The Road to GUREZ

Taken for a ride

We has signed up for a stay in a palace in Gurez. But when we arrived there after a gruelling 7 hour drive from Srinagar, we knew we had been taken for a ride!!! The palace in question belonged to a Kaka. It was called Kaka’s Palace. We naturally assumed that the owner’s name was Kaka. But it was not the case. His name was Younis Khan.

Younis had promised us the moon when we had booked his place (or palace). He said that there was power backup and Wifi. But this was contrary to what everybody else in Kashmir told us about Gurez. In fact when the idea of visiting the Gurez Valley first dawned on me, I had checked with my travel agent whether a solo female traveller could go there, And my agent did not sound very enthusiastic.

“Why do you want to go there? It is 120 km from Srinagar. But it will you 7 hours to get there. Also there is no electricity and internet services there”

No electricity )read hot water) and wifi!!! That would have unnerved any chicken hearted traveller. Not moi.. And the reason was this wonderful blog, www.vargiskhan.com. that I had come across recently. Vargis had visited the Gurez Valley a few times and had posted some incredible photos of his motorcycle journeys. This blog provided the essential fodder for my decision to travel there. If you wish to see what Paradise on Earth can look like, go to Gurez! Don’t believe me? Look at the picture above.. When I showed the blog to my friend JJ, she immediately agreed to join me for this trip.

So we hired a 4WD with an excellent driver Mir Iqbal and started early in the morning from Srinagar. The first half of the journey was very pleasant and offered stunning views

The Gurex Valley is tucked up in the northernmost corner of Kashmir. It is a very remote region in the Himalayas and remains cut-off from the rest of Kashmir for six months in the year due to heavy snowfall.. But let this not daunt you. Here are some fun facts. The Gurez Valley was part of the ancient silk route from China to Europe. Alexander the Great actually entered India through this region. And when his tired soldiers refused to move further south, he was forced to turn back. But several of his followers chose to settle here. They are descendants of Dardistan and are known as Dards., Eventually these folks adopted Islam but they continued to retain their own language called Shina.

After crossing Bandipora, we started ascending the mountains. Every 30 minutes, we had to stop at a checkpost to show our papers to the Indian army and the local police. The officers were very intrigued why two women would want to travel all the way to these parts. We were told that we could not take any photos near the passes as there were many bunkers in the surrounding mountains with snipers from Indian and Pakistani sides.

And then we started climbing higher and higher and soon crossed the Razdan Pass which was at an altitude of 3557 meters above sea level. Till here, the roads were fine. After that, a dirt road appeared. At times there was an apology of a road

And JJ managed to take a nice nap through all of this. Eventually after what seems like ages, we arrived at the site below. It was a feast for the eyes. It made us forget all our troubles. We were at the dam site of the lovely river Kishen Ganga which flows through the entire Gurex Valley

And after a few minutes, we arrived at our destination, Kaka’s Palace in Dawar.. But a palace it was not. It was more of a B&B. And not a very good one at that. For starters, the geyser did not work in our room. Mr Younis feigned surprise and came to inspect it himself. Then he declared that it was not working and he would call a technician to fix it. When nothing happened after an hour, we requested for hot water in a bucket. And the geyser was out of action for the entire length of our stay.!!!.

When we wanted to know about the wifi password, Younis said that he would give us a phone which would act as a personal hotspot. Soon a very shy boy came and handed us a phone. We used it as a hotspot and made data calls to our friends and family back home. Then the hotspot phone started ringing and when I answered, an angry voice asked me what I was doing with her boyfriend’s phone. I replied that I didn’t know what she was talking about as this phone belonged to the hotel owner. She angrily told me that the phone belonged to her boyfriend ( the shy boy) and could I let him know that she has called. I realised something was wrong. When we checked with the kitchen boy about the phone, he told us softly that it was his personal phone and the owner had asked him to lend it to us without reimbursing him for the data charge. What a crook this Kaka was turning out to be!!!

After a late (and not very remarkable ) lunch, we decided to explore the town of Dawar. We came across a new army cafe that had been launched the previous day and which was open to the public. Two rounds of coffee were ordered and everything was fine in JJ and my world. We checked the menu and decided that we would come back for breakfast the next day,

When we returned to our palace, Mr Younis was waiting for us. When we told him about the army cafe, he went ballistic. He wouldn’t believe that the place had good food. He was absolutely green with jealousy. But it was not very difficult to understand his reasons. He had built the inn and assumed that as it was one of the very few full service hotels in Gurez, he would have a captive audience among his hotel guests. And this new army cafe was going to be a spoiler. And to spoil his mood further, we told him that we would go to the cafe for breakfast the next day.

The next morning, we set off for the Habba Khatoon springs and then drove to the beautiful Tulail Valley. The drive was really scenic and the place was like a picture postcard. We chatted with the locals (the Dards) and had some instant noodles for lunch.. After that, we drove back through the precarious roads and came back to our Palace,

And soon it was time to leave beautiful Gurez.. Did we enjoy the ride. For most parts yes. But were we taken for a ride by Mr Younis Khan. We sure were. So if you decide to follow our footsteps, please stay somewhere other than Kaka’s Palace, And do remember to thank me for it.