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More visitors trudging Kashmir Valley’s meadows, lakes and mountains as trekking gains traction
Trekkers from outside like Tedwala have started to converge in the Kashmir Valley as the government is making more efforts for opening newer adventure destinations.
For Faisal Tedwala, 33, who has toured Kashmir on several occasions, this year’s trip was somewhat different as it marked the first occasion when took on a trek up the Valley’s snowy desolate mountains dotted with alpine lakes.
“The adventure was an otherworldly experience. Never in my life have I experienced anything like this. When you wake up, you witness a pristine lake nearby surrounded by mountains, snow and clouds the first thing in the morning. No buildings, no roads and no mobile network,” he said. adding, “Many times, we saw clouds underneath as we sat atop lofty mountains.”
Trekkers from outside like Tedwala have started to converge in the Valley as the government is making more efforts for opening newer adventure destinations.
Speaking of the same, tourism director Raja Yaqoob Farooq said they are witnessing an increase in trekking groups from outside who want to explore the uncharted Valley this year.
“As this is the trekking season, people from Delhi, West Bengal, Hyderabad, Bangalore and even Kanpur are here. We have flagged off a number of groups and are readying for more groups in coming days,” he said.
Tedwala, an Ahmedabad-based businessman recycling plastic, was visiting with his siblings and cousins.
Other trekkers, just like Tedwada and his cousins, had only one thing in mind before landing in Srinagar — a trekking trip up the mountains. And most chose the prominent trekking circuit, The Kashmir Great Lakes (KGL) trek in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district consisting of a series of valleys, grasslands, flowery meadows, alpine lakes and tall mountains which takes at least a week to scale.
Tedwava and Co. with their local guide and a few ponies trekked for three days starting July 5 trudging the meadows, climbing up the mountains and down the valleys and spending nights along the alpine lakes in their tents, when the rains lashed the valley on July 7 and 8 and the group returned to safety.
The tourism director said destinations like KGL and Tarsar Marsar are prominent for their landscape, while groups are also charting up Doodhpathri in central Kashmir and Gurez in northern Kashmir.
He added that the administration has hired an agency to identify around 75 more trekking routes across the Valley.
Tour operators, meanwhile, say besides locals and domestic tourists, foreigners are also trickling in just as enthusiastically.
Sajad Ahmad, who runs Discover Kashmir, a travel agency exploring offbeat destinations, said trekking has begun to find more takers due to overcrowding of prominent tourist places like Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg.
“Besides the habitual trekkers, there are people who like to go to isolated places, stay close to nature away from the crowd. Nature lovers increasingly prefer trekking as the tourists numbers increase and usual places become crowded,” he said, adding, “The destinations like Tosa Maidan in central Kashmir and Tulain Lake in Pahalgam in south Kashmir are also a hit.”
Following an improvement in socio-political situation in the Valley, the administration this year has opened many previously out-of-bound places on Line of Control in northern Kashmir like Uri in Baramulla and Gurez in Kupwara.
“So many groups are going to Gurez on LoC in north Kashmir where one can see the other side of the border,” Ahmad said.
The role of vloggers and social media influencers has further heightened the interest, he further noted.
The tourism industry has been growing at a much greater pace in the Valley for the past few years. In 2022, an all-time high 26.73 lakh tourists visited Kashmir.
Looking ahead, secretary tourism Syed Abid Rasheed Shah said more foreign tourists are also visiting the UT after G20, adding, “We are witnessing massive bookings and queries from people from those countries which won’t come here earlier. It may prove watershed moment in Jammu and Kashmir tourism.”
Meanwhile, the Tedwala family has decided to give another try at trekking in Kashmir next year. “We are now planning for shorter trekking routes where one can return in one or two days. I think it is better to first go for smaller circuits with one or two lakes and after that go for longer circuits with multiple lakes,” Faisal Tedwala, the Ahmedabad resident, said.
