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Published: June 25th 2017
Our House Boat Inside
Yes, we dined at the big table in the background, and often those little "coffee tables" you see were used for the jewelry hawkers to display their jewels for the clients.We knew as soon as we stepped off the plane in Srinagar, Kashmir, that this was going to be a different type of adventure. Our first clue was the very apparent military presence everywhere. All those soldiers sporting machine guns were just a tad bit intimidating; at least until they returned your smile. Then there was the equally obvious abundance of men everywhere, and noticeable absence of women, this being a predominantly Muslim culture. It's a good thing we were greeted at the airport by a friendly guy who took us directly to our pre-booked accommodation with the Amina Group of Houseboats on Dal Lake, the beautiful lake that borders the city of Srinagar.
We were invited to stay at this particular houseboat by Mana Jugoo, one of its owners, a very friendly man we had met earlier in our travels at Varkala Beach. Mana promised us that his family would take very good care of us if we chose to stay with them, so we decided to take him up on his offer. Although it was initially difficult for me to give up my control, after five days of living on the boat with our hosts personally organizing every
Full Moon Over Dal Lake
This was the splendor that greeted us our first night on the house boat. Although it was very cold,compared to the heat we had been accustomed to in the rest of India, this was somewhat astounding. Wow. Simply beautiful. We kept pinching ourselves. aspect of our stay in Kashmir, attending to every possible need, providing all meals, organizing our daily excursions, and even taking me shopping, Mana was really true to his word. This level of care and attention went far beyond anything we have ever experienced at any guest house or home stay, and we left feeling a little sad because we were leaving friends, not just hosts.
I need to take a moment here to elaborate on the Kashmiri shopping experience, particularly if one is living on a houseboat. First of all, vendors regularly stop by your houseboat to sell anything and everything, including exquisite jewelry and leather products. You don't even have to leave your house, because the stores come to you.This even beats internet shopping.
However, there is much more to shopping in Srinagar if you are living on a houseboat than just sitting at home and waiting for the hawkers to arrive. Did I mention that there are at least fifteen hundred of these houseboats on Dal Lake? As such, there is a vibrant tourist industry built around selling to people as they tour the lake in shakira boats. These are lovely little constructs built to
Muda and I Going Shopping
Here we go, off on our shopping mission to educate me about Kashmir shawls. Note all the shops in the background. carry two to four people, comfortably seated on a canopied foam mattress, who are gently paddled around by the guy at the back of the boat. Think Venice, but with an exotic Arabic flavor. As you tour the lake, vendors pull up alongside you and entice you to buy all kinds of items, but never bad vibe you when you decline to purchase anything. As one vendor laughingly put it: "It is my job to show you. The rest is up to God." ( In fact, this expression, translated as "Inshallah - If God wills it" was casually inserted into most conversations.) Their offerings included a variety of leather and fur goods, beautifully crafted paper mache items, and of course, saffron, the world's most expensive spice produced from the saffron flower buds grown exclusively in Kashmir. In addition, along the many canals that branch off Dal Lake, there are numerous shops carrying all of these items and more, including world class, superior quality Kashmir carpets and shawls.
So I must go back now and elaborate on that shopping experience I had with Muda Jugoo, our host who gave up his personal time to take me shopping one afternoon. We
The Himalayas from our Front Deck
This was our morning view from our boat house deck. Not too shabby. hopped in a shakira and went to two shops that specialized in fine Kashmir shawls. Upon arrival, I was invited to sit on a cloth covered, heated, cushioned floor area. I was then served saffron tea while the shopkeepers brought out a large selection of beautiful shawls, of varying qualities, and explained in great detail what the differences in quality entail. I was then entrusted to take back to my boathouse as many shawls as I liked, until I was able to decide which, if any, I wanted to purchase. Did you know that the very best quality shawl, a Pashmini Kashmir, is made from only the goat's beard hair? Or that the next best quality is made from hair taken from the goat's back and neck? Only shawls made from these two areas can be truly called Kashmirs; anything less should be identified as wool. Well, I knew none of this prior to my fun afternoon shopping with Muda.
Needless to say, Stan and I came home with some sweet stuff from the Land of Saffron, which is okay, because we had avoided any shopping for the past two months, and had been saving ourselves for the quality
The Mighty Himalayas
This was our first glimpse of Kashmir, and of the Himalayas, just before we landed. Not gonna lie. It took our breaths away. products we had been told would be waiting for us to discover here. But we did not anticipate the cultural experience that would accompany it, which is reminiscent of the old days of Persia, where trust was everything ( and still seems to be), and your potential clients were invited into your tent as guests, and treated like royalty. A little like that. Yes, I am a romantic, perhaps, but the Kashmiri shopping experience was closer to this than any mall rat experience I have ever had back home, so it put shopping into a whole new wonderful perspective.
Aside from the shopping and the friendly environment on our houseboat, what else do we have to say about Kashmir? Two things. One, the country is beautiful, even though we arrived about two weeks too soon, just before everything came into full bloom. The lakes, canals, flowers, terraced gardens that go on forever - meaning miles and miles of terraces at ridiculously high altitudes with the mighty Himalayas in the background - are completely breathtaking, and we saw only a small portion of what is out there. Two, the people are equally beautiful, as they always had a smile, or
The Saffron Flower
This is the flower from which saffron spice is produced. We were told by various sources that it takes the buds of five hundred saffron flowers to produce one ounce of saffron spice. Hence, pure saffron spice is the most expensive spice in the world. a kind word or gesture to share. Although admittedly, the absence of women anywhere we were, and subsequent inability to interact with them, leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but we can only comment on what we have experienced, and the rest shall remain to be further understood, hopefully, in time.
As for the military presence, it was definitely visible throughout Kashmir and Jammu, its neighboring northern state, but we did not witness any confrontations anywhere in our travels, and it did not effect us negatively in any way, as we were always treated kindly by the men in uniforms as well.
Our visit to Kashmir was an adventure in all respects, unlike anything we had ever experienced before, and we look forward to returning again someday. But now Dharamsala, the home of the Dalai Lama, is calling.
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