Pahalgam – Achabal – Kokernag – Verinag – Udhampur – Katra
All good things
come to an end and so did our stay at Pahalgam. When we left, the sun shone
bright as the temperature read -5 in the Car. As soon as my brother sprayed the
cleaner water on the windscreen, it froze. It was better off with dirt than
with ice. After we had dispatched a security guard to get some hot water to
pour over (like our Dad did during 1991 Shimla Trip), one of the elder stewards
vehemently advised us not to lest we wanted the windscreen to crack due to the
contrast. We were not sure about this but we followed an easy policy – When in
doubt, take the zero risk way. The sun was anyway shining bright and our
departure got delayed by no more than 4 minutes when the ice melted away.
|
Frozen Water sprayed over Windshield |
|
Starting to Melt even at -5 degrees |
|
Modern Art by Leaking Pipe |
|
Kokernag |
|
Verinag |
|
Fishes |
|
For Open Public Use |
Thanks to directions
from Mr Tasadiq (Pahalgam Hotel), our Kokernag-Verinag venture would take us
just for 30 km extra before joining the NH1A. So we took the left from Pai Bugh
to meet NH1B at Achabal. The name “Kokernag” reminisced us about the 1968 and 1976
month long Kashmir Camping Road Trip stories of our dad and granddad. Standing
in front of the Tourism Office, I wondered where must they have put up their
camps – where must have my mom-grandmom got water to cook food from – maybe
that same corner spring that we would not dare to even drink from today. From
the outset, the Kokernag Garden didn’t seem to be extra-ordinary so this time
we did mind spending money for the entry ticket. I made another dream promise
to myself that maybe someday we would drive along the Chenab from Keylong to
Kokernag via Kishtwar & Sinthan Top. Sinthan Top was showing 48km on the
Milestone.
The internal
one-half lane road to Verinag was scenic despite the barren apple orchards (imagine
what would it be during full bloom). The Chashma-Verinag made a much better
impression on me vis-à-vis Chashma-e-Shahi. Firstly, it was not so hyped and
secondly, the Water was in abundance and evidently flowing naturally from
beneath the ground. Many a fishes were fast asleep. In retrospect, I feel
Verinag’s sunny weather also had a part to play in contrast to Srinagar’s foggy
weather. It also seemed better maintained than its capital city counterpart.
As we joined NH1A, my eyes raced on the road
ahead trying to catch the first glimpse of Jawahar Tunnel. Today will be the
first time I shall pass it. As the Communication Jammers made their presence
felt on our Cellphones, the Entry to Tunnel appeared blaring 2531 and 2547 in
the yellow-black. Baglihar Hydel Project was visible in its grandeur (Isn’t it
true that every time we travel – we come to see and know so much more and then
we realize how little we have seen or known so far?). As we settled in Katra
for the night, I quipped to my brother – how possible it came about that we
drove around Kashmir valley yet never touched Anantnag.