GUWonder

There's actually a wiki in wikitravel about Srinagar. While there are some items which I would modify (i.e., including some safety-related suggestions that I'll post up here in the next couple of hours hopefully), it catches the drift.

Yaatri

Yes, Chashmashahi too. When we went to Pahalgam, we spent a few days and walked upto Chandanwari, a stop on the way to Amarnath cave, which I hear is doable with armed escort. Is that correct?

Yaatri

Let's see. I think it's Bush's fault.

There are places I visited, such as Anantnag that have seen some unpleasant circumstances.

GUWonder

The hike is is doable, although it's something I'd still advise tourists to stay away from even with armed escort. On that note, I should mention that I heard trips to Amarnath will be happening this summer again (with plenty of armed escorts) around the end of the June. It's supposed to bring in about 300k-350k yaatris starting June 30th and ending at or around the end of August.

For those wishing to go to Amarnath, I've heard there is an option to take a helicopter from Baltal or Srinagar to get there instead of taking the more traditional (on land) route from Pahalgham to Amarnath.

I've heard that the weather can be all over the place up there even in summer.

GUWonder

About your first paragraph, I must say that the improvement in the Kashmir situation is something for which our government -- not necessarily the Administration's "luminaries" -- deserves at least some marginal credit.

I'm familiar with Anantnag (sometimes referred to as Islamabad locally) and it and places like Sopore/Baramullah are places that I would still not recommend unconnected foreigners visit for non-essential travel. (Those areas still have their issues which can't be managed as readily.)

indiahoosier

Agree with GU on staying away from those places--especially going to the cave, even with an armed escort. Srinagar should be fine. Be prepared to fill out the immigration forms and a lot of security coming into the SXR airport.

Jamoldo

All of this sounds great, but my question is, what would expenses be like? I'd love to see Kashmir since it's been off limits for a while. FYI I'm a US citizen with Indian heritage (ie. my parents are Indian).

GUWonder

There is really only one decent place to stay in Srinagar anymore and that is the InterContinental Grand Palace (formerly the Oberoi). It costs about $110-$140/night. Houseboats are less, like $40-$90/night, with the cheaper ones more likely to be found on the Dal Lake and the better ones to be found on the Nagin.

Car rental with a driver for the day is the same in Kashmir as in the rest of India, with the car hires from the SXR airport being more expensive than is common in say DEL or BOM. I don't know what the explanation is for that.

Costs vary for the shikara ride -- the Kashmiri version of a gondola, not the houseboats (which are basically stationary in the lake) -- but there are fixed prices posted too at the larger loading/unloading points. Less than 500 INR for an hour shikara ride IIRC.

Food is cheap, but restaurant choices are very limited.

Kashmir is definitely not the cheapest place in India and values are hard to come by, but it's still not expensive. That said, for safety reasons, it makes sense not to "slum it".

[Need to get an ok to post something still.]

GUWonder

Security leaving SXR airport is worse than the security coming into SXR -- it takes quite some time to even get into the terminal at SXR. (Leaving DEL for SXR, security is about the same as it is for most other domestic flights, save perhaps an additional x-ray/frisking and/or passenger bag identification/matching.) Also, on flights to/from SXR, it's easy to identify the air marshals.

Yaatri

How is the tourism in Kashmir?
Are things like they were back in the sixties?
Has anyone travelled on the train between Anantnag and Srinagar/Baramulla?

Mr. Bean

I am not too familiar with it, but I know there are some restrictions on buses/trains close to the border. I think they are only available to nationals of India/Pakistan, or maybe only local residents. Not sure on the details.

Keyser

my aunt & uncle have a house in kashmir & every summer they invite the whole family to come there for a couple of weeks....

while i haven't been there in almost 15 years, some members of my family go there regularly....they are full of praise for the place & say they see lots of tourists....

privygel

Tourism is coming back to normal levels in Kashmir (I wasn't even born till the 80s, so can't comment on the levels of the 60's! The peak season is picking up now.. as the valley is in full bloom, and numerous people are visiting Kashmir, and staying in the houseboats etc..

Good time to go there. However, I wouldn't suggest you take the train between Anantnag-Srinagar..

Yaatri

This means that tourism hasn't returned to normal levels.
The question about the train was a stand alone question.

GUWonder

No.

Consider it high-risk, and even higher risk with a security detail. For a trip between Anatnag and Srinagar, it's safer to go by road in an unescorted Maruti than go with a security detail. The problem is that the road trip is actually slower than the rail is supposed to be because of the ridiculous amount of traffic for a single-lane road for much of the way.