We reached Srinagar next. This was a short visit before going to Baltal from where we trek to the Amarnath cave, we were going to come back to Srinagar after the Amarnath trek.

The previous day we had learnt that there was a major attack in Srinagar (near Lal Chowk), we were watching TV in Katra, live coverage of the spot and the happenings over there. We also learnt from local people that what we get to see in Bangalore and other cites are only tailored versions of those coverages.

On the way to Srinagar, we crossed a lot of hills, the views were beautiful, greenery everywhere and water streams here and there...

We met quite a few military people on our way, they were on work...sometimes they used to wave at us too :-)

We visited the Sri Shankara temple in Srinagar, its not the Sharada Peetha that Sri Sankaracharya established, that one is in POK.
This temple was constructed by Maharaj Pratap Singh, it has a huge Shiva Linga and it seems Shankaracharya carried out his penance here.

The people in Srinagar were raw (rugged), confident with high self esteem. Another thing that needs to be mentioned is the purity of their language. They say "Parichay ki jiye" if they want to know your identity :-) They address men as "Sriman ji" :-)

A view of the Dal lake