From the valley

2009-07-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Kashmir diary

DAY 1

The trivial preoccupations of daily life are not enough for man; wisdom too is a native hunger.

With this in mind we pack our bags and are off to Kashmir

Mid Flight : flight delay message, we are flying in circles waiting for clearance.

A quote from a book I'm reading, seems apt for the journey
"I am often beset by atheistic doubts. Yet a torturing surmise sometimes haunts me: may not untapped soul possibilities exist? Is man not missing his real destiny if he fails to explore them?"

.

The ride from the airport is 24 kms long. The view on the way is breathtaking. Branches of the dal lake cover the the valley like a spider web with many house boats decorating it which provide a panaroma of the sorrounding mountains.

6pm
Oficially pissed. Don't like whining kids. Weather is great.
Later: iPod comes to the rescue. Whining kids on mute.

Note - local hangout place, ONLY non vegitarian snacks. Something that looks like kebabs and mutton
The food is very calorie rich everywhere and I'm trying to loose weight.

Conforming a Muslim stereotype, women not allowed in religious places. Dressed conservatively, jeans to them is exotic.
Once again beautifull weather.

The houses are simple and yet exude an air of tradition. Intricate embroidery decorates every cloth piece from carpet to the curtains. The rooftops are sloped with woodwork for respite from cold. Curiously there are no single story houses. The reason would be to keep the cold at bay.

The Kashmiris use very little furniture. The dining table is just a prop as they like to eat their food on the lush carpets.
They take great pride in their hospitality and rightly so. Before every meal the host poures running water to wash our hands using an antique looking utensil. All the utensils were made of silver with every single piece standing out with beautifull carvings. We sat on the carpets in line and were served kashmiri delicacies which included the Kashmiri rice which are more rich in flavour and calories than traditional rice, a gravy made of apricot, mint another made of ARU.
The most delicious ladyfinger vegitable was accompanied by the richest shahee paneer (cottege cheese curry) which was loaded with resins and nuts.
A light yellow dal(pulses), curd and salad with home grown cucumber was served to complete the effect.
The standout feature was that the food prepared was all vegitarian even though their speciality is non vegitarian food. Their dissappointed wasn't hidden when they couldn't showcase the variety of non vegitarian food.
Dinner had another Kashmiri favourite, tomato curry with huge slices of cottege cheese. This was a lot lighter than shahee paneer and very rich in flavour.

PLACES VISITED
Hazrat bal shrine
Women not allowed.

Zabraban park
A park surrounded by lake, an eating place. A place where locals hang out. Only non vefitarian snacks

DAMAGES
My sisters sun glasses lost

The camera screen broke. I'd say due to my irrisponsibility. Borrowed a new camera from the nice family. Sony cybershot. No match for my fujifilm though.

My bag got stained with chocolate shake. Again in my effort to not litter in a public place, I kept the can in my bag, dint realise there was liquid left.

iPod headphones had their rubber covering wet and got removed.

Day 2

Much of the same, Driving around the dal lake, lots and lots of gardens, all of them very pretty.
The strike or 'hartal' as they call it continues. A strife between the locals and the CRPF (millitary).

We travell around the city and reach a place with a huge mosque. This is the place where all the trouble starts.
The family accompanying us tells us how dangerous this road is. We can see the Damage that was done this very morning. There is apparently a stone throwing practice that takes place every morning, a fight between the people and the CRPF. These are not religious lunatics but paid workers who are paid by political parties to disrupt peace. There are definately places with large Hindu settlements. The news however reports the exact opposite.
We hear gun shots very very close to us. Begining of another riot. Its night and we head home taking the same 'dangerous' route called the downtown area. There are broken glasses all over the road and we can feel the recently used tear gas burning our throat. As we are later told, there was destruction in the mosque by the millitary just minutes before and the locals will come out at night to protest. Reason is not known.
It's a relief when we finally step inside the home.

Places visited
Local gardens

Damages
None. :)

Day 3

We get up early morning, ready by 6 am and heading towards gulmarg. The drive is 80 kms. I've seen rivers, mountains but none so beautifull. It's a 2 1/2 hour tiring drive up the hill, kindof scary.
I'm blown away when I reach there, mountains on every side, huge green fields, a very unadulterated view. You can see pictures, movies etc but when you actually stand there with huge mountains on all sides, some snow covered, it takes your breath away. We have breakfast in a govt owned restaurant there and do some trekking on the hills, 6 km to be precise.

On our way back we stop to soak in the brilliant white waters of the jhelam river. We can see water coming down from many places through the mountains by melting of ice. The river is extremely turbulant and loud, just looking at it makes you dizzy. We find a safer place and go dip our feet in the water. It's ice cold and the feet goes numb in less than 10 seconds. The wind is pleasantly cool and the whole experience is very relaxing. After about an hour we finally head back home.

Placed visited
Sonmarg

Day 4

It's getting hot here. Even the evenings are not as cool, reminds me of the Delhi heat.
Our plan is to go to PEHELGAUN and spend 2 nights there. It's 100 kms away and 4 pm is the time we plan to leave.
Before that we are invited to a daawat ( lunch ).

Heading towards PEHELGAUN, two families two cars. We had to turn back three different times because of riots. Finally found a safe route. It's 8 pm right now. The journey is 100 kms through the mountains. Estimated arrival time is past 12. Already have a feeling it's gonna be awesome, exciting and adventerous.

More to come...

P.S. late edit: the food had soooo much variety, I don't know the name of half the dishes. 7 to 8 different food items to taste in one sitting.

Damages
None :)

Gulmarg
For the first time in this life I gazed in all directions at sublime snow capped
Himalays, lying tier upon tier of

Dawat, hamam - the heating train

Kashmir Diary

From the valley