When Danish Nabi alias Daniyal set for a journey to follow his dreams, little did he know that he would get a name for this-the Ibn Battuta of Kashmir for exploring adventure tourism in the Valley.
The 30-year old enthusiastic traveler-Danish hasn’t spoiled a single Sunday during the last one decade when he hasn’t travelled on foot or on bicycle to explore the Valley starting from his own home district Bandipora. There is a similarity between Ibn Battuta and Danish-both started their journey in early 20’s of their age.
Danish has so far rediscovered more than a dozen alpine lakes of Himalayan mountain ranges falling in Bandipora district thus giving a flip to adventure tourism in Kashmir Valley that was till recent in cold storage owing to obvious political strife in the valley.
He said the tourism in Kashmir has been restricted to site seeing in few select locations including Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg and Dal but the real Kashmir is up in the mountains as it was famous for among european adventure tourists before the militancy broke out in Kashmir in late 80’s.
On every weekend, Danish sets for a journey to mountains to explore a lake, a meadow and a new tourist destination.”I have religiously followed my schedule. I haven’t spoiled a singly Sunday. Sunday is my day . Come what may, I set for a journey every weekend,”
So far he has re-discovered more than a dozen alpine lakes in Bandipora and Gurez mountain ranges of Himalayas thus giving a boost to adventure tourism. According to Department of Forests, there are 100 Alpine lakes in Bandipora district but only one or two were being visited by adventure tourists including Sheerasar but in past few years, Danish has re-discovered including Shalpooth Lake, Three Handmarg or Handmenger Lakes, Kaul Sar, Kiser Sar, two Patalwan Lakes, Kothapatri Lake in Gurez Valley and Shera Sar, Sarbal Lake, Two Kundapani Lakes, Chamarsar, Zadsar and Salnai Sar in Bandipora area.
Besides this, the young traveler has also explored Chota Amarnath Caves in Bandipora, Bazar Hoi Caves in Bandipora, Yemberzalwari Cave in Sopore, Sheikhul Aalam Cave Budgam and Kalaroos Caves in Kupwara. Danish has recorded the expeditions on his GoPro camera and posted on youtube channel for the convenience of other adventure tourists.
The Ibn Battuta of Bandipora explored these lakes multiple times and found multiple trekking routes for these destinations for the convenience of the future travelers. All the routes have been recorded and geo-tagged by him. “I do record the trails and treks besides posting them on YouTube for future travelers”
Last year Danish Nabi became the first person to scale Razdaan Top (11672 feet) on a bicycle. Danish cited his passion for mountain cycling as the reason behind this adventure. He said he chose Gurez for two reasons, firstly Gurez lies in his home district and secondly because Gurez has been ignored by other cyclists and needs to be explored for its immense natural beauty.
He said he is in love with the mountains and he explores the new locations to promote adventure tourism in Kashmir Valley besides fulfilling his own desire to scale mountains. He said till the recent past, tourism was only sightseeing but there is beauty beyond the meadows as there is a huge potential for adventure tourism that can attract high end tourists from the west.
He said during the violence of three decades, adventure tourism came to a standstill and the locations went out of the people’s minds. “People sitting at homes still think war is going on up in the mountains but the fact is that peace is there in mountains,” he added.
He said after travelling solo to these places he thought to record the travel and post on his youtube channel for the convenience of others. He said he received an overwhelming response and more people started visiting these places.
The young traveler said exploring new places helped the locals to earn livelihood. He said after his visit to several lakes in Bandipora, many travelers groups approached him for guidance and hence local villagers earned by acting as guides, providing horses and meals to the travelers. “The Kudara residents have formally started providing traditional tea and Makki ki Roti to the travellers besides accompanying travelers as guides and renting out their horses,” he added.
It is for these reasons people called him by various names including Ibn Battuta, Mad man, Mountain man and Danish loves to hear these names from people. Because of his endeavors, Bandipora district administration in 2020 roped him in as advisor to promote adventure tourism and few locals including Daetwas, Sheerasar, Nagmarg routes were prepared by the Forest department for trekking.
He said the valley, especially Bandipora, is heaven for adventure tourists as everything that fascinates an adventure tourist will be available in Bandipora for him. “We have mountains for trekking, Two major lakes-Wullar and Kishenganga for water sports, lush green meadows for site seeing and glaciers too. Tourists get everything they want in Bandipora. We just need to highlight these places and I am doing that,” said Ibn Battuta of Bandipora.
He said it is not just for tourism but for the overall physical and psychological well-being of natives. He said there is a growing stress level among people with a monotonous life. I wish people would keep Sunday for themselves while they work for other days of the week.
Diabetes and over weighting are common and doctors always recommend walks and physical exercises. “If people spare Sundays for themselves they can reduce their stress levels besides keeping themselves mentally and physically fit”
He said his friends and relatives think I travel everyday but the fact is that I strictly travel on weekends while I work as usual for other days of the week. Danish is a government employee and works in Mini-Secretariat Bandipora.
Ibn Batutta idolizes Dr Shariq Masood-a noted doctor at SKIMS and urges everyone to follow him, especially doctors. He said Dr Shariq has never practiced on Sunday in the last two decades as he travels on Sunday. “he can earn thousands on Sundays but he refused to do that unlike other doctors but keeps that day for himself,” he added.
He said doctors should not recommend what they themselves don’t practice . He said doctors usually recommend walks and physical exercises for patients but they themselves are promoting a lazy lifestyle by working even on Sundays and spoiling holidays for patients and their attendants.
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