Kashmir - 'The Jewel of India'

It’s also touted as the ‘Switzerland of Asia’ and ‘Paradise on Earth’. Think of snow-capped mountains, rolling green hills, with beautiful bright blue lakes and rivers nestled in the valleys. Srinagar, our point of destination, was built around several huge, beautiful (and pollution-free!) lakes, surrounded by mountains. Many of these mountains had ancient forts or gardens built at the top which lit up beautifully in the night, making the Himalayas look as if they had been painted on as background scenery.

I was travelling with two friends: Shirish and Joe. While Shirish and I had the dubious pleasure of going through airport security in Srinagar, Joe hitched rides through Northern India- an experience which, after seeing his pictures, I have vowed to come back as soon as possible and repeat.

Our hotel owner, Faisel, was a constant source of annoyance and entertainment. The hassle-free trip we experienced in Kashmir came at a price: listening to hours and hours of Faisel’s views of the world. And believe me when I say: the man has a lot of opinions (particularly about himself). At the same time, I have to admit that our trip probably wouldn’t have gone as smoothly without his help. Most of the guidebooks we read had very little to say about Srinagar- for the last few years the city has gone through crippling curfews, making tourism here very difficult. To top it off, the huge army presence and unstable political situation means that very few international tourists come and visit Kashmir, and the number of Indian tourists have been steadily dwindling. 

I arrived in Kashmir in the middle of the afternoon, and with Faisel’s help we visited three of the four Mughal gardens Srinagar is famous for- built as pleasure gardens in different areas of the city (all of them with stunning views, ingenious fountains, and beautifully planned gardens) by the Mughal Emperors, who would retreat to Kashmir hundreds of years ago to escape the Indian summers.

Shirish and I at the top of Pari Mahal, the highest garden (this was a few hours after we got off the plane, and the only day it was cold and rainy). We are wearing the traditional ponchos that the men wear during cold seasons- underneath this they sometimes carry a wicker basket full of hot coals, called the 'winter wife'.

Shalimar Bagh garden- built for Nur Jahan by Jehangir

We were staying at Asif Guest House- the number one rated guest house in Srinagar. Faisal was very, very proud of this and took care to mention his number one rating constantly. On our first night we sat down to an amazing dinner- fresh cheese stewed in tomatoes, some kind of out-of-this-world amazing vegetable stew, thick dal, and Kawha tea or ‘Kashmiri tea’- of course, we had to listen to Faisal talk about himself the entire time.  By the end of the first night I was dying for a break from the endless videos of him doing mundane things with people who stayed at the guesthouse.

Looking forward to a break, we planned a hiking trip to Pahalgam. Pahalgam is a small town about an hour and a half away from Srinagar. It is famous for several things: it used to be the hunting grounds for the Mughal Emperors and many Maharajahs, it has many extremely beautiful valleys full of rivers and strangely-shaped boulders, and it is noted for its natural beauty. A hiking trip there seemed like the perfect way to spend the day.

What we didn’t know about Pahalgam is that it is also famous (or infamous) for its pony treks.

Buying bread before our hike. This was a little bread stall in the middle of nowhere. We bought amazing Kashmiri bread for 2 rupees!

The moment we stepped out of the car, it was complete mayhem. Touts swarmed us from all sides yelling at us to take a ride up to Kashmir Valley on their horse. None of us wanted to support this industry, so we marched past them and decided to try and hike up on our own.

After many wrong turns we decided that maybe getting a guide would be a good idea. One of the touts in particular was very persistent in following us, shrieking bad directions as we made our way up the hill.

Eventually we ran in to a man sitting on the hill with his horse. He spoke no English, and was happy to take us for 450 rupees- half the price the touts were offering us, and the price that we had been told was more the going rate. I like him immediately- he was quiet and efficient, had a very good relationship with his horse, and his horse will always have a special place in my heart for his ingenious use of hot gas to get up the hill faster.

Our guide was surprised when I refused to get on his horse (Raj), and when all of us refused to laden Raj with our bags. I think this endeared us to him a little. He showed us the fake hunting grounds that touts claim to be the real one (the real one is much further off- touts don’t like to go that far), he took us to a tourist-filled clearing and told us that, after a quick chai break, he would show us three sights that many tourists who come here don’t see.

The clearing was an interesting sight to see. Indian tourists wandered around, shopping for tacky souvenirs that hawkers had brought up the mountain. Other hawkers offered the chance to take romantic photos with your partner while wearing traditional costumes. Men made strong, manly poses to the camera while they directed their wives to look on adoringly. We admired the proceedings from a distance, and then continued on. Our guide told us that most people don’t go past the clearing.

Joe and Shirish showing off their strong and manly poses in the clearing

There were quite a few Indian tourists around, and all of them were riding horses.  With the exception of the guides, we were the only ones who were using our own two feet. I felt for the horses- many of these tourists were not small.

We continued on. Shirish and I lagged behind, talking about politics- Indian politics never cease to fascinate me. Joe was far ahead, guided by the horse, who obviously knew exactly where we were going. After a reasonably short and extremely pleasant hike, we reached the hunting grounds. This area, once full of tigers (though I hear they are much more common now in the winter!), is now semi-cultivated by nomads as a place for their buffalo to feed.

The nomad huts were beautiful- they looked very sturdy, surprisingly so for huts made of sand and cow poo. I was dying to see the inside of one, and was pleasantly surprised when our guide invited us in.

