Advertisement
Published: September 9th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Well the whole reason we ended up in Kashmir was because we were vulnerable to the heat in Delhi and found some comfort in a touts air-conditioned office. It did have "government approved" above the door but what that stands for I am not to sure. Still we were happy to sit and listen to the wonderful stories and view some beautiful pictures of Kashmir. In the end we were on a flight to Srinigar and off to stay on on a houseboat on the Nageem Lake.
The first thing I notice when we landed was the cool crisp air - i could actually breath but the sun was still shining. Yes we thought this was much more comfortable. I didnt know to much about Kahmir and my lonely planet advised for toursits not to go because of the political situation but this was an old version dated 2001 and by all accounts it was very safe for tourists now.
The second thing I noticed was the strong Islamic presence. When entering Srinigar airport we needed to fill out a form to say where we were staying. I later realised that this form meant that our houseboat manager was
More shopping
for things i have no room for! I bought a gorgeous handpainted mii jewllery box. legally responsible for our saftey whislt in Kashmir. I started to worry.... why would there be any concern over our safety? mmm I let it go and enjoyed our jeep trip to the houseboat witnessing a fumdamental Islamic culture before me. Very different to Delhi's more relaxed Hindu approach. I could hear prayers chanting from the Mosques and as it was Friday there were many more prayer's than usual. It was lovely to see as we approached some of the most beautiful scenery.
Finally we arrived at the houseboat well what can i say it was a paradise situated on the lake with some mountains behind us and the gentle prayers in the background this was going to be the most relaxing 3 days ever. Sipping some Kashmir tea I was very happy that we went with our tout back in Delhi despite it being a little overpriced. But this wasnt the end of it. I came to realise that within all of this beauty and tranquility came an overwhelming feeling of fear.
The problem was the hard sell from the houseboat manager mr mostafa ! The tout in Delhi makes his money merely by sending us there.
Flowerman
Whether we want flowers or not we had no choice! The manager in Kashmir makes his money from selling mountain treks which dont come cheap especially if it wasnt something you planned to do. Well he didnt let up and went on and on fortunately we pretended to be interested which gave him a glimer of hope that he would make money from us (this guy is not someone to feel sorry for) dressed in the tightest of tight white jeans, belt of course, shades at all times, slicked back wet looking hair and so on a real smooth geezer, the man, the legend!
This glimer of hope meant we were treated well and looked after. A lovely Kiwi couple arrived the day after and refused to do any of the actitivies and they were treated not so well i.e. were made to sign a disclaimer which would counter act the one signed at the airport which said the houseboat is no longer responsible for their saftey. Everytime we went into town we were escorted as a precaustion and they were not. They were not even allowed any bottled water!
Well despite some of the pitfalls we did have an amazing time taking boat trips along the lakes,
Sunset
paradise for sure a trip to see K2 from a gundalet,we were invited into our drivers family home which considted of 50+ member's of family living under one roof!!!!
Finally we took a jeep from Srinigar to Jammu through the mountains and back down a breath taking, terrifying trip on a samll cliff road until we reached the cloudes.
I was pleased to get the hell out of Kashmir i felt as though i was under the houseboats control at all times and if we didnt buy enough they could make life difficult for us. The trips we did go on and pay for went stargight into mr mostafa's pockett and the poor people that rowed our boat for 4 hours in the hottest part of the day merely relied on tips. Similar to this, on the trip to K2 we had a man maybe 65 + that accompanied us to the top viewpoint. Again he spent 3 hours walking in midday heat to receive nothing but whatever we choose to give. It was awful but we were constantly putting our hands in our pocketts to make up for the mistreated slaves of mostafa. Further more, the politcial situation in Kahmir
is much better otherwise they would not allow tourist into the country. Toursist were banned years ago but today it is safe and they are encouraging tourism in a big way. You can still feel the political tension here its hard to foget when there are so many check points, searches for weapons on roads that appear quiet, soliders and police are seen nearly every 200 meters - this is a way of life here. Unfortuantely within this paradise I did feel uncomfortable with the military presense and the fear that people lived in.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.068s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0426s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb