Spring trip to Kashmir to witness tulips, cherry blossoms and snow

Kashmir — my dream destination. After three abortive attempts in four years, I finally managed to take my family to the paradise on earth on an 8-day and 7-night itinerary, we bought our flight tickets just in time for my son Dibya’s school break in the last week of March and first week of April

All photographs courtesy Debreena Bhowmik and Arnab Majumder

A breathtaking view of the Pir Panjal mountains greeted our eyes even as our flight prepared to descend at Srinagar airport

Dad Arnab and son Dibya on the banks of Dal Lake, Srinagar, on our first day in Kashmir

(Top) Rows of tulips in vivid colours at Tulip Garden, Srinagar. Since childhood, visiting this garden had been my dream. Standing in the midst of these exotic tulips, I was reminded of the immortal ‘Yeh kahaan aa gaye hum’ from ‘Silsila’ and (above) a beautiful pair of tulips

(Top) Mesmerising Dal Lake from our shikara and (above) the three of us enjoying a shikara ride

Savouring beautiful mustard fields on both sides of the highway en route from Srinagar to Pahalgam was truly an experience in itself

We stopped on the way to Pahalgam and excitedly made our way to random cherry orchards in bloom

After a long ride on a horseback through the muddy and rocky mountainous terrain, we finally reached Baisaran valley, also known as ‘Mini Switzerland’. The view was really worth the journey

(Top) Lidder river in front of our hotel at Pahalgam and (above) time for a quick duofie

(Top) Stood at point and captured this picture while sightseeing at Pahalgam and (above) Kashmir Valley captured from Pahalgam viewpoint

After a series of aerial sports, we finally travelled down on horseback and stopped here to take a picture. Behind us is the peak of Amarnath

Posing for a groupfie sporting woollens at Chandanwari in Pahalgam

The Avantipura ruins comprise a temple built by King Avanti Varman before he ascended the throne of Kashmir. The temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu is small but ornate. The temple was destroyed by an earthquake and reclaimed after removal of debris. This temple lay neglected for more than a thousand years and the entire structure was buried except the upper portion of the walls of the main entrance. The temple faced iconoclastic destruction during the reign of Sikandar Butshikan in the 14th century

Ice cream mountains of Gulmarg Phase 1. We could not go to phase 2 because of a severe blizzard

Beautiful lush green Doodhpatri Valley. It was foggy and cold there. One needs to avail a pony to explore the area properly

(Top) Lush mustard fields on our way to Sonmarg and (above) a snap taken at Baltal in Sonmarg. The river Sindh originates from the Thajiwas glacier and flows from this part