tour

  We were travelling to   Pahalgam , the valley of shepherds, on road from Srinagar. At the outskirts of the hamlet, a big green board welcomed us. ‘Pahalgam’ literally means ‘ The First Village ’. It was perhaps named, as per a common mythical belief that during Lord Shiva’s way to Amarnath Cave, this small village served as His first resting point. He had performed a rigorous meditation for many days before heading onto His heavenly abode.   History of Pahalgam depicts an interesting trend with the change in kingdoms. Until 1346 AD, Pahalgam used to be a rich Hindu kingdom; later it was captured by the Muslims led by Shams-ud-Din. Centuries later during 1586, when Kashmir was conquered by Akbar, Pahalgam was seized under the Mughal Empire. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, it was further attacked by the Afghans and was temporarily annexed to Afghanistan until Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh captured it from Ahmed Shah Durrani. In 1846, the British took it back from the Sikhs and sold to

Best Places to Visit in Ooty in 2 days Welcome to this blog best places to visit in Ooty in 2 days . I was delighted the moment I embarked on my expedition to Ooty. It started with a journey on the illustrious Nilgiri Mountain Railway, which is commonly known as the Ooty Toy train. Toy train to Ooty The Toy train runs from Mettupalayam to Ooty via Coonoor and covers 46 km in 5 hours. Initially, the Toy Train was pulled by a steam engine but now a diesel engine is used for the purpose. The train is operated by the Southern Railway and is the only operational Rack Railway in the country. It has a braking system inbuilt in the rail tracks which makes it unique. This braking system protects train from reverse movement on steep climb or a free fall on slopes. The train passes through the picturesque Nilgiri Mountains and lush green forest. I was getting something new to see every 100 meters of travel. The entire area was full of green trees with the casual appearance of tea plantations or