Our Summer in the Vale of Kashmir

WITH all that has been said and sung of the Vale of Kashmir, its very name brings to the mind visions of a far-away land of transcendent beauty and charm, a kingdom of romance. To some, it is a name to conjure with and there are many under the spell of its call who turn their burning eyes away from the modern glare, to gaze longingly toward this enchanting realm where time is not, where months are reckoned only by the flowers or fruit they bring—and believe that if once they might enter the Vale of Kashmir, there they would find their lost youth and lost dreams. The dying Mughal Emperor Jahangir, when asked if he desired anything, closed his eyes as if to dream of the fair land he loved, as he made answer, "Only Kashmir." Possessing every variety of climate and scenery and an equally varied past, Kashmir has never failed to satisfy the visitor who has been willing to undertake the long and arduous journey, whether in the old days when the Delhi Emperors traversed the difficult route on horseback and palanquins with their splendid retinue, or as now when the modern tourist reaches the promised land by passing from the hot and dusty railway train to the unreliable motor-car or jolting tonga.

Publisher - Gulshan Books