Starting from from Mango hotel at 5 am, travel from Jammu to Srinagar commenced. The roads till Chenani tunnel are pretty good. But after the tunnel, since the road work was in progress, it is in average standard. Till the jawahar tunnel expect heavy truck traffic.with leh/ladakh being open, there were huge number of trucks coming down and we got stuck in a huge traffic jam for about 5 hrs! It was a bustle of horses and goats on road and road widening at few places.. After Jawahar tunnel, we enter the valley where the views are amazing with snow capped mountains and beautiful four lane highway; but Kashmir valley being the conflict area between locals and military, there was army patrolling in almost every section of this highway.
Important: If you are driving a rental car, pay Jammu road tax near udhampur. It's located at the toll plaza, but no visible signboards!! Also while coming back, ensure to show the receipt and close the tax.
What a messy day.. reached Srinagar around 6.30 instead of planned 1.30-2.00PM. Checked into houseboat and just relax. No energy for any activities.
Had breakfast at a roadside dhaba, didn't stop for lunch and dinner at houseboat.
Total distance of about 290km in 12hrs! The roads were very good till
The roads were pretty bad till about 10km before jawahar tunnel
Then till Srinagar was a breeze...Superb 4 lane bypass road.
Note - google map is not up to date.. it takes the old route.
Dal Lake, Shikaras and House boats
Gardens in Srinagar
We were just in time for tulips, the garden was closing in a day, most of the flowers were withering away... but still a few shots...
Shalimar (Mughal Garden) is the best example of the structure and style of kashmir gardens. An old man walked across to us, introduced himself as the maalee (Gardner) of Shalimar and showed us an old Rs 10 note with the picture of garden in it. And then the usual request for tip :-)
Important: If you are driving a rental car, pay Jammu road tax near udhampur. It's located at the toll plaza, but no visible signboards!! Also while coming back, ensure to show the receipt and close the tax.
What a messy day.. reached Srinagar around 6.30 instead of planned 1.30-2.00PM. Checked into houseboat and just relax. No energy for any activities.
Had breakfast at a roadside dhaba, didn't stop for lunch and dinner at houseboat.
Total distance of about 290km in 12hrs! The roads were very good till
The roads were pretty bad till about 10km before jawahar tunnel
Then till Srinagar was a breeze...Superb 4 lane bypass road.
Note - google map is not up to date.. it takes the old route.
Dal Lake, Shikaras and House boats
Gardens in Srinagar
We were just in time for tulips, the garden was closing in a day, most of the flowers were withering away... but still a few shots...
Shalimar (Mughal Garden) is the best example of the structure and style of kashmir gardens. An old man walked across to us, introduced himself as the maalee (Gardner) of Shalimar and showed us an old Rs 10 note with the picture of garden in it. And then the usual request for tip :-)
Comments