Location: Mcleod Ganj to Bogund

This is a rundown of our Kashmir tour with Jared, Tessa, Canadian Kristy and Kasmiri guide Javed. We had been updating slowly so hopefully it is not too confusing to read. The first part is a general rundown of what we got up to by Jared and the seond is some thoughts of Tessas

21 June 2010 - We set out from Mcleod Ganj at 8am happy to get an early start for what was to be a long day of travel. After a quick taxi down the hill to the Dharamshala bus station we ended up with an hour wait for the 9.30 bus to Jammu. Because we headed down in altitude for the 6 hour bus journey it got hotter and hotter until we arrive in 40 degree heat. On arrival in Jammu Javed quickly done a deal with a share jeep with a couple of Israelis and an American, still without lunch and with 295km to Shrinigar (Kashmir), we were keen though to keep moving, and move we did, with the driver promptly overtaking everything in sight as we powered out of the city, the two Israelis in the backseat complaining that the speed was making them sick. The driver did settle down but it was some pretty crazy driving compared to Narpat (HP Tour). After stopping for what was the highlight for the drive - our first meat, Kashmiri lamb curry, our driver started to become slower and visibly tired. This was even more crazy than his early driving and we decided to stop about 60km short of Shrinigar to stay at Javeds family house. This was a relief and as we calmed down and drifted to sleep at about 1am, we hoped the Israeli who had commandeered the driving responsibilities got the jeep safely to it's final destination.

22 June 2010 - After being awoken by school children heading to school right next door to Javeds we had a nice breakfast of fresh fruit and Kashmiri bread. Javed then took us on a wonderful walk through his village, along paths through freshly planted rice paddies, of which some are Javeds families. Then it was onto the family orchard where there are 440 apple trees of which 110 are Javeds. It is a beautiful place with lush fresh undergrowth everywhere. Walking through the village streets there was a lot of staring, but it seemed alot more friendly and curious than in other parts of India. We learned that there was a strike "bandha" in the province after tensions in Shrinagar following a couple of police shootings. This meant the city was closed and we were felling quite lucky that we hadn't just rocked up there at 2am the previous night. Instead we reversed the trip and headed to Pahalgam. There was plenty on military presence on the road but we were expecting that anyway in Kashmir, and some shops were closed, but everything was pretty calm on the 50km drive there. Pahalgam is the starting point on a popular Hindu pilgrimage so we passed numerous full truckloads on their way from other Indian states to start their trek. It is an interesting concept considering I think the majority of the Kashmir population are Muslim.
Our room in Pahalgam is right next to a river, which seems quite common in this lush green state.
In the afternoon we went for a 3 hour walk through the town and up a hill overlooking the Kashmir valley and a new golf course they are building (another sign of how good the grass and everything else grows in the valley). The view was a little obscured by clouds but still a wall of 3500m high snowcapped mountains on either side. Kashmir so far seems a similar climate to NZ in Spring but when you consider that 6 - 8 months of the year it snows, it is a little different. Still easy to see why it is called Paradise on Earth, especially compared to the rest of hot dry India.

23 June 2010 - After a quick fruit salad breakfast in Pahalgam, we stocked up on snacks and headed for a 5 hour walk to the Betab Valley. The park part where the Indian tourist reached by driving was a nice open expanse, by the gentler part of the river. For us though the fun came on the walk there. We traversed through a combination open to pine-covered farmland, some covered in rocks remienscent of a Lord of the Rings scene. On the way we were followed by a herd of sheep and goats and their gypsy shepherds. It was very rustic having them roaming past us as we meandered along. We walked as far as a big rock overlooking the flowing river and valley, where we had 360 degrees views of mountains surrounding us.
One the way back we were met by Javeds friend Majid who had been requested to bring supplys which included a bottle of whiskey he had gotten from a town much nearer to Jammu, as Kashmir is almost completely dry due to its Islamic beliefs, as well as its other political issues.
One other thing with the walk was hearing the ladies singing as they worked in the fields, kinda like American slaves, but all "very happy" Javed ensured.
Ourluck with keeping dry for a lot of our recent walks ended with a bit of rain on our return. Lucky we had the whiskey to keep us warm, and once we finished that the man from the hotel was able to get us a bottle of rum in this completely dry town? through the black market, supposedly brought in by the army.
We also had our second chicken curry for dinner and lamb curry for lunch. Four times eating meat so far in Kashmir and no worries. Touch wood. Javed says it is all clean becaused it is killed Halal style. I think the cool air and abundance of livestock also helps.

