Article 370 makes you a permanent, infidel outsider! You can go back to India, Sir! Khuda Hafiz. Would you like to buy a beautiful house here, like one of these in these pictures, and settle down after retirement? Please get lost, Sir. As of now, you will probably need to take permission from the local headquarters of army / police for this, given the security scenario. You can either choose to follow the road or discard it for a puffing-panting climb up the hills. Thanamandi to DKG (10 Km) is also a fabulous route for trekkers. The pristine white bloom of wild roses all over the rain-soaked mountains.īut white is not the only colour when it comes to the flowers here. A complex of holiday huts is under construction and will surely be a big attraction, especially for those enthusiasts who want to look beyond valley. But as the situation in J&K improves, the govt is leaving no stone unturned to tap the tourist potential of the place. Right now, there in no accommodation for tourists at DKG and you have to fall back to Rajouri for night stay. You can always come again when it is not raining! Of course, the panoramic background view of snow-clad Pir Panjal range disappears behind the clouds but then that is a trade-off. The sight of shape-changing rain-clouds, punctuated by an angry bolt of lightening, rising up from Bafliaz valley, crossing DKG within touching distance of your outstretched arm and descending into Thanamandi valley is something which is hard to describe and harder to photograph. Though it means a drop in temperature, rains make DKG look more beautiful than always. So tiny it is over nearly as soon as it begins! As is typical of mountains, the bed of Thanamandi River takes up more area than the entire place put together!Īs you exit Thanamandi, the road immediately begins to climb upwards, offering one enchanting visual of mountain magic after another. Thanamandi is a tiny, Muslims-only town in the cusp of plains and mountains. After the crooked 150 Km-long Jammu-Rajouri highway that makes heads spin, this nearly straight road (25 Km) comes as a pleasant surprise. From Rajouri, one has to take the road to Thanamandi. I am familiar with the place because of my previous association, of lots of fond and some not-so-fond memories. DKG is nothing but a pass located on Thanamandi-Bafliaz road, with huge valleys on either side. Until then, it is only the occasional lost traveler who will reach Dera Ki Gali (DKG), a location of exquisite beauty. Of course, the state of things will change majorly after the Mughal road becomes fully operational, offering an alternative, more comfortable road approach (Jammu-Rajouri-Bafliaz-Srinagar) to the Valley. Since the Valley by itself offers enough delights and distractions for a week-long holiday of a summer-weary family, Rajouri always loses out as a result. Poonch and Rajouri fall on a completely different road axis than Srinagar. The reason for it is the geographical isolation. Though thousands of tourists come to the state of Jammu and Kashmir every year, Rajouri never figures on their itinerary.
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