Pahalgam to Gulmarg via Pampore and Avantipur

aniruddham / May 3, 2022

En route, we stopped in Pampore village for cricket bat shopping. I don’t play cricket, and Bharavee is too young to play yet. But as we were passing right through the town that is so famous for its Willow bats, it made no sense not to stop and shop.

After exploring multiple options and handling many bats, we finally bought two bats, one big and one tiny.

We then moved on interior roads, to visit another historical sight, Avanti Swami Temple, Avantipur.

There was a small ticket for entrance, and as this was located on the busy road of Srinagar-Pahalgam, there appeared to be bit more visitors than Martand Temple.

The past and the present merge at the temple sight. In this photo, the remains of the original part of the temple can be seen on the left, and on the right, the new steps made to support the old structure.

Even though the temple appears to be in slightly more weathered down than Martanda temple, you can still spot the shapes and idols in its structure, painstakingly arranged by ASI.

While roaming around, I noticed that the pillars of the mandapa around the main temple were having different designs of carvings.

This temple too was in the Panchayatan style, four temples surrounding the main temple on four corners. This is how two of those four temples would look like.

There are no standing walls at the main hall of the temple. You can only imagine its beauty in the past.

Still, the historical relevance of the sites stands, and I would recommend travellers on this route to make it a point to visit this place.

It was already approaching evening, as we moved towards Gulmarg, the destination for the day. We stopped at a bakery, and the bakery products were too inviting to ignore.

While approaching Gulmarg, our driver wanted us to hire snow boots and dresses at shops located at Tangmarg, a good 8-10 kilometers before Gulmarg. But as we were staying in Gulmarg for two nights, it didn’t make sense to pay two day’s rent for a few hours of visits, and hence we passed on the shops.

Gulmarg is not a town per se, but actually it is a tourist strip developed to serve the snow-seeking travellers. There is a large parking area where the day-visitors are dropped off. As we had our booking in Gulmarg Tourist Lodge, we could venture inside the gate towards the gondola. At the halfway point, around 5 minutes walkable distance from Gondola, we spotted the JKTDC Tourist lodge, again perked up on top of a hill with a bad road leading to the top. I went to the hotel and confirmed my booking and room, and sent a coolie down to bring up the luggage. Our car would be going back to Srinagar, as he had nothing to do for the next whole day in Gulmarg.

It was more chilly in Gulmarg than in Pehelgam, because we could see snow right outside of our window. Here too, we could see JKTDC huts spread all over the campus in various states of repair, but the hotel we were staying was comparatively newer and had an AC with heater. This made our stay very comfortable.

The main attraction of Gulmarg is the ropeway, or the Gondola. There are two stages, the first stage rides to a certain height, and the second stage goes much beyond, on top of a hilly peak. At the start of the tourist season, there is snow at both the stages. As the summer progresses, the snow at the first stage receds, and one has to hire ponies to reach the snow at stage I. At stage 2, however, there is always snow all around. There are activitivies at both the stages, but the cost of same activities at stage 2 are said to be higher than that at stage 1. Most importantly, the oxygen at stage 2 is said to be scarce, being at 13500. It is a serious issue, especially for those having breathing problems or senior citizens. So the usual stopping time at stage 2 is recommended to be 15 minutes or less. Though you hear stories of how someone fainted or felt uneasy at stage 2, and had to be brought down in the Gondola.

The tickets for stage 1 cost Rs.740 and for stage 2, Rs.950. There is a possibility – in fact a strong recommendation – of booking the tickets online before coming. But I couldn’t find a site that looks reliable enough to buy the gondola tickets online. Finally in the Gulmarg JKTDC hotel, I asked around and found the proper site to buy the gondola tickets online.

https://jkcablecar.payu.in

One can book the advance tickets from next day onwards. Incidentally, the tickets for stage 2 were not showing up online. Presumably the quota for online tickets for stage 2 was over. We planned to buy the stage 2 tickets when we would get down at stage 1 tomorrow.

There is a concept of ‘guide’ who will buy tickets and stand in line for you, and will also negotiate with the rides to give you better prices. We felt equipped enough to do these things ourselves, so we didn’t opt for any guide services.

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