24 June 2010 - Another not too steep 5 hour hike after Jared cooked omlettes for breakfast. A meandering climb through pine trees until we were met by parades of horse trekkers. It is a popular industry with Indian tourists, who are not keen at all on walking. It fits in well with the history of Pahalgam, as it has always been a horsey town, with the villagers using them to go to the higher country to tend to their stock and there are still many to be seen cruising the main streets today. Tess even commented "I think I will always remember Pahalgam for the smell of horses and horseshit".
At the top of the walk, where all the horse trekkers were going, was a big open expanse of relatively flat grassland among the pine trees and surrounded by mountains. There were quite a few tourists here, but even more people either with sheep trying to get money for a photo or trying to sell shawls.
The walk back was a steeper downhill one where we got to see more of the horse trekkers, some not enjoying the experience so much with young girls crying and ladies with looks of sheer terror on their faces. All quite amusing considering the horses seem tiny compared to the ones back home and they seem to go pretty slow with a dude leading them.


25 June 2010 - After finding out the previous night that there was meant to be another bandha today we were up at 7am as requested by Javed. As it was raining Javed himself did not appear to 7.30 as he though we would want to sleep in due to the rain..I guess we arent quite on Indian time yet.
When we did leave we found Javed's driver had pulled out and we would have to get shared jeeps. This proved easier than expected, even with the strike. There was a big military/police presence during the 2 and 1/2 hours of driving, but no sign of any anger that we were on the road during the bandha amd there were more shops open than earlier in the week when we travelled to Pahalgam. It took us 2 jeeps, a bus, a rickshaw and a boat to get us to our new abode. We are staying on a houseboat on Dal Lake in Srinagar , which is Kashmir's biggest city. The houseboats are a huge attraction and the lakeside are lined with them. They are a bit different to the ones in Allepey as these ones are stationery. It was originally the English who built them in the area, as it was their way around not being allowed to buy land here. Although there are none of the English ones left, there are many that look rather opulent. Ours is a homely number called the Blue Dolphin. It has many ornaments and nic-nacs, so has a feel like going to someones house. There is a sitting room and a dining and a couple of double bedrooms and an outside area. The lake itself is very shallow, so there are lots of grasses and reeds growing up everywhere which hides the true size of it. After a relaxing day of rest, we rand one of the local boat vendors to bring us some whiskey. He was here in 10 minutes, and although a little expensive we were happy to pay for the service.

26 June 2010 - After one of the most constant supplies of electricity and hot water we have had in a while, we were well refreshed and ready to go for our boat ride around the lake. We went in Shikara, a long skinny canoe like boat with cushioned seats and a roof in the middle and paddled by a personal driver. Once out in the open area we could see how big Dal Lake is. Still quite shallow though, with water lilies everywhere and a forest of underwater plants just below the surface of the 6-10 foot deep water. There were people all around living on the lake, with patches of reclaimed land for gardening, people fishing off riverbanks and boats, and people going from place to place on their roadway of water. On the way back we went through the old Srinagar area. The water here was a lot dirtier, with the houses coming right to the edge of the narrow canals. In this area there were many big old houses, all looking quite rundown. This was a previous Hindu area, but they left during the troubles the region has had over the past 20 years.
Upon return to the houseboat it was more meat for dinner. For both lunch and dinner we had variations on lamb rissoles, with lunch a ball called a 'rista" and for dinner it was cooked on a stick, kibab style.

