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Published: September 8th 2008
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
Jojo (Taiwan) and me at 5 o'clock at the vegetables wholesalers marketI knew that a culture shock would be waiting for me… so I prepared myself - Thank you, Jonas, for such a lot of good information about India!
Some of you told me that maybe they’re going to go to India - so I write pretty detailed… I’ll do paragraphs so you can choose those one you’re interested in - it’s a lot! Or just have a look at the photos!
As you’ll see I had to start several times to write everything down and often there was no internet - next time I try to write it in a better way!!! But if I don’t publish it now I’ll never do it. Sorry for that anyway! I tried it for 2 hours to upload fotos - but unfortunally it didn't work... ahhhhhhhhh - but I'll try it again!
Welcome to New Delhi
During my flight I was surprised about Indian music (they showed us kind of Indian MTV in the end of the flight): luckily there’s not only stressful Indian kind of music we know from Bollywood movies; there’s also a slower and western style of Indian music (for example s.th. like Ricky Martin or
RnB).
I arrived at midnight in New Delhi. Due to my lonely planet airplanes often arrive late. Also as I wanted to go directly in the morning to meet my friend Vera in a 9h bus drive difference - so I didn’t make a reservation for an accommodation. As we arrived in time I decided to go to a hostel - so I bought a prepaid-taxi ticket inside of the airport (hint of lonely planet) - when I got out of the airport lots of taxi drivers came towards me and told me that they’re official taxi drivers for the prepaid taxis… one guided me with two other helpers to his car. I was kind of scared so on the way to the taxi I asked an airplane hostess and an Indian family if the official taxis are located in the dark area we walked to… they affirmed that it’s ok. The lonely planet said I should write down the number of the taxi and give that to a police man at the airport - but outside of the building there was no police; also I shouldn’t be in a taxi alone with the driver - also impossible. During our
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
View from the boatshouse towards Srinagar - the soldiers were everywhere during the curfew but we could leave our houseboat in the morning time journey to downtown New Delhi the taxi driver explained me almost the whole trip about his trip to Bangkok where he got completely and the first time in his life drunk - he was talking like a small boy after his first borrachera/ cruda para los Mexicanos jaja/ Vollrausch. I told him in which area I would like to stay so we were looking for an available room there - it took us quite a lot of time until we found an open street to that area because the access streets were closed at night by the police - inside that area we had to drive through lots of small streets with people sleeping in wooden beds in front of the houses (not enough space inside) and a lot also laying on the floor - it was difficult not to hit them with the car. In one hotel they offered me a room until 7 o’clock in the morning because a group was about to arrive (who knows if that’s true). Later my taxi driver told me that the Japanese guy we met at the reception of that hotel paid 80 Euros per night… 8 times more than I would
have paid… (First experience with Indian fixed prices). Than we found my first hotel room: one guy sleeping in a chair at the crystal door of the entrance, another one sleeping behind the reception table - after my first time bargaining I paid 19 Euros for that night (normally cheap hostels cost between 6 and 8 Euros in New-Delhi; for the first night that middle class hotel was all right, with kind of a Western standard).
Linked/ enganyado/ verarscht at the travel agency… or: thanks to that I went to Kashmere😊
When I checked out of my hotel in New Delhi they told me at the reception that there’s a service to the tourist information - “for free”. When we got there I didn’t knew if that’s the official one because I didn’t saw any street names and how would you see that it’s the official one but an office of the drivers´ friend (now I know that it’s automatically like that). Of course I knew very well that everybody at least tries to enganyar/ verarschen me… but what can you do if you don’t know anybody and cannot read the names of the streets… The only
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
Rebecca (Austria) in the Mogul Gardens - she, her brother and her dad also stayed with me on the houseboat thing you can do is to read in the lonely planed about the prices - I did that about the prices for trains and buses to the place my friend Vera was waiting for me. For that area I was well informed.
