Thursday, October 24, 2013

Day 296: Delhi, Srinagar, Gulmarg!

After a rather eventless redeye flight, we got to Delhi. We were picked up by a cab and dropped off to join my in-laws, who had gotten here the day before and were staying over at a friend's place. They immediately took to pampering the little one and it was lovely to see their excitement!

After freshening up and breakfast, all off us set out again, this time to the Delhi domestic airport. After checking in and a quick coffee at the cafe there, we boarded our flight to Srinagar.

And what a flight it was! Throughout the entire flight we could see spectacular views of the Himalayan range. It was breathtaking to say the least, and was a perfect start to the holiday and a perfect welcome to Kashmir! I was terribly excited throughout and kept ooh-ing and aah-ing.

At Srinagar, we had to wait for a while outside the airport for my parents, who were taking a different flight, to arrive. Once they arrived, there was another round of "meet-the-granddaughter" excitement, after which all of us set off to Gulmarg, our first stop in Kashmir.

Gulmarg is a beautiful little village in the mountains and required a long uphill drive that presented fantastic views of the valley below and snow peaked ranges beyond.

We made a short stop at a restaurant for a late lunch and had our first taste of Kashmiri food - the local rogan josh was mind blowing. We stuffed ourselves with that and several other types of curries and breads and continued our journey to Gulmarg.

We reached Gulmarg at about 5pm and checked into our cute little hotel, Alpine Ridge. The temperature had dipped considerably and we got ourselves layered up in warm woollens. After a round of tea and some unpacking, we decided to call it a day early since all of us very tired after multiple flights and the drive.

I snuggled under the warm blankets, enjoying the absolute stillness and quiet outside and fell fast asleep pretty soon - tired but happy. 

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