Trekking in Kashmir

On our drive to Srinagar we passed through so many beautiful mountain ranges that we immediately knew we had to get up there to get a closer look. Due to its history of turmoil, the trekking scene here is not as developed as in other parts of India or Nepal. There is also limited information and maps available of trekking options. For that reason we decided to book a packaged trek through our hotel, which meant we got a guide, a cook, four horses and a horseman; we didn't have to carry anything!

Our first night we spent in the village of Naranag at our guides house. We also visited the ruins of a Hindu temple right in the village.

Our second day we were off:

Seeing as we were in Kashmir, we passed some soldiers on their way down from an alpine camp. Of course, they stopped for photos.

The views from our base camp were spectacular. 

Of course, the views got even better as we hiked up higher. We visited a couple of lakes and scrambled up a rocky ridge.

Our base camp was at a little Gypsy hut. The crew slept inside by the fire and our tent was actually originally inside as well but we had to move it outside due to the wood fire smoke. We found a flaw in these gypsy houses: they have fire pits inside without chimneys. Only windows located on the wall directly behind the fire pit and then the roof pitches up away from those windows. The result: smoke billows up past these windows and goes up to the highest point where it cools and then drops down to where we were sitting and sleeping. There were times when we couldn't even sit inside because our eyes were burning!

We had the absolute best team! Our guide, Riyaz, was young and energetic, our horseman Fiyaz took his job very seriously but our cook, Afzal, was the one who stole the show. When we first met Afzal I immediately assumed he was a very conservative, serious man. He came in to the hotel lobby wearing the Kashmiri traditional dress, introduced himself and shook our hands. He was friendly but quiet. As soon as we were all dropped off at the trail head and it was time for lunch though; he switched 'on'! What a character! He was announcing meals like he was announcing the Queen of England was coming, he would greet us with big smiles and a loud sing-songy "Good morning! Good sleep?", he would show off his knife skills by looking at the ceiling as he was chopping onions and garlic. He would even randomly break into Kashmiri songs while cooking; singing his heart out while pumping his shoulders up and down with his arms in the air, or even grabbing the nearest walking stick to use as an air guitar to sing out loud "I am a disco dancer!".  He even gave me a cooking lesson :)

One of his most impressive skills though was fishing. During our first day in the alpine, our guide led us up to Gangbal lake and Afzal came along. As we were approaching the river that flows from the lake, Afzal turned to us and said "Madam! Do you want to try to catch fish with your hands too?" to which I responded "Ya right..." He ran up ahead of us and once we caught up, he had taken all his clothes off, save for his long underwear, which were rolled up to his thighs, standing in the ice cold river catching trout with his bare hands. He would slowly creep up to a rock, slowly put his arms around to the front of it, and then grab the little brown trout! He caught 12 fish!!! Tom and I stood with our jaws dropped in complete shock that this was happening. Our guide gave it a shot and caught 2 fish. A total of 14 fish, which turned into a yummy dinner and then lunch the next day. 

The trip was super fun and the crew definitely did their best to ensure we were comfortable. We were asked many times if we were happy and they were glad to modify anything to make sure we were. Our guide had told us that his goal is to make sure we are satisfied with our trip so that we go back and tell others in our country how beautiful Kashmir is. Well, Kashmir is beautiful and we highly recommend visiting!

Journey to Kashmir

The plan, after Leh, was to take a jeep south to Manali. It is a famously beautiful drive over several high mountain passes on a notoriously bad road. It is one of those "must do's" in our guide book and we heard of several tourists doing that route. Although, after actually speaking with them in more detail it started to sound less and less appealing...Two days of driving on a bad, unpaved mountaineous road being rattled around inside a jeep for up to six hours a day for the low low price of $300CDN(!!!). Instead we opted for the other road going west towards Srinagar. Srinagar is the capital of Jammu-Kashmir and has seen several years of war but since the turn of the century it has slowly shifted towards peace and order. What attracted us was that it is known as the Switzerland of the Himalayas and the culture was promising to be very different.

