J&K Tourism Development Corporation

Our main office is located right at the Tourist Reception Centre in Srinagar. It’s a 190001 area code spot and it stays fairly busy with people coming in to ask about the mountains or the lake. We have a lot of desks piled with paperwork and brochures that have been sitting there for a bit. The building has that old government feel to it, where the heaters clank in the winter and the hallways are a bit dim. We spend a lot of our morning drinking tea and going over the bookings for the huts and hotels we look after. It’s not always organized perfectly, but we manage to get things sorted for the visitors. Some days the phones don't stop ringing and other days it is quiet enough to hear the birds outside. We have staff who have been here for decades and they know every corner of the valley. We handle a lot of different things, from travel permits to just telling people where the nearest good meal is. The roof leaked a little last season, so we had to get that patched up. It’s just a regular office life where we try to help people figure out their trips without making it too complicated. We stay open pretty much all year round, even when the snow gets deep. It is just part of working for the tourism department.