27 June 2010 - Our last full day in Srinagar was spent checking out the Mughal Gardens. We seen 2 of the 4 that there are. The gardens were built by the Mughal kings in the 15-1600s and at the time would have been sheer opulence in the gardening world. There are fountains and waterfalls, with precise lines of huge maple trees and numerous flower beds. But these days in a gardening sense they are probably not as big or as grand as many botanical gardens in many western cities. The striking thing though is that in place with such a dramatic recent history as Kashmir, there is still these oasis's among the heavily armed police and military presence. There is even razor wire on the fence outside the gardens.
On the way back we stopped at one of the many Kashmiri arts emporiums that sell a range of crafts, with carpets and shawls being there specialty. We got a good lesson on the art of making Persian rugs, but as always we had decline the offer to buy, as we have heard many times you get anything much cheaper in the big cities.
Back home on the houseboat, another oasis, the peacefullness is only broken by the regular sound of the Muslim prayer calls, quite a good fit with the quiet feel of the lake.

28 June 2010 - We were up for another early start as transport was again expected to be a problem with the bandha still in place. Again the military precense was significant (maybe it always is) but we travelled the 100km by boat, rickshaw and 2 shared jeeps to be in Javed's village, Bogund, by 9.30am. We just chilled for the morning, checking out more of Javed's rice fields while the wedding preperations went on at his house. In the afternoon more people started to arrive, this first day of the wedding being the time for Javed's family to celebrate with his sister who s the bride to be. Jared and Javed went for a drive with Mushtaq, one of Javed's mates, to go and invite people and pick up Majid from his village.
The evening itself was a bit of a blur as we moved from room to room in the house, some very full with people, especially the ones with the girls hanging out with Angeli (the bride). At times we felt rather awkward as their is little English spoken and even less opportunity to meet foreigners, so most people were quite amazed by us and just sat in bring groups and stared. Usually the children were best, as they spoke some english and were fun to play with. Sometimes there were some weird situations with the male/female divide there is in Islam religion, but Javed keeps assuring us it is all OK because we are foreigners. But there are definitely yimes certain girls will leave the room when Jared comes in and times different men will come and everyone will rush to put on their head scarves. Eating is also a little confusing, because Javed wants us to eat together like we would at home, and we usually do, but there are some disdaining looks from some men and some confused looks from others. Overall maybe Javed is trying to shield us a bit, maybe best for us and his family, but also maybe he is keen to push the boundaries a little to try and show people the way they do things in their village is not the only way.
Sadly in the evening we feeling to tired to stay the distance and missed a fair bit of the party that went late into the early hours. We were shipped off to one of the neighbours as this was to be a more peaceful place to stay, despite all the stares we awoke to.

29 June 2010 - The second day of the marriage is when the husband comes to take the bride back to his village, so the majority of this day is spent with this in the backs of everyones minds. As proud as the parents are that their daughter is marrying, it is in a way a big loss to the family, as it means one less pair of hands working in the fields, cooking and generally keeping the house. With Javed's parents getting older, especially his father,it leaves only one sister (from 4) to help in that capacity. His brother also lives at the house but has his own young family to look after. For Angeli herself it is a massive day of change. She has lived in this village all her 27? years and from what we can tell has never had a boyfriend. She will now move with this man who she has only met a couple of times, to live with his family and work at his house.
As the day got later the mood was a strange mix of sombre and celebration. We only saw parts of it as Javed took us on a few walks around the village and found us quiet rooms to relax in.
As the evening got later we found that there had been yet more problems on the roads in Kashmir and this was proving a problem for the grooms arrival, despite his father supposedly being high in the police. They eventually arrive a bit after 11pm, instead of the scheduled 6-8pm, a party of 50 or so men and a couple of women from the village (sisters maybe?). The groom sat on a thronelike chair and was given gifts by Javeds family, before being ushed in the big tent for dinner. Jared ended up in there for dinner also, even though it was mainly only the grooms side. There were 18 dishes served in total, with everyone eating with hands in groups of four to a plate. All the men were putting most of their meat into bags, so Jared followed thnking it was custom, only to be told later it was because they were taking it home to feed their families. In the end more rice was eaten than meat, but it was still an epic feed. During the hole ceremony, the ladies from Javeds side maintained a song outside, with which they finally lead Angeli to the awaiting car for the groom the jump in and the entire party speed away. Javed and other members of his family will go to visit in the next few days, but now it will only be for special such cicumstances they will see their sister/daughter again.

