Gurez Valley is a Himalayan Valley situated in the Bandipora district of Kashmir and is about 120 kilometers away from the city of Srinagar. Gurez stands at an altitude of 2,400 meters above the sea level. In 1895, a prominent British author Sir Walter Lawrence described Gurez as “one of the most beautiful scenes in all of Kashmir”.
When I started my journey of exploring the unexplored places in Kashmir, I was instantly drawn towards Gurez as my Grandfather was a headmaster and was for a brief period of time posted in Gurez. So my mother always used narrate tales of how beautiful Gurez actually is. She used to tell me how she & my Grandfather had to sometimes walk or travel by horses as in the winters the Razdan top, the mountain pass connecting Gurez to the rest of the world used to cut off due to heavy snowfall. I was intrigued by what lied beyond the Razdan pass so I along with some of my friends decided that a trip to Gurez was something that had to done. As we all know, Kashmir is a conflicted and a troubled place and because Gurez is situated at the Indo-Pak border, this place wasn’t as easily accessible as it is now. We had absolutely no idea what we might encounter on our way.
We left for Gurez early in the morning. After a drive of almost 70 Kilometers we reached the main market of Bandipora from where we started our drive towards Gurez. Razdan Pass is one of the most difficult roads in India because of it’s steepness and height and also because the roads are not well built and maintained. After a drive of 2 hours or so, we reached the top of Razdan pass from where we could see the entire Bandipora district as well as the Wular Lake, one of the largest fresh-water lakes in Asia. It is here where the Shrine of Peer Baba, a saint is located. The religion of Peer Baba remains a mystery but people from all sects of the society used to come to him for his blessings. It is said that Peer baba came from Multan, Pakistan in 1933 and passed away in the year 1940 due to a heavy snow storm at the Razdan Pass. When Dilawar Malik, a local landlord saw Peer Baba in his dream & asked his men to retrieve the body of Peer Baba back to Bandipora for his burial, they were attacked by a large number of bees, so he was eventually buried near the Razdan Pass.
After visiting the Shrine of Peer Baba, we started our descend towards the Gurez Valley and again after 2 hours of so, we were welcomed into the Gurez Valley by the Kishanganga river. Since it is a volatile area, in totality we had to pass through almost 10 checkpoints of the Army to reach Gurez.
A lot of people ask me why does Gurez rank at the top of all of places I’ve been to, and my answer to them is always “the first glimpse of the majestic Habba Khatoon Peak”. As soon as we entered the Gurez Valley, we saw the mighty peak standing tall staring at us and I still remember getting goosebumps when I saw the Habba Khatoon Peak for the first time. The clouds hovering above the Peak as the sunrays bounced off it was a sight I won’t ever forget. I remember this feeling, the feeling when I saw the Habba Khatoon Peak for the first time and I was completely awestruck. The mighty mountain which was standing tall in the middle of mesmerizing landscapes as if asking everyone to take a look at it and hear tales of union of two lovers only to part ways but eventually unite again in a world far far away from here. When I was narrated the tale of why this Peak was called the Habba Khatoon Peak, I knew my heart was forever lost somewhere around that Peak. Named after the “Nightingale of Kashmir”, Habba Khatoon or “Zoon” (meaning moon in English) as she was originally named was a Kashmiri poet. She was a woman of immense beauty & wisdom and belonged to the village of Chandhara. She was born in a poor family where her father was a mere peasant. He was an illiterate and an ignorant man and because of his ignorance he married her daughter “Zoon” to a man named “Habba”, ergo the name Habba Khatoon, translating to as “the wife of Habba”. Habba Khatoon was ill-treated by her in-laws and humiliated by his discourteous husband. Since she had no one to confide to, she found her solace by writing poetry & singing. Once, the then emperor of Kashmir, Yousuf Shah Chak was passing through the Village and when he heard the beautiful voice & saw the immense beauty of Habba Khatoon, he fell in love with her instantly. He nullified the marriage of Zoon with her husband Habba and married her instead. They both fell in love with each other and became an example of how two people who are in love should be but their union wasn’t meant to last forever as the arch nemesis of Yousuf Shah Chak, King Kabir invited him to Delhi & when he got there, he imprisoned Yousuf. Unable to bear the loss & separation from his beloved, Habba Khatoon wandered around this Peak awaiting his return. Day & night, she hoped to see his beloved and eventually she was so consumed by the agony of separation, she attained nirvana. She died twenty years after Yousuf Shah Chak’s imprisonment by drowning in the Jhelum River. The love story of Habba Khatoon & Yousuf Shah Chak remains a heartfelt story of love, union & separation.
