Parimahal & Royal Botanical Garden: Odyssey to Paradise on Earth (Part 4)

Four minds - all dejected souls. The most anticipated event of the Kashmir trip failed miserably. As reported in Part 3. (Click here to read part 3).

 

We are again back at the signature gardens of Srinagar. We had visited two yesterday (Click here to watch those).

Will it be boring to visit more today? The entry to PariMahal has nothing to write about.

A big wall. Protuding rocks. Lots of vehicles. All drenched in dirt. Blowing horns for no reason. Our taxi also disappeared in the wave of vehicles by the time we got inside.

The last leg of the road journey to this garden was a steep climb. So this must have some altitude.

The climate was just perfect. 20 degree Celcius. No sweat.

A whole new world is opening before us. We are on the first level of the multilevel garden.
Even the first level has got some height. some real height.

 

The panoramic view on offer is scintillating. It covers almost everything which Srinagar has to offer. This garden has many more levels.

We need to climb up and explore the beauty around.

On each level, towards the edge we can sit and enjoy the beauty around. If flowers were the highlight of Nishat bag, the view which one gets is the highlight of this one.

The most captivating was a big golf course.

This golf course has a sprawling campus. The entire course is not visible from this level. let us get to the next level explore it more.

As expected we could get a full view from here. Watch this

At the edge of this level, there was a unique resting place. Touching the sky. Enjoying the cool breeze. Breathing fresh air.

Beautiful flowers around. Offering breathtaking views of natures creation. We simply sat here for almost an hour.

Watch the shot more closely. See what all it covers. The dal lake. In its entirety. The char chinar. The entire golf course.

Time to climb up more. The steps are built of rocks. They are towards one side of the fort's wall. The height and the visibility on offer has made this a strategically important location.

See what is housed here

We are now in the top most level. More interesting things are in our field of view now.

A bunglaw with a helipad

A beautiful mansion with a unique design

Another big building

If the gardens we visited yesterday had the himalayas in the backdrop, here we are brushing shoulders with them.

There are no density of flowers here. But the once present were full of life. Radiating energy.

Small birds like this were hovering around.

A group of school students were on excursion. They looked like white flowers dancing around. Kids has the special ability to spread energy.
Just watch them play. The way they innovate. Creating new games. Running. Jumping. Bullying. Kids are same all over the world.

More than two hours whisked by. Felt like, the whole day we were here. All our despair in the morning melted down. These kind of locations will do wonders.

Our driver, by now got a hang of how we visit places. He was not amused this time when we came out.

Escaped from the blockade near the Parimahal entrance. Narrow roads coupled with vehicles parked haphazourdly caused the block. We are now gliding down the incline. Our minds now clear. We have time to visit one more garden. Chasmshahi gardens and Botanical garden is on the way.

The tourism brochure on Srinagar, stated the presence of an inhouse lake in botanical garden. So botanical garden it is. Time is already 30 minutes past five. But sun sets at 7 pm only. Till 7 30 we have good light.

This garden has a big parking lot. Enter the garden and the first thing we notice is the lake.

 

The signature fountains are present here too. Dal lake also features a few. The fountains here are more beautiful though.

Boating facility available. Got in the queue. Ticket will be given only when boat is available. Has to wait near the lake. Beautiful boats were around. Our eyes were on this beautiful one.

Thirty minutes passed. But no boats were returned. Dropped our plan. But enjoyed the wait near the lake.
This garden is on the foot of himalayas. The path ways are beautiful.

There are lot of wide open spaces. Green clad. Spotted by a cluster of flowers in between.

Kashmiri dress available here also. Lots of photo shots were progressing. The most impressive thing which happened yesterday was this photo.

It was a wonderful memorabilia

Being a botanical garden the diversity of plants and trees is awesome. This tree takes the cake.

We did not walk around much. Lots of place to sit and relax. Photo shoots ensued. Simply sat watching our kids running around.

Looking around we are sure we are in paradise. Simply forget everything else. The four yellow clad homosapiens are having the time of their life.

Tomorrow we are going to check out from hotel pamposh. Beautiful valleys are beckoning us at Pahalgam. Our stay in the house boat will start from tomorrow evening. Gulmarg failure seemed like a bad dream. But the two gardens rejuvenated us. There is always a next time. We are here to enjoy.

Not to worry about small worries.

 

We we once again pass through the beautiful Dal lake in fading light.

More interesting places, more experiences await us. I will be back with more of our sojorn through paradise of the world !!! . Click here to read Part 5


Odyssey to Paradise on Earth - The full story
Part 1 - Delhi
Part 2 - Kashmir Initial impression and Gardens
Part 3 - Gulmarg - A failed attempt
Part 4 - Parimahal & Royal Botanical Gardens
Part 5 - Pahalgam - "The valley" of valleys
Part 6 - The House boat experience
Part 7 - Gulmarg - Experiencing Asia's Highest Cable Car ride