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Riding the dream - Ladakh - IV: Kashmir you beauty!

After getting a good nights sleep, I was all ready and excited to enter Kashmir. Mounted all the luggage, had a chikki and I was back on the Xpulse. The plan was to head towards Srinagar and onward to Sonmarg today.

As I left Udhampur, was welcomed by beautiful vistas, like the below, and this really got me excited for what was in store ahead!


The closer I got to Srinagar, I started coming across more and more of military convoys crossing the highway. Whenever there was a big convoy, the military would literally block the traffic to side of the road, for the convoys to pass un-interrupted. And these blocks would last from as low as to 2 minutes to more than an hour!

During one of such long blocks, a family in car approached me and picked up a conversation. These convoy blockages were completely new to me, so I asked them if it was a regular phenomena - and indeed it was. What this meant was that the locals simply could not plan their travel/ commute etc reliably since you never know how long it would actually take you, depending on the number and duration of these blocks, and that was understandably frustrating. They asked me what my plan for today was - I told them I planned to visit Srinagar, buy some Kesar and then proceed towards Sonmarg.

They got surprised on two counts - why would I want to buy Kesar from Srinagar, and why a solo rider like me would want to go to Srinagar at all. I did not have good answers for either of the questions. For Kesar, they suggested me to buy from a place called Pampaur, which falls on the way towards Srinagar. And that if I do not have anything specific to do in Srinagar, to avoid it altogether, due to all the traffic and congestion etc. I took the advice and walked back towards my bike. Noticed a KTM RC390 standing right next to me. I picked up a conversation with him, since I myself had a RC390 few years back. 

We hit it off right away and spoke on multiple topics, since we anyway had time to kill, waiting for the convoy to clear. When I told him about my plan to buy Kesar from Pampaur, he immediately called up one of his friends who has a shop there and they make and sell Kesar. Unfortunately, his friend was not available and said it would take at least 4 hours for him to come over.  He then offered to take me there and show me where to buy the Kesar from so that I get authentic stuff, and at the best rates. I was already amazed at the warmth and hospitality shown by the Kashmiris.

Finally the block was released and we were on our way. The vistas were incredible - 


We finally reached Pampaur. To my surprise, Shahrukh not only showed me the place to buy, he stopped along with me. We went to the store, and he did all the bargaining and handled the entire transaction really with the shop. Tourists are of course charged a much higher rate, as I saw for real with a couple of other tourist guys shopping there. Since Shahrukh was with me, knew about the ongoing rates there, and was dealing in the local Kashmiri language, I got an excellent deal on everything I bought - Kesar, Shilajit, Kahwa, dried cranberries, etc. Right next to the shop was a Kahwa place, and again - Shahrukh got us Kahwas. After another round of interesting conversations, exchanging numbers and taking a selfie, we bid good byes. The Kashmiri warmth and hospitality just kept getting better!



Since Srinagar was now off the plan, I had a to find a place to have lunch, since I was getting very hungry by now. Checked on maps and found a dhaba on the banks of the Sindhu river called Sindhu View. On the way, I noticed a cart of apples, and I stopped to buy a kilo. Was pleasantly surprised to know that those were selling for Rs. 50/ KG! 

Reached the dhaba, and as expected, it was a beautiful setting!


Relished a nice and hot plate of Rajma Chawal, walked around for a bit, and was back on the road.


Reached Sonmarg in the afternoon, and was absolutely mesmerized by its beauty! Found a JKTDC room at a decent price, unloaded the luggage. Freshened up and I was ready for some sight seeing!

I will let pictures do all the talking now.
Distance: 278 kms
Saddle time: 7 hours
Elevation: 2,730 M (8,957 ft), + 1,975M (6,480 ft)

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