In Leh, we hired a jeep to take us the twelve hour drive and over three mountain passes. I am happy to report that we made it safely! Our driver was really good and cautious but although the road started out reasonable:

it slowly became perilous...What I didn't realize at first was that we had to redo that same scary drive to Lamayuru which we took a few weeks ago.

We made it up two of the three high passes with no problems and were welcomed with the mandatory prayer flags and notice board.

After about eight hours of driving and having made it up some pretty scary roads, I was starting to get used to it and accepted that all the drivers knew what they were doing. I was letting go of my stress and fear of spontaneously rolling off the edge of the cliffs. But then we arrived at our third and final pass. Only thing I can say about that is WTF - stress was back and rolling off the side of the cliff was becoming a serious possibility (And yes, it was possible AND most likely probable).

As if driving this pass was not scary enough - we got stuck in a truck traffic jam! Turns out the trucks are not able to make it up the pass in one go: they overheat. This results in trucks being pushed uphill by a group of guys using rocks behind the wheels to prevent it from rolling back and then trucks going downhill trying to sneak by them. This with all the cars weaving their way through this mess. 

We made it; we arrived in Srinagar!!!

When we made the decision to go to Srinagar I will admit I was a nervous. Kashmir has some rough history: Kashmir used to be an independant country until 1947 when during Partition Pakistan and India were divided: Muslims on one side, Hindus on the other. Kashmir was on its own, a Princely state, right smack in the middle. Since the people are muslim, Pakistan decided that they should be part of Pakistan and invaded. Kashmir turned to India for help, which they did with an agreement through the UN that they would help get rid of the Pakistani and then hand over Kashmir back to the Kashmiri. Unfortunately, what has actually happened is that Kashmir is now split into two: Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and India Occupied Kashmir. The Indian army is still here and very present; you see them at almost every street corner. In the 90's there was a revolt by the people of Kashmir who wanted the Indian army out, which resulted in a lot of deaths and many years of turmoil. Now, there are still some protests for independance but in general the underlining concensus is that Kashmir wants PEACE.

The people of Kashmir are probably some of the most welcoming and warm people we have ever met. We have been stopped on the streets and thanked for visiting. We have met people who want to know where we are from and what we think of the food. We met a nice rickshaw driver who brought us to see the beautiful Mughal gardens where we saw many families enjoying their day off (There are regular city wide shutdowns or strikes. Recently its against a beef ban that the Indian PM is trying to impose).

We have made friends with the family that owns our hotel and they have been nothing but incredibly welcoming. Sam, the youngest brother, has kindly let us tag along as he visits family and friends around the city. On one of the stops we visited his cousin on his private little island in the middle of Dal lake.

We then spent an evening at a Sufi party where we listened to wonderful Sufi music; a reknown local singer stopped by too! It was an interesting experience of lounging around sitting on the floor leaning on cushions, having tea and watching these men sing.

I was warmed by the conversations. We were reminded that although we are from different religions we all believe in the same God. We all have the same goodness inside of us and we should always look for that good. As this was being translated to us the old men would sit there smoking their hooka, smoke billowing around, with these incredibly warm smiles on their face. You could almost see the kindness radiating from them.

The next day, we ended up at a cousins wedding: the henna night. We were celebrating with the groom's side of the family on a houseboat on Dal Lake.

The event was much less formal than what we'd imagine; it was like a big family gathering at a cottage. There was a lot of hanging around, talking, tea drinking and eating. The outdoor kitchen was impressive; there was so much food being prepared and cooked over an huge bon fire!

The night finished off with a henna ceremony. The grooms father puts henna on the grooms pinky finger and then they wrap his finger with rolls of money. From what I gathered: once the henna dries the darker the stain on  your finger the more successful your marriage will be and the money is additional well wishes.

One of the benefits about being in a Muslim area is the meat! Kashmir is known for their delicious mutton BBQ, their meat filled Wazwan (which means "whatever the chef made") and harisa (mutton paste with cardamom, cloves and other spices eaten with flatbread for breakfast)

I am so glad we came to Srinagar. Sometimes its the most unexpected places where you will have the most memorable experiences.