From Srinagar
View of the Himalayas on the way to Srinagar
from freezing Srinagar actually. Bright, hazy, very noisy and no snow. We’re staying on the Young Bombay houseboat and the thing probably dates from the young days of Bombay. Either you expect a section of floor to leap up and hit you in the face when you step on it or it sags and creaks in a frightening way and you expect to end up in the bilges. There is hot & cold water but the hot water comes in a bucket. The electricity went off three time last night and what comes out of the generator is definitely not 220volts judging by the time it takes for my little water boiler to get hot.
We flew Jet airways from Delhi and I was very impressed that they bump foreign toutrists up to business class.
Our Host - Mohammed
Mine host Mohammed
Needless to say, our host wants to take us on umpteen tours and graciously suggested a price of $550 to do that and get us to Dharamsala. Har har. That went down to $280 to get us to Amritsar. The coach fare to Jammu - four hours from Amritsar - is all of $10 on a luxury bus - we’ll see about that on Wed when we leave.
We’ve just had a meal in a cafe with three gentlemen with submachineguns on their laps. The whole town is a garrison. We have yet to see another tourist. I also got a long lecture from mine host about the political
Our dingy
Today was telling mine host where to get off day in terms of what he thinks we have to spend. This is the only Internet cafe we have seen so please excuse the writing as I can’t see the bloody letters! I sorted out mail on his ‘Internet’ the other day. the ‘Internet connection’ consisted of a laptop on the boat next door (which he also owns). This venerable machine was on the cabin floor in a room with no light. It was the first time I have ever sent emails on my hands and knees with a torch in my mouth.
The journey was uneventful apart from endless airport waits.The security there was exceedingly tight and I got sick of pulling out the passports. There was a long form to fill in when we got to Srinagar. I tried to get a SIM card but there’s yet another form and three days’ wait if you want one of these in Kashmir. It may change in Amritsar.
A few of the thousand or so houseboats on Lake Dal
The lake is very pretty - particularly if we had come in spring - but the rest of Srinagar - bigger than PMB - is a mess of dirt and snarling traffic. And bloody cold.
Speaking of which, Sonali is giving Dharamsala a miss for that reason.
She wants to come again when it’s warmer and she can spend 5 days there. So, we go direct to Amritsar which eases the pressure on the time we have. I’ll think about a shower in Amritsar - maybe. Sonali is staying away from me for some reason.
Mine host showed us photos of the lake frozen over (3 days after we left it snowed and cut off the passes).
Tomorrow, we’ll take a shikkara tour on the lake for three hours. Our host warned us against visiting the Old City because of trouble from radicals but we did anyway and it was fine. There’s a big mosque there but it looks just like a pagoda. We’re in another part of the town and when I’ve finished this, we’ll take a tuktuk back to the shikkara mooring. I hear Sonali getting a propaganda talk from the mine host. The town is full of soldiers.
Soldiers next to Lake Dal
So far my guts have held together although Sonali had Delhi belly before we even got to Delhi. The food is not exceptional but pleasant and nearly all vegetarian.
So, Day 1 of the hols is over and we’ve had a good, although cold time just doing what we usually do - fending off vendors and mooching about.
Day 2
Looking at jewellery by torchlight
Go to know the town - and a couple of mine host’s favourite tourist traders. One was invited on this evening selling jewellery and tankhas from Buddhist monasteries. These are very intricate and beautiful religious paintings. He wanted a lot for each depending upon its age but it wouldn’t go in our house anyway. Also, they had been rolled/unrolled s many times that they were cracking. He suggested an irn would sort this out. Right. This character was the only seller I have ever seen who brought his own globe to display his wares.
Nearly all the male locals wear a sort of ankle length poncho made out of grey or brown drab suit material. I tried to find one to buy but then found that tailors make them up on the spot to order - about R60 each.
Under poncho burners
The strange thing about these is the sleeves. They are designed so that the wearer can remove his arms from inside the sleeves and ferret about in what he’s go on underneath.
Example of a one-armed Kashmiri
In the winter, what he’s got on underneath is a small brazier with hot coals in. This he usually holds with one hand so that you only see one or the other hand out of the poncho at any one time. The brazier is a clay pot with a wickerwork outer that also has a hook on it so that it can be hung around the neck. When the locals squat down on their haunches as they usually do (right), it makes a warm little tent.
I bought two but the clay pots as usual bust as a result of the delicate handling of our professional baggage handlers. I will fix them because I thought it would be a good idea for keeping warm after a winter braai - particularly in the Berg..
Buddhist Monastery Tankha