Then everything changed… The guy at the office called at the train and bus station - he gave me the phone so that guy on the other side of the phone (who knows if it was really an employee of the bus/ train company) explained me that there’s a flood so there’re not a lot of trains/ buses going where I wanted to meet Vera - the next one would leave in 5 days (he knew that I want to go asap to the town where Vera was because she was flying back to Germany a few days later - so he invented the truco/ Trick that it’s booked out). The alternative he offered me was to go by taxi for 180 Euros to that place (bus: 8 Euros). Lately at that moment it would have been better to take my backpack and to go to the bus station - but who knows if that taxi or riksha
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
View from the Mogul Gardens to the mountains around the lake - the soldiers we were talking to at the Shiva temple think there're Kashmere independent fighters driver (compare the tuk tuks in Thailand) would have brought me to the right one - there’re a lot of bus stations (according to lonely planet) so who knows how to identify the official station. Also due to the lonely planet it was possible that there’s no bus or train to the place where I wanted to meet Vera - so I decided to stay in that travel agency.
As there was Monsun in all the other areas of India than the North I decided to go to Kashmere. They told me there are only demonstrations in Srinagar (located in the very north of India/ right to the Pakistanian boarder) so I decided to go there the next day by airplane and to stay in one of those famous houseboats.
One night in Delhi...
I asked my taxi driver (that one that also brought me to the “official tourist office”) to search a cheep room for me so (I thought) he phoned to get one for me. By the way: his name was Alley G jaja/haha. The flat was situated in an acceptable living area, 2 Euros including dinner and breakfast. In India you’ve to leave your shoes
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
One of the boats that bring goods to the houseboats - also during the curfew (we were lucky to have food and water) outside of the flat, the first room was the living room, everybody is sitting on the floor (also for eating). Then we went to an Indian market to buy my first Indian clothes - I think I was the only foreigner so with Alley G´s help (jaja/haha) I got a whole dress (trousers, scarf, long shirt) for only 9 Euros - great deal! His employed boy prepared us the food - you know me: of course I asked if I can have a look at it… do you want to know an original recipe of an Indian curry? When they were cooking I put my MP3-player because they asked me what kind of music I’m listening to: It was funny to see them dancing to Latin music (Salsa, Bachata, and Reggeton etc.), Spanish music and Hip-hop/ R´nB, English commercial music - they liked it 😊 Afterwards I was surprised because he put the same kind of music - in India they’re also listening to that kind of music. I was my first time eating in the Indian way: with the right hand. The left hand in India is the dirty hand because they use it instead of toilet paper.
Then
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
smiling owner working jaja/ hihi - one of the famous Shikaras (boats to transport people) in Srinagar a friend of my taxi driver came and we went to a bar in a 5 stars hotel (the only places rich Indians go out) - before he told me that it’s his flat where I’m staying - he didn’t want to lie before but otherwise it would have been more expensive and I surely wouldn’t have come with him - he is right😊 But to search another room at nighttime again… I preferred to stay there - my stomach feeling told me to stay there. That’s part of the culture shock: the new things you learn, if you want or not: you have to trust your stomach - your head doubts about what you’re doing in India. My stomach feeling was right: we went to nice bars in 5 stars hotels (wow, wow, wow - I felt as an Arabian princess, Dubai style. And everybody automatically talked in English. In the morning time a taxi driver waited for me outside of the house to bring me to the airport. uffff - what a trip: according to the following three rules: break, horn and good luck. but we arrived safely - on the way we saw cows in the middle
of the highways (all the animals in India are holy - they can walk and stay everywhere) and lots, lots, lots… of people next to them sleeping on the streets… - at least I was told about that part of India before so I was kind of prepared to see that - but still it was very hard.