30 June 2010 - Instead of what we were expecting to be a day of relaxing with the family after the wedding stuff was all over, Jared and Tess spent the majority of the day in bed sick. Although we had eaten seperately, something had upset our bellies, althouh tess's ailment was more cold and flu related, Jared was throwing up a bit. It was quite a pity as we had quite looked forward to spending a bit more quiet time with the family.

01 July 2010 - Another early start with road blocks expected so we were in the jeep at 5am to leave Kashmir for Jammu. There were a couple of blocks with razor wire over the road as we first left, but once we were on the main road it was smooth sailing. Just plenty of army patrols seraching the side of the road, for bombs and mines we guessed. Probably a routine mornig exercise but still pretty crazy to see. When we hit Jammu it was straight on a bus out of there, and after a day of 17 hours travel we made it to Amritsar, so a bit poorly, but generally happy with a successful Kashmiri excursion.

Tessa says:
I entered Kashmir with high expectations, as a few travellers that we had met had highly recommended it as a place of natural beauty. Unfortunately my first experience was the hair-raising by our doped up young Kashmiri driver, whose mood swung between bursts of loud singing and then falling asleep at the wheel.
In the following days at Pahalgam we did many treks that did take us into areas of natural beauty, thus cementing the slogan "Paradise on Earth", however I am more inclined towards the slogan "Jammu and Kashmir: The crowning Jewel of India". In the areas we visited I felt most people lived a simple life, tending rice fields, herding goats and growing veges. In my mind this did not gel with the reality of the state beseiged by political agendas. Prodding Javed for information on his thoughts on Kashmir he said: "in the start it was to do with religion, with Kashmir mainly Muslim and India mainly Hindu, however as time has gone on it is that Kashmiris are generally treated by India. 70% of people just want peace and do not care, where 15% want to be part of India and 15% want to be part of Pakistan. It is these minorities that are the outlaws and the terrorists." Whether or not this is an accurate reflection of the current situation I cannot verify, however, it is indicative of how little even Kashmiri people know about whats going on. On strike days people mill the streets unsure whether or not they can go to work or school. Recently in the Hindustan Times they wrote about a 13 year old boy who had pelted stones at police on over 50 occaisions but did not know why he did it. The lack of accurate information and education, mixed with escalating tensions is a very volatile mix.
Staying in Srinagar on the houseboat was like entering the twilight zone. Away from the intimidating gaze of the military and with transport problems behind us for the time being we could kickback and relax. It almost felt absurd that in other parts of the city potential for dangerous riots was imminent and happening in other parts of the state.
At Javeds village I was hoping to observe general village life as well as the wedding ceremony. Unfortunately our weird "western" appearances meant they were more keen on observing us. Often I sat in a room with a group of 20 children staring at me in wide-eyed awe. After the initial shock of seeing a westerner some of them did warm to me The part of the wedding we attended was a farewell party for the bride Angeli, and then the groom arriving and whisking his bride away. The wedding would then continue in his village. At this stage I was coming down with a rotton cold so only partook minimally in the festivities.and I learnt to speak a few Kashmiri words which delighted them.

As much as Kashmir is a beautiful place we were looking forward to getting out of the state, with more reports of riots, curfews and strikes pouring in we didnt want to get stuck there. Javed arranged a jeep for 5am and we rushed out of Kashmir.