I'm writing about my 6 day trip to Kashmir which I undertook with my friends a few months back. I know it has been quite a while but the memories of that place are afresh as if it was just yesterday.
I had the good fortune of visiting Kashmir in the end of July, a few months before the catastrophe that struck the true heaven on earth. For long, our band of 4 - Hussey, Maggie, Prince Little and I were planning a trip which never seemed to materialise. One day Hussey (A Kargil native) and Prince Little, who's a hotshot expat working in a multi-million dollar corporation in Doha, put their foot down and coerced us into making plans to explore Kashmir and so, we made arrangements to make that happen.
We arrived in Srinagar Friday morning in two different flights (I'd tried to book tickets through "promotional offers" and got the last available ticket that a dirt cheap flight while the the others booked the next cheap flight). At least, I was spared from Prince Little's obsession with clouds as he snapped uncountable and virtually indifferent shots from the window seat).
The tiresome travels of the day - an early morning flight, delayed a couple o'hours, followed by an hour long cab ride to the Houseboat that we had reserved for the day didn't muffle our enthusiasm to go dive headfirst into the beauty that is Kashmir.
We dropped our bags, picked up Tandoori rolls and Shawarmas from a nearby joint and hopped on to yet another cab to reach the infamous Dal Lake. It was still July but instead of any monsoon rain, we were midst a cool breeze mixed up with a pinch of heat from the sun in a clear sky as we walked by the lakeside, facing the mountains, often called upon by the parked Shikara owners.
We finally gave in to their constant bickering and took one around the lake, stopping at cloth shops and small huts on the way and capturing yet again, numerous snapshots of the day.
Next up, our guides Hussey and his cousin, Parwana, took us up to the Mughal Gardens, claiming to show us the best ever sunset point there is.
After spending hours on end on the edge of the stone garden wall, sipping freezing mountain mineral water and munching chips, we finally witnessed the ethereal beauty of the setting sun, clearly the highlight of our first day.
With an authentic Wazwani feast and some bedtime poker, we bid adieu to Day 1, settling into our beds inside the ever rocking cradle that was our houseboat on Lake Nageen.
We barely got 5-6 hours of sleep that night. Hussey and Prince Little were fast asleep but a rooster and a dog owned by the houseboat woman woke up me & Maggie at 4 am. If my stomach hadn't been full of Wazwani chicken, I would've broken my fast on this one.
Complaining and grumping, we got ready for a 6 hour long journey to Kargil, where Hussey was born and brought up.
The cab ride was quite comfortable and the sights outside the window were worth staying awake and snapping the camera button for. Moreover, the cab driver's stereo had but one cassette that played only a handful of songs. "Ai jaate hue lamhon" from the Border, a classic war movie that recounts the 1971 Indo-Pak war, kept playing as we soaked in the serenity of the mountains and coincidentally, keep seeing army camps here and there.
Soon enough we reached Hussey's abode. We entered the 3-storied home built upon a small hill and the first thing we saw on passing the house gate was a small garden in the front lawn, with a giant apricot tree in the centre. We entered the house, put our luggage down and slumped on the comfy couch while Hussey went to meet his family.
Except Hussey, all of us hail from New Delhi and nearby areas and it was the first time we were meeting his next to kin. They understand only a bit of Hindi but they were really warm and welcoming, as everyone from that region is.
Everyone says it's the mountain water that gives it that irresistible taste but whatever it was, we barely looked at the chicken and devoured the rajma as if it was our last day on earth.
We spent the rest of the evening by a rivulet, sitting, throwing stones and talking. Me and Prince Little even got our shoes off and dipped our feet into the ice cold water just for the heck of it. I don't really remember what made us make a wager as to who can keep their feet in the water longer, or who actually won that bet but throughout the way back to Hussey's place, we couldn't feel anything from below the knees.
Early next morning we packed up and carried onwards. Another 6-8 hours to Leh but this time in Hussey's hatchback. Only a few minutes on the road and Hussey started where he left off with his stories of Kargil and Leh, how him and his cousins used to go on these routes on bikes and more important and intriguing for all of us, how he met his betrothed and future wife.
We made quite a few pit stops on the way, gazing at sublime scenery, watching rivulets trickle down to meet rivers but the most amount of time we spent was testing the theory at Magnetic Hill (that your automobile, even switched off, will drift onwards) which, even after trying a dozen times, didn't seem to hold true.
We reached Leh, freshened up and took a detour from our planned path to a village ~20 hours from Leh, known as SECMOL.
SECMOL - Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, is an organisation founded in 1988 aimed at reforming the educational system of Ladakh, by a group of young Ladakhis returning from university who understood the problems of the younger generation with modern education, their lack of focus and the cultural confusion. The brainchild of Mr. Sonam Wangchuk, the main campus building at SECMOL was inaugurated by His Holiness, The Dalai Lama himself in 1998.
Another early morning rise and addressing basic oral hygiene later, we were back on the road for the last and most exciting leg of our trip, PANGONG TSO. The infamous lake where the water is calm, serene and different shades of blue, green and purple at the same time.
