Srinagar to Sonamarg – A day trip

Day 1 of our 5 days in Srinagar was a trip to the Meadow of Gold ( Sonmarg) situated at an altitude of 8900ft.

Sonamarg is about a 2hr drive from Srinagar across a scenic route of majestic mountains. We started off at 9:30am, taking our first stop at a dhaba about an hour away to enjoy a warm cup of tea along the Sind river. Most of the drivers and guides have designated dhabas and lunch spots that they stop at and this was our drivers.

Along Sind River

After our tea we set off towards our next stop for a quick picture as we climbed the mountains in the district of Gandebal. There are a number of view points so recommend stopping for just one or two; its a long way to Sonamarg with things to do there.

At Genderbal

At Sonamarg, trek to Thajwas Glacier – When you reach Sonamarg, the first thing that strikes you are the lush green meadows. You can see it right at the parking spot. We reached around 12/12:30ish and immediately got onto haggling with the horse guides. The main highlight here is the short trek to the Thajwas glacier. During winter it is covered in snow and maybe open for some winter activities. The journey to Thajwas glacier is about 3-4km long on a pathway which is both muddy and has a road. You can either hire a horse or cover it on foot (if you are experienced with trekking at high altitudes). Everyone recommends a horse, however my husband covered the return journey on foot and he felt it was better.

Hiring the horse – that is a process in itself. All the horse guides have a union of sorts and the starting price was 2000 Rs per horse, which is very steep. After a LOT of haggling they finally agreed for 2500 Rs for both of us ( I still think we over-paid). Its a tiresome and time consuming process so be prepped for it.

Ride to Thajwas glacier – We started off on our horses to be greeted by lush green meadows and high mountains lines with deodar trees. Its a beautiful view indeed!

Pro Tip: carry a tripod to mount your phone on- makes it easier to take photos and videos while riding the horse.

After a short while, we took a stop at the Sind river. This is the spot where some scenes of the film Bajrangi Bhaijaan was shot (as per our horse guide). We spent some time playing with the water and clicking a zillion pics.

Then proceeded to the walk upto the glacier. Its basically a flat area with a bridge across dotted with tents serving up hot maggi and tea. It can get crowded depending on the number of tourists. You can continue the climb further up, but mind you it is quite steep. The guides do tell you that they can take you up to see snow, but we weren’t too keen. The weather was changing and it was threatening to rain, and we decided to head back to base. The entire ride from the parking lot and back took us close to 2-2.5hrs (we lost time in haggling with the guides).

There are a number of restaurants at the car park area and we went into one of them for a very late lunch. Post lunch, around 4pm we started back to Srinagar. As soon as the car pulls out and drives you will notice on the mountain bases numbers and directions marked in Blue. These are markings for the Army to train in high altitude and mountain warfare. With that we got back to our houseboat at sunset to unwind for the rest of the evening.

Our next day was something I was looking forward to .. gorgeous Gulmarg!

Tips – Do ensure you haggle hard with the guides. Don’t take the horse if you have trouble with your back or any other fears. The path is a bit gradient and steep in some places, but otherwise flat land. If you have some level of fitness and experience trekking in high altitude, you can walk it.

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