Tarmacked Road to Doodhpathri but Tourists are Forbidden to Use Vehicles and are Forced to Hire Ponies or ATV: Exploitation at its Worst Sonmarg It was a lesson in human ingenuity to mint money at the cost of others’ helplessness. The area was teeming with thousands of tourists. Heavy snowfall had covered the ground with a thick white blanket and the tourists were enjoying playing in the snow. However, lack of basic facilities made the visit a nightmare for most.
There were no toilets at all. A few enterprising hotels had erected a tent in their backyard with a solitary pot, common for men and women. Even the path to the tent was terribly slippery as it had not been cleared of snow. Users had to pay Rs 10 each. As it was freezing cold, the queues were long and the wait unbearable for some.
A Common Extortion Racket: Asking a Hapless Lady Tourist to Pay Rs 2,000 for Using Toilet I have personally witnessed an owner of a third-rate hotel (photo above) declining to let a lady use the toilet unless she hired a room for one hour for Rs 2,000. The hapless lady had tears in her eyes. She paid. It is an open loot of the tourists in connivance with the officials. It defies logic as to why the local authorities cannot build adequate toilet facilities.
3 Pahalgam It is around 90 kms from Srinagar. Srinagar taxies are not allowed to take tourists to Aru Valley, Betaab Valley and Chandanwari. They have to hire a local taxi-union cab for Rs 2,700. Thus, the tourists end up paying for two taxies – one, that they had brought from Srinagar (lying idle in Pahalgam) and the second one from the local union. Although the whole circuit is scheduled to take about 4-5 hrs, the local union drivers keep hurrying up the tourists to save time for the second trip. Worse, they never take the tourists to Chandanwari, stopping 6 km short and turning back. It is outright cheating. They charge for Chandanwari but go just one Km beyond Betaab Valley. There are no officials or policemen to help. The local drivers unite to act as bullies.
Betaab Valley: A Picturesque Tourist Spot where Boulders Provide Privacy for Toilet – Shame on the Government All through the above trip we did not come across a single toilet or a garbage bin or parking areas. It is chaos all around. Gulmarg It is around 60 kms from Srinagar. It is a beautiful place, famous for its gondola and the ski slopes. On reaching the place, one is attacked by hordes of guides, ponywalas and other vendors. Once again, to visit Bhutaphatri and the Maharaja Palace, one has to hire a local union taxi for Rs 3,500 as Srinagar taxies are not allowed to go there. Gondola tickets are sold on line. Mysteriously, they get sold out within minutes of the opening of sale.
According to the local guides, there is a thriving black market in gondola tickets. A ride in gondola is an experience of a lifetime. One is mesmerised by the sheer expanse of the glaciers. Incidentally, gondola hosted over a million riders in FY 2023-24. We saw long queues for gondola, entailing wait for up to three hours. There were no shelters or benches for the tourists. Even the snow had not been cleared. Tourists had to hold hands to prevent slipping and falls. One is amazed at the callousness of the organisers. They are minting millions but make no effort to ensure safety and comfort of the tourists
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