Unionism in Kashmir


On my recent trip to Srinagar and around saw how tourists are treated as golden geese by the locals. The people have started to assume that tourists have the responsibility to feed their families, so whatever they do to tourists is justified.

In gulmarg the pony wala's will jump on your car and driver as soon as you enter gulmarg. Your car is stopped about 1.5 Km before the gondola, and from then you are forced to either walk or hire a pony to gondola. My biggest challenge was that my mother has had a knee replacement operation and cannot sit on the horse. But the locals just don't care. On my way back from gondola, I hired a pony, however these ponies are ill maintained by thier owners, and the pony my dad was on, started to panic, and I had to hurriedly get my dad off the pony for his safety. The local police is completely missing.

The ticketing for gondola is also messy, the guides/pony men, just hog the window. 2 men are in the queue and then 6 just join them. The gondola tickets are decently priced, with Rs. 350 for first stage and another rs 500 for reaching the 2nd phase, However no facilities are provided, like clean toilets. With the rush that was there  I am sure the gondola is making huge money, however there is very little thrust to provide the facilities to the tourists. The people just hog you on gondola to take the sledge/ski's. They charge high, also bargain high. However the relaxed atmosphere for which you go to such a place, is not what you experience. You feel like honey, and all the fly's buzz around you..

Same is also prevalent in Pehalgam, where the local taxi union will not let you take your care beyond pahalgam to either Aru or chandanbari.

I am not really sure, if i would want to go to srinagar again. Feel the hospitality and hotel rates are much better in uttaranchal and H.P.

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