By Haven’t we all come across a spontaneous trip that we hesitated to go on but it became one of the greatest adventures we’d never expect it to be? We wish for moments like these when the burden of our daily lives washes away in the crystal clear lakes of the forest. Kashmir is a place like this, a paradise you would love to get lost in!
Leave the road and take the trails
If your work lets you travel to the Heaven on Earth, you are living the dream of every wanderlust employee out there!
Rohan works in a field where he experiences nature through a lens almost every day. Yet he is mesmerized by the beauty of nature every single day. When a few of his friends planned a trip to Kashmir, he landed at Srinagar as soon as he finished his ongoing project at Delhi. Even though the trip was at the spur of the moment, he was glad to carry all his equipment to capture the beauty around him.
For the first two days, he stayed at Pahalgam. Meanwhile, he took the opportunity to visit the Shiva temple and take a stroll through the mall road. But the continuous rainfall made him uncertain about the plans he had for the trip.
Trekking the Alpines
Rohan’s way to explore a place like Kashmir is to take an unexplored route to trek on its majestic hills. By talking to the locals he discovered the Alpine Trek. 5 kilometers away from Pahalgam it had glaciers and a meadow to camp on. On their first day, they managed to feed on some sandwiches and found a trekking group that provided them food for the next day (Rs. 400 per person).
The trails were hectic and not easy to travel on. After taking a halt by a canal, he managed to reach the valley where the base camp was situated. They collected wood for a bonfire and spent the night under the blanket of stars.
The journey ahead was in the outskirts of Pahalgam called the Gulmarg village. Rohan took a bicycle for an authentic expedition and felt overwhelmed by the scenery in front of him. But when came across a project in Srinagar, he had to say goodbye to the splendid nature of Gulmarg. Nevertheless, his project was to shoot a boathouse called ‘Khilona’ where he enjoyed a cozy stay.
Before this trip, Rohan had visited Kashmir previously but the valley never fails to amaze him. He was a newbie traveler who decided to go on a road trip to Kashmir. And the experience didn’t turn out to be a pleasant one. He was unfamiliar with the hour of sunset and missed his chance to explore the city.
On his next trip, he wishes to explore Sonwar bagh and many other remarkable places hidden in Kashmir.
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Travelers Wisdom
Talk to the locals! In any situation when you feel astray, the best way to figure out things is to ask for help from the locals. Despite the misconceptions, Rohan believes that Kashmir is a very safe destination for tourists. ‘Preplanning is the key to traveling’, claims Rohan. Being familiar with the place and booking a stay in advance is extremely helpful.
Budget for a week’s stay- By finding ways to cut down the unnecessary cost and excluding the travel cost, Rohan spent approximately INR 8,000.
Weather- In the month of July, Pahalgam was close to 7-8 degrees. On the other hand, Srinagar had high temperatures and didn’t have cold weather.
Equipment used to capture the travel- Digitek Tripod and Sony A73 camera with Neutral Density filters
For more details and photos, check out Rohan’s Instagram handle: @naturethrough_lens
And follow @indiachalk for more such thrilling travel stories!
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