The old hunting grounds

We were surprised by how warm and comfortable the huts were. There was a small window, and the huts was divided into three reasonably sized rooms- the first one as an entryway, which can be covered in the winter to keep cold air from coming in. The second part was a small, cozy kitchen, dining, and sleeping area. The last room was a large bedroom covered with woven blankets and furs. The woman in the house served us salty tea: water, very creamy milk, and a lot of salt. I think there was also some tea leaves in there somewhere. It tasted a little bit like drinking very watery butter… I’m embarrassed to say that I couldn’t quite finish it. Joe and I drank ours and made polite-sounding noises, while Shirish downed his with delight, then finished mine too.  I guess it is an acquired taste.

From there we had a quick lunch on a hilltop overlooking Kashmir Valley and drank Kashmiri tea (Khawa tea) mixed with honey. We walked down past a waterfall, through the famous rock valley, and then walked through my second favourite part of the hike: a small village tucked into the hill. The villagers were very friendly and looked typically Kashmiri: pale-skinned, rosy-cheeked, with very light coloured eyes. We stocked up on apples for our trip home. Small and sweet, they were by far the best apples I’ve ever had.

The view of Kashmir Valley

This valley is very famous for its rocks

Keen to escape Faisal, we spent the night exploring the old part of Srinagar and estimating the prices of pashminas. I was surprised to find out that most of the scarves and clothes sold in Canada that are claimed to be made of pure cashmere are usually a cashmere-silk blend! Real pashminas actually feel quite different

Old Srinagar

The next day was shopping day. Since the following day was the beginning of Eid Al-Adha, a Muslim festival, most of the shops and stores would be closed. We had to try and get all of our souvenir shopping done that morning. Determined to escape Faisal- he was being a little clingy, trying to get commission on everything we did- we booked a houseboat for our final stay in Srinagar at the recommendation of a friend. So that our day was not an entire waste (shopping took a very long time) we ate a delicious lunch of wraps containing Kashmiri food and then saw the best and last of the famous Mughal gardens: the Nishat garden.

My favourite garden- it had the most beautiful view (see below)

That night Shirish and I wandered down from the guesthouse through the village searching for gifts we could present to Faisal’s family for Eid. The houses in Kashmir are very different- unlike the cloth tents and metal shacks I had become accustomed to in Pune. Here the houses are built for sturdiness and warmth- not having a warm house could mean not surviving the winter. They are made of brick or plaster, some of them are colourfully decorated, and all of them have many windows and large gardens. These houses lit up wonderfully under the moonlight. With the Himalayas in the background and the cobblestone roads I felt as if we were in a painted movie set. 

Our last day in Kashmir we wandered the streets and tried to observe the celebrations as unobtrusively as possible while they took place.  In many gardens we saw sacrificial lambs or goats being hung from trees and cut up while the men (no women!) looked on and celebrated. Many people invited us in to celebrate with their families and drink a cup of chai. We accepted an offer and were presented with a feast of a tea by a lovely Kashmiri family. It was very interesting to hear their points of view on the political situation in Kashmir.

After saying many goodbyes and downing our last cup of salty tea, we headed off to the houseboat we had booked.  I was initially a little nervous about it- Faisal had been glowering at us since we had told him we booked our own houseboat, commenting that he would have found a cheaper one for better and what we had booked would probably not be that great.

The view from our houseboat. That night, the air was filled with fireworks in celebration of Eid.

Our dining/living room on the boat

Shikara boats- the taxi boats you take to get across the lake. I kept calling them 'Shakiras'.

I think it’s safe to say that we were not disappointed, and staying there was definitely a huge highlight of my trip to India so far. The owner was extremely welcoming- going as far as to give us free lunch and dinner, and preparing us special lamb dishes in honour of Eid. I have been keeping to my vegetarian diet in India, but couldn’t resist trying the lamb- Kashmir is famous around India for its delicious lamb dishes. It was very, very good.

The houseboat itself was made of hand carved walnut wood, and decorated from top to bottom with handmade paper-mache blankets, embroidered cloth, and thick carpets. My only complaint is that we weren’t there long enough.  

It's a huge pity that few people ever come up to Kashmir. The people I met there during my stay were incredibly friendly and welcoming. I never experienced the discomfort that I sometimes have traveling in India as a woman. The only people I caught taking pictures of me or staring were, for the most part, tourists from other parts of India.

Kashmir as a province relies heavily on tourism- many of their exported goods are pashminas, hand-painted boxes, and intricately carved walnut wood. Tourism here is hundreds of years old- starting from before the Mughal Emperors would come up here to relax during the summers. The owners of our houseboat have been in the business since the 1800s!

So now that the huge amounts of tourists that used to flood Kashmir have been trickling dry- though in the last few years it has increased a little- the economy (and the people) are suffering. Unfortunately for them, they don’t really see a peaceful solution coming to their political problems any time soon. The people I talked to about Kashmir were quite pleasant... until we started talking about the political situation. There was a lot of anger and resentment built up there.  Above all they want peace and stability.

I hope for them that the situation improves. As our airplane left the terminal I looked back at the view- the beautiful lakes, the mountains, the clean streets, the friendly people- and vowed to myself that I would come back again, as soon as possible, for much longer.  

Next stop: Pinky in the Pink City, with a side journey to the Pushkar Camel Fair.