Blogs from Jammu City, Jammu & Kashmir, India, Asia

Since the reception on Wednesday didn't start until the evening, and there were no more rituals and ceremonies, I had a free day. One of my other friends (Neha) is also from Jammu, and she was originally planning to come up from Delhi to attend the reception, but was unfortunately unable to make it. She offered to have her cousins show me around town and visit the monkey temple (I told anyone who'd listen that I Must See Monkeys during my trip), but I was so zonked from staying up all night that I slept most of the day, then just stayed in my room until I was picked up for the reception. I was shocked to learn that Shashank and Rupal had to stay up all night (playing games and conversing with family after I ... read more

Anirudha and Tejas had already deposited the bikes at the Bandra Terminus. Having anticipated the meager opportunity of bathing in Ladakh, we showered to the heart’s content, put on the cleanest clothes, handed over the house keys to the neighbor and gathering our bags climbed down the stairs with mixed feelings. Excitement, dilemma, unease, recklessness and sense of adventure, everything had grasped our tiny minds when we were marching towards Bandra. The first thing that we did when we met our fellow riders at the train station was to mentally inspect their luggage and resolve if that would fit on the bike and if ours was heavier and/or heftier than theirs. Ours definitely was! Anyways, we treated our tummies under the pretex of passing the time until the train arrives and then with an air of ... read more

Apart from the sensual overload of sights, smells, noise and people, probably the first thing a foreigner notices on arrival in India is the pollution and litter. Even amongst the decrepit housing, animals wandering the streets and the unwholesome smells, it is often the litter and garbage that stands out most notably. In his 2003 publication ‘Rewriting Indian History’, Francois Gautier put forward the theory that, as a spiritual leader of the world, India and its inhabitants have a reputation for being more introspective and inward-looking than other peoples, which is why the beautiful country has such little regard for its environment. Internal happiness aside, trash has created utter turmoil in India’s external surroundings. Deforestation levels are indeed unsustainable in many parts of the country although, admittedly, Indian landscapes are in far less danger than the ... read more

We were in Jammu and wanted to get away from the heat, up to the old British hill station of Dalhousie. According to the Lonely Planet there was one bus a day; our hotel manager told us that it left at 8.00 a.m.. Just to be on the safe side we got to the bus station at 6.30 a.m., and were confronted by a hellish scene of total chaos. Hundreds of people milling about in all directions, ankle deep in rubbish, struggling with all kinds of oversized and bizarre luggage. Vendors, touts, hustlers, and beggars, all plying their various trades. Here and there a large pile of rags, which turned out, on closer inspection, to be a person asleep on the floor, surrounded by their worldly possessions. Dozens of buses of all kinds, colours, and states ... read more

As I tipped one of the managers of the houseboat as I left (with all the money I had on me) he counted it out, smiled sadly and said "i am sorry the service was not good enough". But no matter. I was leaving Srinagar, I was leaving the vicious circle of guided tours and touts, I had no hotel booked in Jammu, no-one to meet me at the station and take me somewhere expensive. THings were going to change. The bus journey fro Srinagar to Jammu is not something I want to remember, beyond it being 12 hours of my life I wish had never happened. Particular low-lights include throwing up out of the back window, and forcibly removing my neighbours hand from my thigh, 3 times (after which I changed seats). The lonely planet ... read more