For those who love comparison, Gulmarg isn’t Switzerland, but in some ways far more beautiful. Thanks to a well-paved road from Srinagar, it’s far more accessible, too. We drove a Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV from Srinagar airport to Gulmarg and back.
The airport: Direct flights to Srinagar are available only from eight cities – New Delhi, Jammu, Amritsar, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Leh.
The road: Gulmarg (2,600 metres above sea level) lies about 60-km west of Srinagar; most of the road is straight, until you reach Tangmarg, and this last 15 km of winding road is a driver’s delight.
The car to pick: Companies such as Revv or Avis don’t yet provide self-driven rental cars in Srinagar, but you can get in touch with your hotel for the same.
What to do: Gulmarg is breathtakingly beautiful anytime of the year, and more so in the winters – with snowcapped mountains, frozen lakes and blue skies. The Gulmarg Gondola takes you to Apharwat Peak (4,390 metres), from where you can ski downwards. Ski organisers are aplenty and affordable – an experienced local can teach you for as little as Rs 1,000 per day (equipment rental extra).
Other places of interest are Drung frozen waterfall (16 km from Gulmarg), Alpather frozen lake (40 km), Maharani temple dedicated to Lord Shiva (on Gulmarg meadows), the unexplored Strawberry valley (5 km), outer circle walk (11-km loop around Gulmarg meadows), and to fully enjoy the winter do try the Kashmiri Harissa cuisine (usually breakfast meal in winters).
Places to stay: The best resort is Khyber, but rates can touch up to Rs 50,000 per night. But Gulmarg and its surrounding areas have about 100 hotels, with prices starting at about Rs 2,000.
What to do in summers: In case skiing isn’t your thing and winters are too cold, the ski slopes of Gulmarg turn into green meadows in the summer, where you can see thousands of sheep grazing – it’s a sight to behold. Gulmarg Golf Course also opens in summers.
Kashmiriyat: All along, the best thing about Gulmarg are its people – ever-friendly and great hosts. Switzerland is beautiful, her people are great, but there you won’t find Kashmiriyat (hospitality, humbleness, and as we found, religious harmony). That made us realise that, in Gulmarg, you can find a thousand heavens around you, and a thousand within.
