Heevan Retreat Gulmarg

... I didn't like the look of my driver but he turned out to be fine.
Took us about 1.5hrs to get to Tenmarg where we picked up a guide called Shakeel, then drove to Gulmarg and the foot of the Kongdoori mountain. Shakeel appeared to be an honest guy, although he clearly didn't mind queue jumping. He got my cable car pass for the first half of the mountain and walked straight to the front of the queue of about 50 people waiting to get on. I'm sure at one point he ...

... by Gondola was nice experience, we enjoyed!!
But when we got down, it was big disappointment. Surely the view was beautiful, but it was dirty. The color of the snow was changed to brown!

We tried to find the clean snow. Did some photos with Ski poles as well, just holding in the hand :)

We enjoyed Sonamarg more than Gulmarg, may be because of the crowd in Gulmarg and cleanliness.

... che arriva a Srinagar, č come una volpe che entra nel 'Club della Caccia alla Volpe'. Ci hanno avvistato mentre eravamo dentro la jeep, ci hanno inseguito con la moto e ci parlavano attraverso il finestrino. A volte, passavamo un incrocio e gruppi di gente urlavano all'autista di fermarsi. Ma non era un urlo come quando la Roma entra all'Olimpico, era un urlo come quando la Roma entra al Meazza. Del tipo "Ehi autista, mollali qua che ce li spolpiamo con tutti i calzini di dopo 24H di ...

... our AK (maybe I exaggerate a bit). Walking to the arrivals building, I see a desk called foreign traveler registration and didn't think anything of it so I kept walking out to find my driver (oops). I found my driver (Basheer) and we hopped into his 4x4 which lacked a heater. Oh...did I mention it's just below freezing in Srinagar and we're going to Gulmarg where it's currently well below freezing and snowing? So I was a tad cold after living ...

... we felt like flabby, pink, wusses in comparison. These guys were string beans (lack of nutrition or just plane food was much to blame), they hike in cheap, ****** plastic shoes with no socks, they eat huge plates of rice, with a little bit of curry, definitely not a good meal, and yet they run up and down the mountains, eating and drinking almost nothing during the day, just stopping for the occasional cigarette break! The week in the mountains was quite a relaxing break ...

... e inhospitas de la region. Espero que la presion militar sea menor alli, porque esta ciudad, Srinagar, absolutamente imprescindble por su ambiente medieval, esta en estado cercano al toque de queda, lo cual le rompe toda la belleza. La proxima cronica sera sobre Cachemira, sus gentes y su situacion. Parece que me este especializando en zonas con polblaciones oprimidas (kurdistan, xinjiang, tibet...) aunque creo que sera dificil que me pueda conectar nuevamente en mas de 10 dias....

... z nich probuje nas zagadac, na co zgadzamy sie poczatkowo bardzo niechetnie. Po krotkiej wymianie informacji owy typ zaprasza nas na wieczor panienski swojej siostry, na co przystajemy ochoczo. Prowadzi nas przez ciemne zaulki do domu weselnego przyozdobionego z zewnatrz jak bozonarodzeniowa choinka. Kulturalnie zdejmujemy buty, nie przejmujac sie juz wedrujaca larwa:). Dolaczamy do spiewajacej gromady ...

... hiszpana artyste - malarza, zwanego Albertem. Wieczorem Lysiak spila sie z polniewidomym sluzacym, ktory zreszta jest muzulmaninem. Ojjjj biedny Rahim ledwo wstal z lozka nastepnego dnia, tak go bolala watroba... Tego dnia tez ucielysmy sobie pogawedke z wyksztalconym bratem Zafera( wlasciciel lodzi), ktory wylozyl nam skrocona historie Kaszmiru, ale o tym kiedy indziej·

... being seen. I simply wanted to buy my ticket to Delhi without distraction. There were two cheap airlines with the right flights but neither accepted foreign credit cards. My options were limited and unappealing- use a travel agent or make a trip to the airport. A block down the street from the second cafe I passed a man in nice clothes and designer glasses. He said hello, and once I responded, he thought we had met before ...

... in my hotel and no stove in my room. I'd typically have dinner after sunset then return to bury myself in the thick blankets. I'd read or write wearing 2 hats and several layers of shirts while my legs struggled to heat my toes under the blankets. Though I was physically tired, I rarely slept well in Gulmarg. That night on the way back to my room after dinner, I met Radi. Radi pulls a sledge. Pulling sledges is a job created by men ...