Along the Sindh river - To the Path of Gold
"It seems to rain after 2pm. Yesterday we were completely drenched. But the experience of the seeing the place is worth it." This remark from another tourist hiked up my anticipation. We were going to Sonamarg, literally, the Path of Gold. It is a poor description of this glorious
place. For what is the value of gold in face of such amazing beauty. (Ofcourse it helps us reach there :)
place. For what is the value of gold in face of such amazing beauty. (Ofcourse it helps us reach there :)After saying goodbye to our host, we started off the the Shankaracharya temple, which is perched atop a hillock. It is said that Adi Shankara was here during his travels. The Shankaracharya temple is famous here and it was very crowded as well. The security is very tight. No vehicles are allowed after a certain point. You can image the level of security by the fact that a BSF jawan acts as the pujari and gives the prasad!! I don't know why it is so but it was a sardar jawan who gave us the prasad. The hill offers a lovely view of Srinagar. We met an elderly couple, who had also come from South, as a part of a large group. They were in Srinagar to visit this temple and were also going to Vaishno Devi.
We left for Sonmarg from here. I asked the driver to stop near some good bakery to buy biscuits to eat on the wa
y. We bought some and went out of the city. Initially the scenery is nothing to shout about. It all changes after some time when you start seeing the Sindh river. You can clearly make out the meaning of white water when you see the Sindh. This is typical picture post card stuff. Green green trees all around and the white water of the river flowing furiously. We would not see such white water as the Sindh anywhere later in our journey. Driving here is such a pleasure with this type of scenery around you.
y. We bought some and went out of the city. Initially the scenery is nothing to shout about. It all changes after some time when you start seeing the Sindh river. You can clearly make out the meaning of white water when you see the Sindh. This is typical picture post card stuff. Green green trees all around and the white water of the river flowing furiously. We would not see such white water as the Sindh anywhere later in our journey. Driving here is such a pleasure with this type of scenery around you. If I was happy with what I was seeing around I hadn't reckoned with what Sonamarg was to offer. I was dumbfounded when I saw my resort. Not exactly on seeing the resort but on seeing its location. The place where we were standing was a very wide valley. In front of us was 
the mountain range and behind the resort ran the Sindh river and far away were more mountains. The presence of many horse near the river added made the scenery very pastoral. From inside our room we could see the river and there was a small sitout where you could be one with the elements.
the mountain range and behind the resort ran the Sindh river and far away were more mountains. The presence of many horse near the river added made the scenery very pastoral. From inside our room we could see the river and there was a small sitout where you could be one with the elements.The major attraction of Sonamarg was the snowpoint or the glacier. This was supposed to around 3 to 4 kms from our resort. Initially we thought we would trek this distance but (as it happens most of the time) we went by car till around half a kilometer from the place, beyond which you cannot take the car. We hired some woolen overcoats and jerkins after some debate within ourselves. It was threatening to rain but would it? You can't be sure and so we went with the jerkins in our hand, ready to face any eventuality. We need to trek for some time before you reach the main snow p
oint, where there was lot of activity happening. The crowd was too much and we decided not to worry about snow activities since we had done that in Gulmarg. Instead we went to another place where there was less snow but it was isolated. The trek was nice and thrillin
g to the kids since they had to cross the river on some very precarious bridges. Gayathri was scared but nothing happened. We saw one lady try to cross the river, which is shallow, stepping on some stones and falling down. It must have really been freezing cold there. The whole area is amazing. Secluded and away from the main road, this is another picture postcard area. Lovely green trees, a variety of them, and the clean clean river flowing between the mountains and lot of snow around. There are times when you feel that you don't need too much from life and being here you would get that feeling.
oint, where there was lot of activity happening. The crowd was too much and we decided not to worry about snow activities since we had done that in Gulmarg. Instead we went to another place where there was less snow but it was isolated. The trek was nice and thrillin
g to the kids since they had to cross the river on some very precarious bridges. Gayathri was scared but nothing happened. We saw one lady try to cross the river, which is shallow, stepping on some stones and falling down. It must have really been freezing cold there. The whole area is amazing. Secluded and away from the main road, this is another picture postcard area. Lovely green trees, a variety of them, and the clean clean river flowing between the mountains and lot of snow around. There are times when you feel that you don't need too much from life and being here you would get that feeling.The kids played in the snow for some time, I took lot of photos and then we got back to the resort. The next day would take us over the Zozilla pass and to the Theater of War.
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