So, as we soon as we reached Gurez, We started looking for accommodation. There was a DAK bungalow of tourism there as well as some private hotels but we wanted to experience Gurez as a local of the place, so we approached a man who had two houses of his own and he was too kind to rent two rooms of his home to us. It was around 2 in the afternoon so, we dropped off our bags there and had our lunch at Sikandar Hotel, in Dawar which is the main block of Gurez Valley. After resting for a while, a local boy Sajjad accompanied us to the visit of Shrines of Baba Razaaq & Baba Darvesh. We also visited Achoora, a village located just a few miles away from Dawar. We spent the afternoon near a water stream watching the sunsets and the whole aura of the place was so peaceful.
The next day, we had planned a trek to the upper reaches of Gurez and we asked Sajjad to accompany us. He told us about a place called “Patalwan”, a meadow on top of a hill in Gurez and we left at around 9 in the morning and after hiking through the dense forests for 3 hours or so, we reached the Patalwan meadow. The view from the meadow was simply mesmerizing. The place was filled with all sorts of trees and shrubs. We were surrounded by the snow clad mountains from everywhere & yet we could see the Habba Khatoon Peak at a distance.
It had started raining so we took refuge in some abandoned small gujjar-dokas where we had our lunch. There was also a small water stream which was flowing beside the dokas. After spending some more time exploring the nearby areas of the Patalwan meadow, we started our descend towards Dawar. We reached back at around 5 in the afternoon and were too tired to explore more. We made tea and after sometime had our lunch. We had planned to explore the rest of the Gurez Valley the next day, so we slept early.
The next day as we woke to the melodious chirping of the birds, we had our breakfast and started our drive. The weather was ideal for a road trip, so we headed off towards exploring the rest of Gurez. On our way, we saw a number of villages. Badugam, Gulshan Pora, Malangam, Tulail, Purana Tulail, Shah Pora to name a few. As we drove past number of places, there was something unique, something aesthetic about each and every place. I fell short of words to describe how every home, every face had a story to tell and had so many experiences to share. We stopped at Tulail on our way back to Dawar.
In this modern day life of ours, it is rare to really be at peace and I believe that one hour that we spend in the fields of Tulail is one of the rare times that I was truly at peace. I laid in the grassy field which was caressed by Mountains and the Kishanganga river was flowing at a distance. The wind was gently blowing past us and in that moment, I forgot everything and just soaked in the feeling of absolute tranquility.
After an hour or so, we started our drive back towards Dawar. We had planned a barbecue for the night, so we reached our rooms, collected all the essentials for Barbecue and went to a place called “Purana Dawar”. This place used to be the old city of Dawar but was later shifted because the water of Kishanganga had to channelized via here to reach the dam of Kishanganga Power Project. We sat on the banks of river and watched the sunset beaming down the Habba Khatoon Peak which just made this marvelous peak look more glorious. After having the barbecue and watching the beautiful starry night sky, we called it a night.
Since it was our last day in Gurez, we took a stroll in the markets of Dawar and closely examined the simple yet peaceful life of the people of Gurez. We packed our bags and bid adieu to the place which I knew would be forever etched in my heart & memory. When I think of Gurez, the first word that comes to my mind is peace. From the natural, untamed beauty to the beautiful people, everything about Gurez brings about a sense of calm. Although I’ve been to a lot of such unexplored places & will continue to explore more, the one thing I’m sure of is that, Gurez will always hold a special place in my heart, Forever.
So, for all of you who want a moment of peace in a world full of constant conflict, Gurez will provide you with a solace like you’ve never experienced before. I’ve been to Gurez twice but if there is one place which I want to visit every year, every time, it would for sure be Gurez.