SRINAGAR: The Gulmarg tourist resort, which is known for its fascinating snow-covered slopes and skiing, has added the attraction of glass igloo and snow igloo cafes for the visitors this year, and a large number of tourists are visiting the tourist destination to cherish the unique and lifetime experience.
A young Kashmiri hotelier Waseem Shah, the owner of Kalahoi Green Heights in Gulmarg, has set up six fiber glass igloo cafes measuring 12 sq ft each at two places in Gulmarg. “We took inspiration from Finnish Lapland and recreated the same glass igloo feel here. The glass igloos have been imported from Austria in consultation with our design team, who gave inputs on various factors like quality of snow, wind speeds, sunlight and temperature,” Waseem added.
Waseem has built three glass Igloo domes near his hotel in the snow-covered Gulmarg and three at the first phase of the Gondola Cable car project at Kangdoori. A large number of tourists and locals have been visiting the glass igloo daily since it was thrown open to the public on January 26. The glass igloo cafés offer the best views to the guests. “It is a unique and wonderful experience for the tourists as they can view the snowfall through the glass igloo. The ambience is very nice. This is a lifetime experience,” said a tourist from Mumbai.
The glass igloo can accommodate eight people at a given time. It can have one big or two small tables to accommodate eight people. “We are charging Rs 1,000 for one igloo for 45 minutes for the guests to enjoy the ambience and view the snow,” Waseem said. The glass igloo being a novel concept has become an instant hit.
“Not only tourists but locals are eager to spend some time in the glass igloo for the wonderland experience,” Waseem said. Meanwhile, the snow igloo, 40 ft in height and 42 ft in width, made by Tariq Ahmed Lone in the space provided by Gulmarg Development Authority in Gulmarg is also attracting tourists. In the snow igloo, which was made in one-and-a-half months, has a sitting space for 20 people.
Describing it as the world’s biggest igloo, he said they are charging an entry fee of Rs 50 per head in the igloo. A tourist from Maharashtra said it was for the first time that he was seeing a snow igloo. “The real-life Igloo is something different. It is an experience, which we will cherish for all life,” he added.
Another tourist from Kolkata said that sitting, eating and taking pictures in a snow igloo is a lifetime experience. “It is beautiful and its worth is much more because it has not been made of the machine but by the hard work of humans,” he added. The tourists in Gulmarg don’t miss visiting the two Igloos, clicking the memorable pictures and videos from their smartphones or digital cameras.