Patnitop
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Patnitop or Patni Top, is a hill top tourist location in Udhampur district on the National Highway 1A, on the way from Udhampur to Srinagar. It is located in the Shiwalik belt of the Himalayas, and is in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The river Chenab flows in close proximity to this location.
Origin of the name Patnitop is a distortion of the original name of "Patan Da Talab" meaning "Pond of the Princess". In olden times a pond existed in the meadows and the kings princess often used to have her bath there. Part of the pond still exists near the youth hostel.The Britishers probably couldn't get the name correctly in their revenue records , and over the years it changed from "Patan Da Talab" to Patnitop.
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[edit] Location
It is in the Lower Himalayan Range close to the Pir Panjal range, 35 kilometers from Udhampur and 112 km from Jammu. This famous hill resort is perched on a beautiful plateau, at an altitude of 2024 metres across which the Jammu-Srinagar Highway passes. The towns of Kud and Batote are nearby. Kud is a very small town where a sweet shop makes fresh Patissa (a Kashmiri sweet). It can be bought hot from the shop and melts in one's mouth. Batote is known as a place for quality rajma or the kidney bean.
[edit] Details
Enveloped by thickly wooded Cedar/Deodhar forests, Patnitop offers beautiful picnic spots, peaceful walks and breathtaking views of the mountainscape of the Chenab basin. In winter, the resort is generally covered with a thick mantle of snow thus providing opportunities for various snow games including skiing. It is the closest winter resort to Jammu and to Udhampur and is second to none in its natural charm, climate, pine forests and lush green cover. J&K Tourism as well as the army have some holiday homes here. The region has also had a rash of houses built by people staying in Jammu and building a house here for the holidays.
[edit] Eco-Adventure activities
Paragliding Joyrides at Patnitop Now you can enjoy the thrill of flying, at Patnitop. The paragliding joyrides rides are conducted at Dawariyai, 2 km landmark, on the Patnitop-Sanasar road.You can ask for paragliding, at the Patnitop Development Authority (PDA) barrier. The take off site is at Dawariyai, on the Patnitop-Sanasar road. The area often called as the "Billoo Di Powri" point. Approx 400 plus steps have been carved out along the rock face to make the steep slope negotiable.The stairs eventually leading to Dawariyai, the "gateway". The exact dating of the work is still debatable. Any tourist can experience Paraglidng, because you will be flying with a pilot.The flight will take off from Patnitop and land at Kud.The flight will last for 7min to 15 mins, depending upon the wind conditions.One is retrieved by car to the take off area. The organizers also give a good quality video of your, memorable flight.
High Flying from Natha Top Take off is from Natha Top and landing at Kud.The flight can be from 15 mins to an hour depending on the wind conditions.
Sanasar 20 km from Patnitop offers Paragliding, Camping, Trekking, Abseiling, Rock Climbing and scenic nature walks. "Extreme Himalayan Adventures" is promoting eco-adventure in Sanasar.