Caption: A view from the Gondola Cable Car from Gulmarg to Kungdoor.
Hello all LGs,
Welcome to my Episode - 2 of series of Beauty of Kashmir. In this post I am taking you to the famous town for skiing destination / hill station GULMARG.
Gulmarg is situated in Baramulla district of Jammu & Kashmir. The meaning of “Gulmarg” is “Meadow of Flowers”.
After my first day of visit to Shalimar Garden, I went back to hotel. And on the second day around at 8:00 Hrs we left for Gulmarg. From Srinagar, Gulmarg is around 55 KM. We took around 2 Hrs 30 Mins to reach Gulmarg i.e. around at 10:30 Hrs. Gondola Rides starts at 09:00 Hrs. While coming to Gulmarg you can see and enjoy the valley road passing through the many pine trees. Many people have height fear so they may get fear while driving in a vehicle.
Before going up to Gulmarg, you will pass through the place Tangmarg. Here you can stop for a while to get fresh or have tea. Also, you can hire the warm cloths with Gumboots at resonable rates from here. Many shops are there with variety of designs & size. You can get the same at Gulmarg but price might be high. So, its best to hire it from Tanmarg. It’s all depends on your Tour Manager.
Caption: A view of Gulmarg.
After reaching at Gulmarg you have to park your vehicle at designated area. From that you need to reach Gondola E-Ticketing Counter either by walk or by pony. It is just 1.7 KM. I preferred to go by walk and clicked above two photos. This view would be like heaven in Winters i.e. in Dec to Jan. You may see the snow on all over this grass. By imagining it feels nice. And hence, I have decided to re-visit Kashmir in Winters.
Important Tip: Before going to Gondola ride, you must have booked online tickets without fail on its official website. There is high possibility that on reaching you won’t get tickets as it gets sold out online. Also, there is always long que to offline ticket and later again you have to be in check-in que for ride. So, you have to be in que twice to get in ride. I had booked the tickets well in advance when i booked my flight tickets.
Caption: Gondola Ride Entry Gate.
You may find long que and also may have to wait for long hours to enter due to rush. This was unpleasant experience as many agents were intervening peoples without que. There is big lobby of agents. But by keeping an eye on our que if we stop intruders in our que. We had to wait for 2 hours and got entry at 12:00 Hrs. There are two phases of the Gondola Ride.
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Gulmarg to Kungdoor (Phase-1) Ticket Cost - INR. 740/- per person (Green Gondola).
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Kungdoor to Aphrawat (Phase-2) Ticket Cost - INR. 940/- per person (Red Gondola).
You must buy online tickets from its official website for both the phases.
Caption: A view from Gondola Cable Car while going to Kungdoor (Phase-1).
It will take around 10-15 minutes to reach Kungdoor from Gulmarg E-Ticket counter. We can enjoy the ride by looking at spectacular views of hills. We can imagine the views in Winters here. There would be ice all over and everywhere and riding in Gondola ride in winter can give you the best feeling of travelling through Paradise of Earth.
It is inform here that, sometimes due to some technical reasons ride gets stop for few minutes i.e. 2-3 minutes and again starts. So there is no need to be panic as it is normal scenario. During this stop period of 2-3 minutes we can enjoy the view.
Caption: A view from Kungdoor or Kongdoori (Phase-1)
We have to get down here and get another Gondola to go up to Aphrawat. In Winters, you can spend time here and play the ice sports and enjoy.
We decided to visit Aphrawat Phase 2, so we immediately went to que for phase 2 to take Gondola.
Caption: A view from Gondola while going from Kundoor to Aphrawat.
The height of Aphrawat peak is 4390 m i.e. 14,403 feet above sea level. This peak is always covered with ice throughout the year. Hence, in Summer season Aphrawat peak is always crowded by tourist to enjoy the ice. It was a great experience to be on this peak at a height of 14,403 feet. We did not find much ice outside the Gondola ride exit gate.
Caption: Near Gondola ride exit gate.
The view was amazing from the top of mountain. We had to go up to catch up ice so we hired sledge. The local people from Gulmarg carry their sledge on the top with the help of Pony. They took us to the top in the ice. The atmosphere there was chilly. I tried to hold the ice but I couldn’t.
Caption: A view while sledging.
Caption: A view from the Aphrawat peak at altitude of approximately 14,000 feet.
In summer, generally there were not much ice sports available as the ice is not fluffy. At such height one may experience short breathiness due to low oxygen. There was a warning on a that anybody has asthma or high blood pressure must not go to Aphrawat.
We spend around 2 hours there and return back to Gulmarg. While coming down I caught following shots of villages which are situated at the base of the peak.
Caption: The Village at the base of peak shot from Gondola Cable Car.
This completed my Gulmarg day. It took whole day to explore the place. We were so much tired. There was a long que for Gondola cable car as during evening, all tourist were on the way back. While returning we returned back our warm cloths and had tea and lite breakfast then we went back to our hotel in Srinagar. I will surely visit this to catch up real heaven on earth during winter and enjoy ice sports in near future.
Caption: A selfie with my Son while sledging.
Other Episodes:
1. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 1 - Shalimar Garden
3. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 3 - My Camping experience at Sonamarg
4. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 4 - Way of Thajwas Glacier, Sonamarg
5. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 5 - Evening Shikara Ride at Dal Lake, Srinagar
6. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 6 - Houseboat Stay at Dal Lake, Srinagar.
7. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 7 - Visit to Famous Saffron Shop in Kashmir.
8. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 8 - Baisaran Valley, a Mini Switzerland in India.
9. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 9 - Aru Valley, Pahalgam.
10. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 10 - Visit to Poshwan Park.
11. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 11 - Visit to a Pristine Alpine Betaab Valley.
12. Beauty of Kashmir - Episode 12 - River Rafting and Visit to Apple Farm.
. In Winter, Kashmir is just amazingly beautiful. And, also I would have a much high scope for photography. Thank you for your compliments about the photos dada.
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