North India/ Kashmere/ town called Srinagar - living in curfew but happy
I was the only tourist in that airplane to Srinagar. I was a little bit scared because before leaving the flat in the morning I read in a mail of my friend Vera that nobody goes at the moment to Srinagar because of the demonstrations and the conflicts there are since years... I was happy that in the airplane first they said everything in English. That made me feeling a little bit more secure, in the middle of people with Muslim and Sikh turbans. It was amazing to see the Himalayan Mountains for the very first time! Arriving at the airport of Srinagar there were a lot of soldiers with guns and turbans. It was so strange and pretty scary to see to many soldiers with turbans because
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
our living room - proper english style:)
I lived in the cheaper boat next to that one until that time I only knew them from television watching the news about wars in Afghanistan, Iraq etc.
The brother of my taxi driver Alley G was waiting for me at the airport. I forget to say that obviously I booked a stay on the houseboat of the driver’s family; he proposed me to make business together: Western tourists would trust me a lot more with the tour booking - then we would share the commission. haha/ jaja
They droved me as a princess in a colorful boat “shikara” to the houseboat - first I slept for some hours - I had to think what happened to me since I arrived in India - so much as sometimes doesn’t happen to you within one week. Then I met the other tourists that also stayed on the houseboat: the Austrian Heri with his two little children Rafael and Rebecca, Patrina from Malaysia, Jojo from Taiwan and a French guy. In the very beginning they offered me the tours in this area and I booked some: 4 for 200 Euros (first he asked me for 800 Euros!) - I knew that’s too much but there was no option to get to the
tourist offices in town (without boat), no internet, and our mobile phones from the rest of India and the world didn’t work (old D-line). Also I didn’t want to go where a lot of people are (because of the political demonstrations); we heard them screaming from far away (demonstrations).
About houseboats: The British weren’t allowed buying land in Cashmere to build houses so they build houseboats on the lake. Those we had were luxurious (mine not that much but I’ve my own boat, bathroom, 24 service including food for 25 Euros/ day). I felt completely linked (I definitely was) - at least I only paid the half for the tours until that time so I decided not to pay the rest discussing with him. Two of the four Moghul gardens (gardens that were made by the Moguls hundreds of years ago for guests) weren’t open because of the demonstrations. I also didn’t make the booked boat tour on the lake but a very cheap one with one employee of the boathouse and the Taiwanese girl. Finally I didn’t pay him the rest of the amount for the booked tours - I explained him that the price is too high respecting
the prices I could find in my lonely planet. It was interesting to get to know the Indian discussion culture! It was a long discussion...
Those of you that know me are right suspecting that I would like to lean to cook Indian food - correct 😊 I watched the grandmother of the family we stayed on the houseboat when she was cooking - very interesting! The area I stayed in the houseboat is very beautiful - a mixture between Black Forest in South West Germany and the Alps. But at the same time very different, Indian! It’s incredible: my skin is almost better than in Germany, my back isn’t hearting and until know fortunately I didn’t have any stomach problems. Of course because I always ate in Indian houses (not on the street). Muslims children go every morning to the feet of their parents to thank them - wow, strange isn’t it?
