Gulmarg

“Wake up! Wake up!” called my mother at 3 am! I woke up with a start. I was so startled, I thought that something frightening had happened! I thought that there was a burglar in my room. But then I realised that Pongal holidays had started and I was going to go to Gulmarg for my very first ski vacation!! I jumped out of bed right away with energy fizzing like electricity. I quickly got ready to leave for a short but hectic trip. I wore a funky fuzzy sweater, a pair of cosy thermals and stylish new snow boots that was bought for me by my cool mum.

With a few bags in my hands, I ran to the car and guess what I did, I got in and fell asleep right away! I thought I slept for two hours but my mom told me that we reached the airport in twenty minutes! The airport was lit up with bright Pongal lights. I was awestruck by it’s beauty! After checking in we had to wait for a long time. It was so boring, so I took out my sketch book and decided to write down what I would do in Gulmarg. After sometime, we boarded the huge plane for a three hour flight to Delhi. The three hours flew by, because I watched a few thrilling movies, read an interesting book and drew some cute pictures. We soared over the massive plateaus of India. It looked dull but fascinating sight because I was learning about plateaus in geography!

On landing we went to the transfer desk where we were greeted by a long queue. When it was finally our turn they took us to the crowded security check when we told them that we were going to Srinagar. Delhi airport looked more like a crowded shopping mall. However, when we reached the gate we were told the flight was delayed by an hour because it was-3℃ in Srinagar. One hour delay, I can understand but a two hour delay, seriously? I was beginning to feel low. Luckily, the two hours past in a jiffy.

The gigantic snow covered peaks of the Himalayas filled me with excitement and I so looked forward to skiing. When we got off the plane, I noticed that the snow had been cleared of the runway for landing.

On our way to Gulmarg, the roads were filled with powdery snow and also the pine trees were covered with fresh snow from the heavy snowfall the previous day. It was freezing cold. My fingers went numb and I couldn’t feel it after I washed my hands in the cold water.

At Hotel Highland Park we were greeted by my old but energetic coach. It was a very unique hotel. They were individual houses like rooms instead of the usual multi storey blocks as in other places.

In our room instead of a heater the was a closed fireplace with firewood! It was so scary to see the staffs push in hard cut wood into the heater to burn it and create the warmth. They were still old styled.

There was also a bath tub where I had the warmest bath I have ever had. After we saw our room we went to the lounge and had some hot chocolate, my parents has kehwa - a Kashmiri tea with saffron and almonds and some chicken pakodas! We tried on out ski boots and ski gears and set ready for the class next day. We had to get acclimatised to the weather before we start sking. So we relaxed and took some pictures. Later I slept like a log.

The ski slopes are actually a golf course in Gulmarg. During winter it turns into a beautiful ski park. On the first day of skiing we went to the beginner’s slope, the bunny slope. It was a very thrilling experience. I learnt how to walk with the heavy ski boots, how to wear the ski, to have good balance and learnt to stop mid way and have control. Walking with heavy ski books is really tiring and hard! They made us walk a few rounds in the snow because we need to get used to the heaviness in our feet. It was really difficult at first but soon it was super easy and fun. It was tiring because we had to walk up the slope wearing heavy ski boots every time we happily skied down. It was like paying an arm and a leg to ski down.

There was some snowfall at the end of day as I was walking back to my room after dinner. I was wearing a colour changing jacket with white horse patterns, some of them turned blue and grey because of the snow. It looked beautiful. I took pictures of dog foot prints that were close to my snow boots prints. Anyone who saw that picture would think that I love dogs! But it is the complete opposite! I am so scared of dogs that I would run a mile.

On the second day. we went to the bunny slope. It was steeper than the previous slope and I learnt to go zig zag and do long turns. That means I learned to make left and right turn while skiing down. When I went down the slope I felt the adrenalin rush zip through me. This was the best day I had in the trip. This time we did not have to walk up the slope after everytime we skied down! Which was such a relief of course! We could pay and use the hop on lift that comes in a carousel. The lift was a pole where there is a small seat to put our legs over and it will take us up. Though it wasn’t as easy as I thought because we had to ski by only holding the pole! It was a very tiring day.

There is an hour break in-between when the lifts don’t operate, so I had some sandwiches and took rest. There was Maggie, paratha, chai and kehwa shacks there. Before I went back to the hotel I did a few snow angels, played with snow and made a cute snowman named Benjy!

On the last day, I got ready for the flight back home. But we had one more thing that we wanted to do - the gondola ride in Phase 1. Phase 1 is where many of the pro skiers like to ski. We went to the gondola station and got on the gondola.

We witnessed the beauty of the peaks in Gulmarg and took some photos. There were many restaurants and rides to entertain the tourists there. We went around Phase 1 and then took a Gondola back to the station and left to the airport. I said goodbye to Gulmarg.

This is one of my favourite holidays ever! I hope I can come here again.

Facts:

• Srinagar Airport is a defence airport so we are not allowed to take pictures. The city was filled with soldiers.
• The houses and buildings in Gulmarg and Srinagar were single storey and with slanted roofs which helps the snow slide off.
• The ski slopes in Gulmarg is actually a golf course in Gulmarg. During winter it turns into a beautiful ski park.
• The gondola ride to Phase 1 is the second longest and highest gondola in the world. It is the longest and highest ski resort in Asia.