NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 02 - PART 02 - GULMARG

It was our day 2 in India and after a hearty breakfast we're off to Gulmarg. It was a 1.5 hour car drive and all the way the views and sceneries were just amazing. May it be the people, the towns, the sceneries along the highway and of course at Gulmarg itself. 

Kami akhirnya tiba di bandar Tangmarg yang terletak betul-betul di bawah Gulmarg. Rasheed memberitahu khidmat local tourist guide adalah diwajibkan oleh Kerajaan untuk pelancong melawat Gulmarg. Local guide kami di Gulmarg, Manzoor telah sedia menanti kami di Local Checkpoint di Tangmarg.

Bas-bas pelancong sedang membuat persinggahan di Tangmarg.

Bandar Tangmarg. Jika anda tak memiliki baju dan kasut winter yang sesuai, ia boleh disewa di sini.

Selepas meninggalkan Tangmarg, bermulalah perjalanan mendaki melalui jalan yang sempit dan bengkang-bengkok ke Gulmarg.

Di pertengahan jalan, kami singgah di sebuah viewing platform untuk menikmati pemandangan indah. Tepat sekali jangkaan Rasheed, salji mula turun sewaktu kami berada di sini.

Pelancong-pelancong ke Gulmarg akan singgah di sini untuk menikmati pemandangan indah Banjaran Himalaya.

Viewing platform yang disediakan untuk menikmati pemandangan.

Pemandangan di Viewing Platform. Salji sedang mula turun ketika ini.

Pemandangan jalan yang telah kami lalui untuk sampai ke sini.

Banjaran Himalaya.

Hanya pokok pain sahaja yang masih mampu mengekalkan kehijauan dalam cuaca yang sejuk begini.

Lembah di kaki Pergunungan Himalaya.

Our guide Mr. Rasheed said there'll be the first snow fall that day. And indeed it did snow! What a wonderful coincidence. Pastu I panicked kejap sebab tak pernah ambik gambar masa snow. Takut basah pulak camera dan could potentially rosak. Nak tak nak ambik gak. Kalau basah cepat2 lap atau cover camera :).

Sampai je kami dicadangkan naik kuda sejauh lebih kurang 800 meter ke tempat cable car or the Gondola Cable Car station. Memang la jauh tapi kalau nak jalan kaki pun boleh. But I think they just want to help the local horse rides operators. And there were so many of them. The horse mounting place practically smells with horse, horse shit and urine.. hehehe. But after a while we got used to it lah. Oh, be careful not to step on the horse shit though.. haha. After that bila dah gerak tak de la bau2 tu.

I had never ride a horse before so naturally I was nervous. My wife ok je, smiling all the way.. hehe. Walau pun ni kuda2 kecik, still I was not able to mount it myself cause, well, being a bit heavy set nak panjat kuda could be quite a challenge. Last2 my skinny guide dukung saya and pushed me onto the horse. How embarassing right? Hahaha. Pas tu he said not to worry and hold my arm while he walked along side my horse. Double embarassment! My wife dok gelakkan saya jek :). Masa saya grip saddle tu like I was holding for my life. Lama2 rasa ok baru berani lepas sebelah tangan dan took these shots. Masa tu pulak tgh snow sikit2 so jalan tar tu jadi licin dan kuda yg berladam tu kept on slipping. Panik balik! Pas tu guide tu suruh the boy to walk the horses on the ground beside the jalan raya. Lega.

Di sebelah kanan adalah padang golf yang tertinggi di dunia, tapi tak ada orang bermain golf ketika ini.

Suasana masa salji turun lebat.

Semua orang berbaju winter and pheran. Ader penjual coffee panas. Rasa macam nak beli secawan tapi takut pulak nanti sakit perut. 

Memang lebat sungguh snow masa tu. Best giler sebab the last time I experience snow was like more than 20 years ago. 