One day we went to a temple of Shiva - the people we were living with droved us there with the car - we had to pass military controls because next to the temple on the top of the hill where the temple was there was also
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
my room in the houseboat - the British invented houseboats because they were not allowed to buy land and to build houses there a military camp located. It was very interesting to talk to them! First about the background why there are such a lot of soldiers …
About the Cashmere conflict (North India)
Also at the time when the British have been in India (until the 50´s) this area was controlled by the Maharajah. Since some decades there’s a Cashmere government. Only people from this area (Kashmere) are allowed to buy land there. 85% of the people in Srinagar are Muslims (we hear 5 times a day a priest singing from a Mosque, especially on Fridays). They are allowed to make business (they have no cast system as in the rest of India) and make money with tourists; they want to be independent. 2 months ago the Cashmere government sold a huge land to an Indian businessman (not Kashmere people) so now people have fear that that happens more so that people from India would have cheap workforce but would carry the money to India. So they’re demonstrating on the streets, normally peacefully because they know that the Indian soldiers have much much more power. But one day they throw stones towards Indian soldiers - so the next day there
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
the cooooooool grandfasther Gulam - he made the whole day long joints in his cigarettes. very wise man and very good English knowledge - we talked about everything as we had lots of time during the curfew was curfew (nobody can leave his/ her house; soldiers are allowed to kill people that don’t respect that). At that moment I was scared and I hoped to get out of Cashmere healthy and asap. But both parties (the Cashmere people we were living with and also the Indian soldiers we talked to) said that both don’t do anything against tourists because they need them because of our money. But you never know of course…
Next to the temple I was talking about before we talked to some soldiers. They’re listening there to what Cashmere people´re talking about in the mountains (they said they’re there in bunkers with guns but the man we’re staying with said that’s not true) and also in Pakistan (Srinagar is about 200 km far away from the boarder). One soldier from Hyderabad told me that only poor people go to the army, that they’re slaves of the government - but they get 3 months holidays a year. Our driver told us that they get alcohol for free from the government (man of Kashmere not India). They also cannot leave that hill because they would kill them in the village because they know because of their
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
the grandmother - unfortunately she could not really speak English. She cooked all the day, the employees from Nepal helped her. Of course I wrote down the recipes:) skin color that they’re not from Cashmere. They’re crazy about the European soccer championship and saw every game - incredible! Very friendly persons - one Muslim, on Sikh and one Hindi…
I still wanted to leave Srinagar. The governmental employees are striking so the buses don’t leave but the people I was living with promised me to organize at least a jeep to leave. I think if the other tourists haven’t been here I would have felt a little bit as in a prison - but as they also stayed there and the people we were living with are very nice I enjoyed it very much. What I didn’t like was that without a boat I could not leave that place and there were soldiers everywhere; I didn’t know how aggressive they are or if I can trust them as a tourist.
I don't want to miss this experience to have lived in that super lovely Cashmere family! We lived in five different buildings around a small garden, in the front the two tourist houseboats on the lake Dal. The mother (see picture) was cooking the whole day long - spending lots of time and all her love in
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
Okra (vegetables) with masala, curry and chili cooking. The employed guys from Nepal always helped her; it was a shame that she doesn't know a lot of English - but as you can imagine I wrote down all the recipes I could😊 Her husband knows a lot of English - a very wise old man, and very cool (see picture) - we talked about everything and he was smoking joints the whole day long - vaya personaje welch Persoenlichkeit! As we couldn't leave the last days of my stay our house (because of the curfew) we teached computer to the Malaysian woman, talked a lot with the Austrian, French, Malaysian and Taiwanese tourists - I didn't feel as in prison because as we got everything via the floating boats in the morning time we had enough food and water and the soldiers were 400 meters away from the houseboats in the lake. The people in the city of Srinagar (1 million in the whole valley) didn't have food so when there was the first deal so everybody could go on the streets for 2-3 hours anybody tried to buy anything one could. Also my skin was very good - I didn't need any cortisone crème (in BCN
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
Indian food: rice, beens, vegetables every 2 days).
Trying to get out of Srinagar...
Heri, the Austrian guy and his two children had to leave Srinagar because of their return flight to Austria. So Nissar, one son of the houseboat owners, organized a taxi for them to go to the airport - but the taxi driver didn't arrive because soldiers broke his arm for the reason that he didn't have a curfew pass (permit). Then they had to go to the police station to get a curfew pass but when the tourist were on the way to the airport soldiers beated the owner of the houseboat; soldiers don't beat them when locals are with tourists.
