning we headed to Pahalgam.  Gulmarg was peaceful and beautiful but after driving through small villages and Srinigar, we realized there is so much more to see