Leaving Kashmir

Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007--Srinagar

My breakfast is getting better at the hotel. Today my omelette had chopped red and green peppers in it. Guess the waiter told the kitchen I was using lots of chile sauce and they decided to make it better for me.

Since it was Sunday, I decided to make outings to two of the gardens around town. While waiting for the bus, I asked Javid who was also waiting to help me get on the right one. He said he was going to the same area, since his home is there. We eventually had to walk to another bus stop, since the one we were at was so crowded that each bus became full from people getting on it. He's a plumber with a bachelor's degree. We sat together and visited along the way. I was enjoying his company, so when he asked if I would like him to go to the gardens with me I was happy to accept. He showed me his turnoff to his home which was only a short distance (walking distance) from the Nishat Gardens. We went inside and wandered around seeing the beautiful flowers. They were so bright in color that they reminded me of the powders one sees in shops here in India for use by Hindus--vivid reds, oranges, yellows, etc. We sat under the shade of a big tree that grows only here and in Iran and visited. He had gotten a phone call and needed to meet his family in about 45 minutes after our arrival, but the gardens are not so big to see, and we were ready to depart then. I stayed a while longer, though, to take some photos of the flowers and of the children swimming in the waters of the large pool there.

I began walking toward Shalimar Gardens after that. Both Shalimar and Nishat were built by Mughal princes hundreds of years ago. They are well maintained and wonderful places to visit. Best of all, they charge the same entrance price for tourists that they do for locals. Each costs only about 35 cents U.S. to enter. Anyway, just a few steps down the road, a car stopped. It was a local man asking where I was going. He offered to give me a ride, and when I said I was going to the university after that, he said that his home was near the university, that he had some business to take care of right now, and that he would pick me up outside Shalimar in 40 minutes and take me to his home for tea and then to the university. Shalimar is similar to Nishat--a little smaller but nicer in some ways. Both were a pleasure to visit. Inside both gardens, I met many nice people who wanted to talk. That's one of the best things about Kashmir--the friendliness of the people here and the fact that most of them speak English well enough to have a general conversation.

As he said, the man was outside Shalimar waiting for me. As with almost everyone in Kashmir, his friendliness was sincere but with an ulterior motive. He owns houseboats. So we had our tea on the houseboat so I could see it and tell others about it. His houseboats are nice, I think, because they are attached to the land and a person can come and go without having to have a boatman. The boat was also in excellent condition. He rents single rooms for 500 rupees ($12.50 per day with no meals and goes up from there for meals to be included) and rents doubles with all meals for 2000 rupees ($50) per day. It would be a pleasant place to stay, but it requires a bus ride (cheap at about 10 cents) to go into town.

I saw the university campus and walked back to the city from there. It was maybe 45 minutes to an hour to walk, but I hadn't been in that area before. Getting back to my hotel completed a large loop that took me all the way around Dal Lake.

After resting briefly in my room, I headed out to eat. Juneed was outside when I passed his place, so I visited with him for a while. Then I went to the same Punjabi place where I had eaten two days ago. This time I had a dish that was paneer cheese in an orange sauce, a dish of red beans that tasted somewhat like what we call chili beans at home, and chipati flat breads.

Monday, Aug. 13, 2007--Srinagar and Gulmarg

I feel like I am a goodwill ambassador here in Kashmir. Everyone asks where I am from. When I say, "USA," I worry about about their reactions. They have been positive, though. I have seen signs, however, that show images of imams and say, "We fear neither the East nor the West." Anyway, by being friendly and telling people how nice Kashmir is, I hope I am helping them accept that Americans can be nice people.

Light ran fell during the night. It cleared the air some so that it isn't so hazy. I couldn't tell if it would continue, but it looked as if the day would be nice. I was up early, because I wanted to go into the mountains for the day at a resort. The easy way to get there is via a state transport bus that goes directly there at 8:30 from the bus station, so I had an early breakfast and was there at 8:00. But they told me there were only 7 passengers and that the bus would be canceled if more didn't show up. By 9:00, they were still waiting. I didn't want to wait longer. Instead, I took a local bus to an outlying station. There I caught a bus to Talmarg which took almost 2 hours. Then I caught another bus from there to Gulmarg--about 40 more minutes.

Gulmarg is a resort. In the summer, they offer picnicking, pony riding, hiking, and golfing. In the winter, they have skiing, ice skating, and other winter activities. It is a remote area that is not well developed. Most of the lodging is far below 4- and 5-star. It's actually, the kinds of places where I normally stay. Western tourists usually go there, but most of the tourists are Indians. The air is fresh and there are lots of nice trees. Instead of taking the skiing gondola up, I hiked up the mountain on one trail and then returned on another. It was nice to be out. There was a wonderful, small valley up there with grass-roofed houses and a stream running through it. A little higher was another valley where a local man was watching his cattle. I saw almost no one while I was up there hiking.

The people up in the mountains were interestingly different. They tend to wear native costumes more than the city people. The men wore fur caps like Karzai, the president of Afghanistan wears. The women reminded me of gypsies in appearance. They wear scarves on their heads that are tight against the skull, then wrapped around and tied in back to hand down there. They usually have dangling earrings of gold and have very dark skin (I guess from being in the sun so much doing outdoor work).

As I got out of the bus to transfer in Talmarg on the way to Gulmarg, my knee bumped against the door where a piece of metal was sticking out. It ripped the leg of one of my two pairs of long pants and it cut my knee slightly. I used water to clean it, and a man on the next bus had a first aid cream and put some on it. I'm glad my tetanus shot is still good (got it about 9 years ago). This is the second time I have injured myself on bus doors on this trip. I cut the back of my hand on a bus door in Indonesia a few weeks ago.

I was tired when I got back to the city. It had taken hours on 6 buses to make the round trip. I passed Juneed's father on the way to the hotel and had to explain about my torn pants. He told me to go change and bring them back to take to his tailor. So I did that. I don't know what the repairs will be like, but I need two pairs of long pants here in India where it isn't really considered proper for men to wear shorts, especially when going to special sites and religious mosques and temples.

I returned to the kebab place for dinner. I had three skewers this time. The boy who waits tables was so cute as he recognized me and decided to become my teacher this time. He had brought bread and the sauces, and I was writing in my journal as I waited for the meat. He came to me and said that they were starters, implying that I should be already eating and not waiting for the meat. Then when the meat came, he watched me using a piece of the flat bread to push the meat down and off the skewer a few pieces at a time. He asked if I would like him to show me the easy way. He held the skewer in one hand, grabbed the meat in the other hand, and twisted and pulled. It all came off at one time onto the plate. Then he repeated it for the other skewer.

I went to bed with lightning in the distance. Then it began to rain. The hard rain continued through the night.

Travel Note: Tomorrow, I fly to Leh. It is more remote than here, so I don't know what to expect there related to cyber cafes. Also, tomorrow is Independence Day (60 years) here in India and in Pakistan. There will be big celebrations everywhere. I hope they don't create problems for me getting to/from the airports and finding a hotel. Because of the differences between the two countries, there could also be demonstrations, I guess, here near the border. My guess is that it will be a good day to travel, however. I'll get online as soon as possible after I get there. No news means good news, since all travelers to here have to complete information forms for notifying people if a problem occurs with them while visiting in the area. So if it takes me a few days to get on a computer and there is silence, it means I am fine and just having a problem getting access.