In the very beginning I felt very linked of the sons of the family. Alley G who is living in Delhi (my taxi driver from the hotel to the travel agency) and also his brother that normally is living in Japan. He came back home for some months for not leaving his parents all the time alone - it's very normal in Cashmere that the sons and their wives live together with the family in the same house and take care of them. He forced me in the
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
Finally there was a deal during the curfew so we could leave houses for 2/3 hours. The people in town tried to get as much food as they could (they run out of food) very beginning just after my arrival to Srinagar without sleeping and still hidden by the culture shock to buy a very expensive package for tourist attractions in that area (he began with 800 Euros for 5 attractions), I bargained it down to 200 Euros. I knew that it was still to expensive - but he gave me most of the money back as we couldn't do most of the things because of the curfew. It was an interesting discussion, together with Heri, the guy from Austria - at least he lives in Japan and so he's used that he also has to listen to woman but still he got angry with when I told him not to talk to me in the very rude aggressive way he was talking to me. Later he asked me as a little child to forgive him; I suppose my reaction was new for him - cultural differences!
It's a shame for the Cashmere people that because of the conflict a lot of tourists don't come to that beautiful area - the brothers only try to help their parents as much as they can; right now they are already earning money for the next months
Shrinagar/ Kashmere/ Northwest-India
As far as I know there doesn't exist any rubbish system in India - everything ends on the street - animals eat it (they are holy and everywhere) when very few tourist will come to their houseboats. But of course that's no excuse for the high prices they wanted to charge! That's why we decided to discuss with him unless we depended on him and his connection to get out of the city...
Goodbye Srinagar
One day before I finally left Srinagar there was a deal so for two hours people could leave our houses to buy food (they say it some minutes via radio and the mosques so people wouldn't have the time to organize a demonstration). For the people that are living in town it's very important because they run out of food - in the houseboats we had enough food from the morning market and the floating boats. As you can see in the pictures people tried to get anything they could. Fortunately people behave quite (they didn't threw stones at the soldiers) so the next days there were also deals to leave the houses. So Jojo, the Taiwanese girl from the houseboat, grandfather Gulam and me walked to the private jeep station to see if there are jeeps the next day heading to Kargil - there's no governmental bus service at all because
on the way from Srinagar to Sonamarg
Finally I found a taxi driver with a curfew pass to bring me out of Srinagar - this scene was on the way of the curfew.
A Dutch woman I met on the street said she called the embassy and they told her to leave that area asap. As soldiers broke the arm of the taxi driver without curfew pass permission and as soldiers also beated our houseboat family Jojo and me decided to go by ourselves with our baggage to the police station (20 minutes) where we could get a lift to the airport. I'll never forget this situation: nobody on the streets without soldiers every X meters and us two, all shops closed - the soldiers were as in all the other days very friendly to us as tourists, always asking us where we're from and how we're today - what a question in that strange situation! Luckily after a few minutes we saw the Dutch woman just arriving with a boat to get her jeep so we could go with her to the airport. It was very funny: we had to pass a loooooot of checkpoints of the Indian army. Normally you only get to the airport if you show them your ticket (that we didn't have) - but as obviously none of the soldiers could read we got there
Sonamarg (between Srinagar and Kargil/ Leh)
Pony riding with the travel group from Slowakia to a glacier with a smiling and the two tickets of the Dutch woman and her Cashmere husband.
At the airport there was a fight for the tickets - I just wanted to leave that place, as a lot of other tourists. As the flights from the day before were cancelled the flights were very expensive to Delhi. I also didn't want to go there already because of the Monsun that was still in that area. So I was waiting for hours for anything to happen - the Cashmere husband of the Dutch woman was talking by phone to organize a jeep for me, the flight tickets changed their prices every x minutes etc. - but as one knew in India usually it helps just to wait (for better prices or another solution) - so later I talked to 3 police men and about 10 taxi drivers: Finally I found a jeep driver with a curfew pass to Sonamarg (confirmed by a police man that obviously could read), a small village 85 km away from Srinagar, a save place. Incredibly it was also possible to bargain the price of official airport taxi prices that were written on an information board. I was so
happy to get out of this place - fortunately there was a deal at the moment we left Srinagar so we didn't have to show our passport and curfew pass every x minutes. Sometimes we had to carry soldiers with us to the place they lived. They were also very friendly, explained me about the conflict and thanked me to carry them with me - anyway there was no other chance.
