The JKTDC Alpine hotel as well as the huts are located only a kilometer or so from the main road where the bazaar and restaurants are located. But the kilometer is not really a walkable distance for someone with elders or young children.
Grandma and grandkid taking a detour to climb down from the Alpine hotel, rather than using the stairs:
The next morning, our car dropped us on the main road where we had our breakfast at an excellent hotel called Dana-pani, a small clean hotel serving tasty dishes with a smile.
The rates shown on the banner are simply imaginary. This is where we realised the level of negotiations expected from the tourists. For a tour that is expected to cost more than 10k per horse as per the so-called government rates, the negotiated price was Rs.2500 per horse! A 75% negotiation over the listed price is a bit too much to comprehend, but it is how it is.
In Maharashtra, at a hill station named Matheran, one needs to ride horses to visit the different spots. But there, the horse riders have built climbing platforms at every spot, which makes saddling – getting on and off the horses – a breeze. Here, there are no platforms to get on the horses. So the saddling needs effort each time.
The horses immediately started climbing the steep hill and I began to wonder about the sanity of our decision to get on this ride, let alone bring a toddler along! But soon my worry gave way to the spirit of adventure, and we thoroughly enjoyed our guided horse ride. There was a helper who walked besides our two horses. To my surprise, Bhargavee even managed to sneak some sleep while riding the horse! Nandinee – the mom – was glad that the belt held Bhargavee in place. The horses crossed some waterfalls, climbed some huge boulders and transversed some really deep roots to get us to the top. There is simply no road, the horses make their way through nature.
Even though on paper there are 7 or 8 points of interest, some of them are literally fly-by points. The horse operator points his hand in the distance telling you the name of that valley, that’s it. We passed by some locals who were holding a pet goat or pet hare for us to pose with, at some nominal fee.
The main point of interest is Baisaran valley, or ‘Mini Switzerland’. A lot of places in North India where there is a large lawn in a circular shape are called ‘Mini Switzerland’, and I don’t understand the obsession of this ‘mini’ identification. But the valley is beautiful. After riding in isolation for some time, we were shocked to see hundreds of horses hustling around in front of a gate. This was the entrance to the Baisan valley park. After paying the fees, we entered the park and Bhargavee channelled the spirit of a wild horse. After having to be tied up wobbling on the back of a horse, she had finally found an open green park, and she intended to explore all of it.
There was a good sized crowd, but the park itself is large enough to accommodate many people, so we never felt the need for a social distance. We clicked the customary photos in traditional attires. Here, even though you click and pay for photos in the park, you would receive the photos down in Pahalgam in a particular shop. Something to keep in mind.
There is a paid wash room in the park, which I recommend you make use of. I don’t remember seeing any other washrooms on this journey.
Our horse manager informed us to join him at the opposite side of the park, because the amount of incoming horses had increased a lot. After spending around an hour, we exited the park and mounted the horses for the next point. Again the next few points were on the go, but the experiences of riding horses in such a region was amazing.
The horses trotted along their usual route, taking little bits of risks here and there. If there is a perfectly good road and some large boulders, horses would choose boulders. While going near a valley, the horse would take a route closer to the valley to peek down and perhaps shout ‘echo!’. Humans live to take lowest risk possible, Pahalgam horses seemed to take risk at every possible opportunity!
The next point we got down at was a waterfall. I don’t know who the random couple in the background is! Word of advice: at a crowded scenic location, don’t hog the prime spots for a long time, else your photos will show up in random clicks.
I observed that so many people on the route had their daily bread dependent on the footfalls. The extremely old persons asking us to pose with a rabbit, or the horse managers.
How would they have lived in lockdowns, when their very source of income, tourism, was blocked?! The thought sent a chill down my spine.
Finally, we connected to the tar road and in a kilometer or so, were dropped at the pickup point. It was almost four and a half hours since we left. My mother was waiting at the hotel, wanting to hear the adventures of the baby and the horses.
In the evening, we strolled around in Pahalgam, taking in the sights and doing casual shopping. The shopping strip of the town is spread over a kilometer or so, on both sides of the main road.
We shopped a few items in the local shops, where the prices were quite reasonable. We found the photography shop and collected our photos clicked at Baisaran Valley. After a filling dinner in a local hotel, our driver dropped us at the hotel entrance to climb the steep hill towards our room.
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