Hemmed in by the Pir Panjal mountains and the western Himalaya ,the Kashmir valley straddles India and Central Asia . In both culture and appearance, this Muslim heart land is closer of Aghanistan of iran than the neighbouring states of Punjab and himachal Pradesh.The countryside inside the valley is flat delineated by fruits and nut orchards and row of pin straight popular trees ,backing onto a wall of snow capped mountains .Kashmiris even look different to their southern and eastern neighbours with there green eyes and grey flowing pheran ( woollen tunics ).There are only two routes into the Kashmir valley the summer only highway from Srinagar to kargil and the southern highway to jammu ,exiting the valley via 2531 m long Jawahar Tunnel .
The attractions of Srinagar are myriad placid Dal Lake with its slumbering houseboats , fabulous Mughal Gardens like Nishat bagh , Shalimar bagh ,Pari mahal, Cheshmashahi , Botanical garden and most historic wooden mosques of the old towns .
The winter capital jammu is a fascinating metropolis jammed temples and museums ,while the summer capital at Srinagar is a mesmerising sprawl of ancient wooden mosques and bobbing houseboats. If srinagar is the City of Gardens, Jammu is the city of temples .The winter capital of Kashmir is awash with Hindu shikharas ( temple towers ) and sikh gurdwaras ( temples ).Founded in 1730 as the capital of the Dogras Rajas , Jammu is the main bus and railhead for Kashmir and an interesting place to break the journey from delhi to Srinagar . |