Sonamarg (a small village between Srinagar towards Kargil and Leh, in the beginning of the Himalaya, looks like Swiss Alps)
Thanks to my lonely planet I found a good accommodation and also a nice restaurant for lunch - luckily since I've been here I never had any kind of stomach problems! People here in the north of India have good water and fresh food! In Sonamarg there're a lot of soldier camps - I saw every day heading more soldier trucks towards Srinagar and was so happy not to be there anymore - the Dutch woman also informed me that the Indian government now is sending very cruel soldiers to Srinagar (people that used to be in prison and became soldiers afterwards); I also saw in television
Sonamarg (between Srinagar and Kargil/ Leh)
the glacier - looks like the Alps, doesn't it? that Pakistanian terrorists came to India and are planning attacks - a good time to leave!
In Sonamarg after some hours waiting time I found a possibility to call my parents after 9 days - luckily I could call them once from the houseboat in Srinagar to tell them that I'm fine and that I won't have internet or telephone so they weren't worry (at least I think so)!
Suddenly there arrived a nice travel group from Slovakia so I went pony riding with them to see a glacier - very nice but it was so sad to see very small children working. Especially there I had to tell to all the Indian people my usual story that my German boyfriend is waiting for me in Delhi and we're already engaged and living together. Uffff - without that story and my sleeping bag called clothes (see picture of my profile) I would have some problems... we also saw a lot of Nomad families on the pony tracking that travel every year about 300 km from there to Jammu.
Kargil (direction Leh in the Himalayan mountains, North India)
Luckily the Slowakian group had one seat free in their jeeps
on the way from Sonamarg to Kargil
I was lucky that the Slowakian travel group had one seat free so I could easily head on towards Leh (vehicles need a curfew pass). They're about to built a new street - most of the streets are still horrible so I could go with them very cheap from Sonamarg to Kargil. Fortunately they had a list of all the data of the travel members and also paid a little bit of money to the soldiers so we could pass the checkpoints very easily. The first night I stayed in a hotel for 3 Euros - have a look at the bathroom... but this was still a good one. They knocked on the door at 7 o’clock to bring me hot water to take a shower - so I had to get up... ahhhh! One day later everything was closed because of elections in Kargil - when I tried to make a reservation on the bus station I met 3 German guys that wanted to go to Srinagar. As nothing worked we stayed in a nice guest house with a crazy owner. His house seemed to be still under construction - but that’s the way people are living here (see pictures). Everything is so dusty and dry - not good for my skin... He told us a lot about Muslim culture and the democratically election (the richest man gives money to the poor people to win the elections; unless it
on the way from Sonamarg to Kargil
Soldier camps everywhere - now I'm used to see soldiers everywhere, especially in the North of India because it's very closed to Pakistan and China takes 5 days until they have the result before everybody already know who's going to be the winner), also you can elect several times telling them every time another name - he was always laughing about those election games😊 He was very honest and we talked to him until late in the night, especially about his women😊
Kargil is a very strange town - more Pakistanian than Indian style: most of the people are Muslims, you here (as also in Srinagar) 5 times a day the maizin (?) calling the people to pray - it's better to have a look at the pictures than to explain. Sometimes we hated Kargil because it was so dusty and dirty and it seems that there’s nothing to do than walk around. So we also walked around, took photos with the young people there etc. - and we tried to organize buses/ jeeps to go on with our journey (it’s hard work).
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Ulises Abadia
non-member comment
Adelante amiga
Eso amiga me encanta tu viaje,,, dale dale conoce aprende y sigue viviendo... te mando mucho sol abrazos y buena onda ulises