Patnitop (Jammu and Kashmir), Dec 26 (IANS) The bells didn't jingle for many tourists who came to celebrate Christmas at the picturesque resort of Patnitop in the Himalayan foothills of Jammu and Kashmir.

The "no accommodation" signs in hotels and lodges at the pine-dotted tourist site, 110 km north of Jammu, forced many foreign and local tourists to turn back disappointed.

All the hotels and lodges had got packed much ahead of Christmas.

"Our family had to return dejected," said Yousuf Massih of Jogi Gate in Jammu. He had gone to spend Christmas at Patnitop with his wife and two children, both below 10.

Getting Christmas gifts from Santa Claus amid the snow under a glittering X-mas tree is a dream most children have. Patnitop, with its weather and green pine plantations, is the perfect setting for these dreams to materialise.

Days ahead of Christmas, Patnitop was brimming with tourists, mostly from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and other states who had planned to make their Christmas merrier at the state's top tourist destination.

Gulmarg continues to be the most-cherished destination for lovers of nature to spend the New Year.

However, following a spate of attacks on tourists in the Kashmir Valley by insurgents, the rush of tourists to Patnitop has increased manifold.

Due to the heavy rush at Patnitop, the adjoining health resorts of Natha Top, Sanansar and Kud are also receiving a large number of tourists.

As winter sets in, Patnitop starts receiving a heavy rush of tourists, mostly skiers, from various north Indian states.