Ancient structures perched high on mountainsides, quiet riverside cottages, meadows and billowing chestnut trees&hellip here's how to hop off the tourist trail in Kashmir.
ACHABAL
Achabal itself is a small town, just a short drive from the clamour of Anantnag. It&rsquos justifiably famous for its garden, one of the most beautiful examples of a Kashmiri Mughal garden, playing out the symphony of water, wood and stone. Another treat in store at Achabal is an excursion to Chattabal, reached by a drive through the gorgeous Kashmiri countryside, where you can sit beside a pristine river flowing through a secluded valley. It is also the best base for a leisurely visit to Martand, home to Kashmir&rsquos most famous ancient temple. Not many tourists reach Achabal and there is not much to distract you from your reverie.
KOKERNAG
Kokernag is named for a gushing spring which emerges from below a densely wooded hill. Strictly speaking, it&rsquos a set of seven springs and hence the name &lsquokoker&rsquo means fowl and &lsquonag&rsquo spring the many adjacent springs remind you of the claws of a fowl. The spring has been famous over centuries for its beauty and for the curative properties of it water. Famous enough to find mention in the Ain-i-Akbari. However, for some mystifying reason which will doubtless leave historians permanently puzzled, the Mughals eschewed their regular practice and did not make a garden here. Only in the 1970s was this anomaly rectified and a botanical garden built at Kokernag as an ode to the divine waters. Not being a &lsquoMughal Garden&rsquo means you don&rsquot find any jugalbandi of stone and water here, and no baradaris either just the water in its green, very green surroundings. The garden is a popular picnic spot for locals, and a lovely holiday spot for visitors. The 15-acre botanical garden runs along a hill, pines rushing down the hillside, huge and magnificent chinars rising high, and billowing chestnut trees spread below. The water flows amidst a Kashmiri carpet of grass over pebbles through a channel, under a network of wooden bridges. The garden has roses and manicured shrubs, but it&rsquos the trees that grab the attention&mdashand don&rsquot let go.
Location The small town of Kokernag is at 6,640 ft in the lower Brengi Valley, in Anantnag District in south-east Kashmir
MANASBAL
A lovely lake close to Srinagar, Manasbal has always played second fiddle to its more famous brethren. The origins of its name can be traced back to it being a pilgrimage destination for those who couldn&rsquot make the arduous trip to Manasarovar Lake in Tibet. The Mughals did build a royal garden here, but it&rsquos eclipsed by the gardens they built in Srinagar and Achabal. Even today, Manasbal lives in the shadow of Kashmir&rsquos more famous lakes, Dal and Wular, a short drive away. For Manasbal, this proximity has resulted in a twilight of sorts. Not many people know of it, and unjustifiably so. For while Manasbal might lack the tourist trappings of Srinagar or the wild allure of Wular, it possesses a charm of its own. It&rsquos a friendly, quiet, nontouristy place that offers a respite from the crowds at the more popular destinations. And it does have its own claims to fame &mdash at 13 metres, it&rsquos perhaps the deepest lake in Kashmir. Manasbal is a major stopover for migratory birds, and best of all, in the months of July and August, the lotus blooms in abundance, covering the periphery of the lake in an almost ethereal glow.
Location Manasbal Lake is in the Jhelum Valley towards Wular Lake, 11 km from Ganderbal in the district immediately north of Srinagar
VERINAG
Verinag is, however, more than just a beautiful valley and, for road travellers, it is the first view of Kashmir. It is home to a spring, revered for ages, that is the source of the principal river of the Vale of Kashmir, River Jhelum. The Mughal Emperor Jehangir had come to Verinag, became enchanted and built a pool, a pavilion and a garden around this spring. His son, Shah Jehan, enlarged the garden and added baradaris and hammams, most of which have perished over time. Verinag Garden sits a little above the town, built on a spur of the mountain under which the Verinag spring is born. A large, deep tank surrounds the spring such that the water on its surface appears completely calm. It is said that the spring emerges at a depth of 54 ft. Around the tank is an arcade, octagonal in shape, with a broad walkway and recesses in its walls. On the walls are two Persian inscriptions on stone slabs. One is by Jehangir (&ldquoPadshah&hellipNoor-ud-din, Jehangir&hellip&rdquo), announcing the year of its construction as 1619-1620, and other one by Shah Jehan saying that the aqueduct was built in 1626-1627.
Location Verinag, chief source of the Jhelum River, is in a small valley at 6,108 ft, surrounded by hills in Anantnag District, with the Pir Panjal Range rising to the south west.
YUSMARG
Yusmarg is certainly a good alternative to Kashmir&rsquos more popular destinations, especially if you&rsquore a hiker who&rsquod rather spend time in the wilderness than in gardens. It&rsquos a small little dwelling, not even a town, marked just by the JKTDC guest house complex set amidst a sprawling meadow, and manages to be ignored by most tourists. Which is just as well for those who want to immerse themselves in the legendary beauty of the Vale of Kashmir, a beauty best experienced in the treks across the Budgam woods to stunning meadows. Some of these are light walks some are more demanding.
Location In Budgam District, facing the Pir Panjal massifs on the north side
TANGMARG
Situated in the forested foothills of the Pir Panjal Range, Tangmarg is a quiet little hill town in the vicinity of Gulmarg. The drive from Srinagar starts out along a broad, double-barrel road. Turning off the main highway from the Narbal crossing, the road to Tangmarg is a delight. A bridge leads across the Hokersar Nallah that is part of the Hokersar Wetland Reserve, a wintering ground for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds each year. As you climb gently up into the foothills, vistas open up revealing thickly forested hills fringing a green valley dotted with tin-roofed houses and rice fields (rice is a staple in Kashmir and everything grown here is consumed locally).
Location Tangmarg is a fruit bowl town an hour&rsquos drive west of Srinagar in Baramulla District, just 13 km short of Gulmarg on the Narbal-Tangmarg Road