Masa tunggu bertuduh while our local guide Mr. Manzoor pi beli tiket cable car tu, I saw la the police. Which is good I guess cause I did feel safe with their presence. Bukan sorang dua je, tapi a truck load of them.

Lagi gambar salji lebat.

Ni masa tengah queue nak naik Gondola tu. Even though panjang queuenya tapi gerak laju gak. So tak le boring. In fact we spent time taking photos.

Ni tiket nak naik the Gondola.

And these are the Gondolas taken from the place we were queuing. Was it cold masa tu? Oh yes, sampai berhembusan wap masa bersembang.

The Gondola's station.

Bila dah masuk dalam station tu [still a bit more queuing], tiba2 salah satu cable car tu rosak. Tapi pekerja2 yang jaga kat situ dgn cepat sekali menyelesaikan permasalahan dgn memanjat dan mengasingkan cable car yang rosak itu dan tolak masuk dalam store di sebelah. We were so impressed. It was so quick tak terganggu pun org yang tengah beratur dan tak de delay to the operations. 

Cable car tu jenis yang tak stop betul. Nak naik kena jalan cepat-cepat dan jump into the car! Dah la dengan baju winter tebal dan bawak camera/bag. Tapi kami berjaya sambil gelak ketawa melompat masuk.. hehe. Alhamdulillah. And off we went...

We stopped at 1st level je cause the next one was much colder and suitable for those who likes [and an expert at] skiing. Our guide pun said it was not advisable for us to go that level. 

Needless to say, the sceneries there were exceptionally beautiful and breathtaking. These were our captures.

Kalau dah sampai kat area sini, pusing la 360 degree pun views semua bagus! :)

Tu gondolas yang gi next level. 

Kebetulan snow pun dah reda dan kami dpt ambik gambar dengan selesa. Alhamdulillah.

Certain areas can be quite slippery tapi nak ambik gambar punya pasal, sanggup redah! :)

Bangunan hijau tu is the cable car station. Jauh jugak kami jalan.

More horses for hire untuk jalan kat areas tu.

Balik ke station to take the cable car down. Kat station ni ader orang jual sejenis nasi berempah. Interesting yes? Baunya punya la sedap made my stomach growling :).

Ni masa nak turun the main station.

On the way down we saw these houses. According to our guide, the owners will only stay there for 6 months of the year cause during winter it can get really cold.

More shot while coming down the mountains.

Masa nak keluar dari main gate, ader these men. They just stood there. Don't know what they were waiting for. 

On the way back we opted not to take the horses supaya senang nak ambik gambar.

Operators and locals on horses.

A wonderful scenery....

Sedap benor korek telinga! Hahaha...

Kat sini pun ader jual maggi. Dah la sejuk, lapar pulak masa tu. Kalau la dapat semangkuk maggi kari! :)

Our excursion at Gulmarg ended with a delicious meal brought in a picnic lunch box dari houseboat yang dibekalkan oleh Ali :).  

Dan semasa makan tengahari kami dapat menyaksikan keindahan alam semesta ciptaanNya. SubhanaAllah.  

Bersambung...

Berikut adalah link kepada semua entries New Delhi, Agra dan Kashmir for easy reference and access :).
1) NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 01 - PART 01 - DEPARTURE - SRINAGAR - DAL LAKE - HOUSEBOAT - KASHMIR CARPET
2) NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 02 - PART 01 - FROM SRINAGAR TO GULMARG
3) NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 02 - PART 02 - GULMARG
4) NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 02 - PART 03 - ON THE WAY BACK TO HOUSEBOAT - KASHMIRI PEOPLE
5) NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 03 - MUGHAL GARDENS
6) NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 04 - PART 01 - TAJ MAHAL
7) NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 04 - PART 02 - AGRA FORT AND MARBLE FACTORY
8) NEW DELHI, KASHMIR DAN AGRA - DAY 04 - PART 03 - GOING HOME

No photograph may be reproduced, downloaded, copied, stored, manipulated, or used whole or in part of a derivative work, without written permission from Syed Amran. All rights reserved.