Blog Challenge, KashmirTravelDiaries, Photorama, Travel

#KashmirTravelDiaries: Chasing a snow dream

Every year, the onset of winters brings me to dreaming of seeing snowfall- a childhood wish.

This year the hilly regions of Himachal and Kashmir have been seeing more than abundant snowfall as evident from tantalising pictures on FB.

To make matters worse, my inner devil decided to chant ” I want to see snowfall!!!!!”

A chance phone call with a friend and she mentioned how one of her friends who stayed in Himachal was looking for someone to house sit her home for a month.

The devil whooped and screamed -This is it! She conjured up visions of snowy peaks and picture perfect sunrise n sunsets ; me sitting cosy by a fireplace with my hot brew while powder puffs fell outside, carpeting the valley floor with white. She even drew up my packing checklist.

Fate had other plans. The friend informed that the situation has changed for now.

Splat! My dreams splintered akin a lobbed snowball.

No! No! No! I was helpless in her temper tantrum and knew I can’t give up now.

So I called Yasmin- one of my closest friend who happens to reside in the heavenly valley. She promptly urged me to book tickets and fly down, excited at the prospect of spending some time with me.

Next day it snowed heavily in Kashmir and the witch (that she is) teased me by sending me a sensational video of snowfall which drove the Devil into severe raptures.

I spent sometime perusing AccuWeather site for the perfect weather conditions in Srinagar and booked my tickets for 18th Jan.

But the weather gods had something else in mind ( Him & Her don’t get along) and it started snowing 2 days prior to my flight continuing up till the D-day wherein my flight got cancelled after a 4 hour delay ( I spent 6.5 hours at the airport).

Such was the insanity that even after waiting for hours at the airport, flight cancellation and ultimately heading home, did nothing to crush my spirits. I was prepared to do this for next 2-4 days as weather looked bad ahead. Yes! I was that determined to see snowfall this year!

Finally, I managed to land in Srinagar and was overjoyed to see snow clad fields and mountains, of which I clicked dozens of shots from the plane itself.

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I spent next two days shooting pictures of the snow scapes while everyone regaled me with how much snow had fallen this year. I loved clicking the view of the Dal lake from Yasmin’s house, the fields behind her house and even sneaked into Nishat Garden from the back to drink in the view of towering Chinar trees studded in snow fields.

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Sunday morning, I checked the weather app on my phone (my daily thing on waking up in Srinagar) and it showed snowflakes falling down the screen. I couldn’t believe it and ran outside.

Soft white spots fell from the skies. I stood in the garden, face upturned to feel the cold snowflakes as they landed and melted in the heat of my excitement. Soon the lifeless bare garden turned into a winter wonderland – every bush and branch coated with a snow white dust.

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This is nothing, said one and all as they laughed at my childish joy. Wait for the real thing.

I said my thanks to the almighty to enable me to see snowfall – little or more -had never been the contention.

  • I wish to see snowfall 


I am  writing daily this month as a part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. This is my post for day 24.

 

Read about other posts in #KashmirTravelDiaries 2017

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20 thoughts on “#KashmirTravelDiaries: Chasing a snow dream

  1. How lovely! Happy for you that you get to reach and touch your snow dream:-) Up here, we have lots of snow in the mountains in the winter… Guess Im starting to dream a bit of Spring now…. 🙂

    1. Hi Eli. I have been hearing this from my friends who live in snowy lands…it can get dreary to live with snow but for someone like ne who lives on the plains and loves winters – this is heavenly…

  2. To me, this is strange Every winter, all I have to do is look outside my window. Today, for example, where I live in New York State, in the United States had rain that turned to snow. What a mess. We are at about 149 cm of snow for the season so far. Be careful what you wish for, lol!

    1. Ha ha Alana – I guess the winter lover in me is saying “lucky you”
      But I know constant snow and cold can also get very dreary and snow is not easy to live with if the water pipes freeze or roads get blocked.
      I am supposed to fly back today but weather is looking iffy and I am praying n wishing my flight cancels I want to stay here some more. I really don’t want to go back…. Sigh!!!

  3. This is my dream… This is the dream I have been envisaging since childhood… Oh how beautiful is the snow Kudos to you for not giving up. The scenes are like those in books… So stunning

  4. Wow! Lucky you. I loved all the pictures and the one with wilted leaves on the snow is the best.
    Glad you could travel and are enjoying the season.

  5. Your post reminded me of our time in US..We were there for 5 years and we saw lot and lot of snow. I remember when i saw it for the first time..was excited like you but later got bored of it. Nice pics.

  6. I think I got this lifetime’s share of snow when I lived in the snowy parts of the US for more than 14 years! But I agree watching snow fall on the bare branches of trees and whitening the whole yard from the warm indoors was quite a treat! Glad you could enjoy the Kashmir snowfall. Nice pics.

    1. Thanks Beloo.. I am quite enchanted though not sated yet. Weather gods have been most kind to me yet on this trip.
      But I agree, living with it can be painful.

  7. Woah! Salute to your determination, Shalini! If I were in your place, I would have cancelled the trip on the first day itself. But I can understand your eagerness why you wanted to make it (trip) happen in first place. J&K and snow, Gosh! Nobody on earth can say “NO” to witness such fab sight. Hope you had a great trip. 🙂

    1. Thanks so much Manisha and you should. I will be writing about the quanit homestay I stay in everytime I go there – do check that out too

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