The legend goes that king Jumbulochan was out hunting. He saw a tiger and a goat drinking water from the same pool. He considered the place very auspicious and founded a city there, calling it Jammu Nagri. He transferred his capital to the new city from the Bahu Fort. Jammu is worth a visit for the scores of temples here and for being the cradle of the Dogra Culture.

The meandering Tawi River flows in the Jammu Foothills and there is the backdrop of the imposing Trikutarange of peaks. It is also the starting point for the starting-point for visiting the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi at Katra. The Kashmir region starts near Banihal, 17 kilometers (11miles) before the Jawarhar Tunnel , where the dominant language changes from Dogri to Kashmiri style. The landscape blossoms north of the pass where the lush fields of the Vale of Kashmir stretch away to the north. The image of houseboats reflected in the waters of Dal Lake against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains is a really, but this is only part of what Kashmir has to offer. The valley, or vale. is a large oval plain 136 Kms long and up to 40 Kms wide, with Srinagar, at 1,593 meters, at the approximate center. 

The autumn colours and the saffron harvest near Pampore are a wonderful backdrop to a low -altitude trek. From June onwards the oppressive heat of the plains makes the cooler days in and around Srinagar even more attractive. Since the partition of India divided the state and cut the road via Rawalpindi and Baramulla, the longer route via Jammu is the only practicable land link with the rest of India. (There is also a road linking Himachal Pradesh with Ladakh.)