Pangong Tso is in disputed territory. The Line of Actual Control passes through the lake. A section of the lake approximately 20 km east from the Line of Actual Control is controlled by China but claimed by India. The eastern end of the lake is in Tibet and is not claimed by India. The western end of the lake is disputed between Pakistan and India as a part of the Kashmir dispute. After the mid-19th century, Pangong Tso was at the southern end of the so-called Johnson Line, an early attempt at demarcation between India and China in the Aksai Chin region.
The route from Leh wasn't exactly uphill but a mix of sub-stretches going up and down. Pangong is in a valley and only 30% of the lake exists in India while the rest of it behind the Chinese border. In the years that have passed, global warming and human intervention has led to evaporation and destruction of a major portion of this beautiful water body and it won't be long when it will become extinct and we would have mere photos to show our kids and grandkids that we had been there.
Trying to keep future worries out of my mind, we drove on. It was a cool summer morning with the sun shining bright. However, on our way when we reached the highest altitude of 17,590 at ChangLa where we got chilled to our bones but passed through numerous valleys as well where we were greeted with Kashmiri Kahwa which was the best I had ever tasted. Prince Little as always, had try something new, which, in this region, was Yak milk. You would have to ask him personally how it tasted coz after having a few sips, he barely talked the rest of the way.
Our patience was wearing thin as we inched closer to Pangong and the moment of first sight, we literally jumped out as if we had found Santa. Oh the joy on our faces. The rest of the day passed by admiring the serene view of the lake from different angles and views. We drove onwards till the point the car could take us and onwards still, on foot.
After walking for an hour we reached a portion of the lake that was entirely uninhabited. No human or fauna could be seen, except us and the rare duck on the lake. We clicked an infinite number of photos trying to capture the scene from every angle possible, lit up a Cuban cigar (although with the breeze flowing, we could hardly light it up). We floated a paper boat into the lake which, hopefully, would have crossed the Chinese border by now and etched our initials into the sand before heading back to LEH for a night's rest.
Day 5 and 6 - SRINAGAR & NEW DELHI
Our trip was almost over. Next morning we headed back to Kargil. Reaching there around 4PM, we stretched our legs for a few hours before catching a bus back to Srinagar.
Hussey stayed back at home to spend a few more days while Prince Little, Maggie and I bid our adieu and boarded our ride that would reach Srinagar early morn, just in time for us to board our 7AM flight to New Delhi.
I had the good fortune of visiting Kashmir in the end of July, a few months before the catastrophe that struck the true heaven on earth. For long, our band of 4 - Hussey, Maggie, Prince Little and I were planning a trip which never seemed to materialise. One day Hussey (A Kargil native) and Prince Little, who's a hotshot expat working in a multi-million dollar corporation in Doha, put their foot down and coerced us into making plans to explore Kashmir and so, we made arrangements to make that happen.
Day 1 - SRINAGAR
We arrived in Srinagar Friday morning in two different flights (I'd tried to book tickets through "promotional offers" and got the last available ticket that a dirt cheap flight while the the others booked the next cheap flight). At least, I was spared from Prince Little's obsession with clouds as he snapped uncountable and virtually indifferent shots from the window seat).The tiresome travels of the day - an early morning flight, delayed a couple o'hours, followed by an hour long cab ride to the Houseboat that we had reserved for the day didn't muffle our enthusiasm to go dive headfirst into the beauty that is Kashmir.We dropped our bags, picked up Tandoori rolls and Shawarmas from a nearby joint and hopped on to yet another cab to reach the infamous Dal Lake. It was still July but instead of any monsoon rain, we were midst a cool breeze mixed up with a pinch of heat from the sun in a clear sky as we walked by the lakeside, facing the mountains, often called upon by the parked Shikara owners.We finally gave in to their constant bickering and took one around the lake, stopping at cloth shops and small huts on the way and capturing yet again, numerous snapshots of the day.Next up, our guides Hussey and his cousin, Parwana, took us up to the Mughal Gardens, claiming to show us the best ever sunset point there is.
After spending hours on end on the edge of the stone garden wall, sipping freezing mountain mineral water and munching chips, we finally witnessed the ethereal beauty of the setting sun, clearly the highlight of our first day.With an authentic Wazwani feast and some bedtime poker, we bid adieu to Day 1, settling into our beds inside the ever rocking cradle that was our houseboat on Lake Nageen.
Day 2 - KARGIL
We barely got 5-6 hours of sleep that night. Hussey and Prince Little were fast asleep but a rooster and a dog owned by the houseboat woman woke up me & Maggie at 4 am. If my stomach hadn't been full of Wazwani chicken, I would've broken my fast on this one.Complaining and grumping, we got ready for a 6 hour long journey to Kargil, where Hussey was born and brought up.
The cab ride was quite comfortable and the sights outside the window were worth staying awake and snapping the camera button for. Moreover, the cab driver's stereo had but one cassette that played only a handful of songs. "Ai jaate hue lamhon" from the Border, a classic war movie that recounts the 1971 Indo-Pak war, kept playing as we soaked in the serenity of the mountains and coincidentally, keep seeing army camps here and there.Soon enough we reached Hussey's abode. We entered the 3-storied home built upon a small hill and the first thing we saw on passing the house gate was a small garden in the front lawn, with a giant apricot tree in the centre. We entered the house, put our luggage down and slumped on the comfy couch while Hussey went to meet his family.Except Hussey, all of us hail from New Delhi and nearby areas and it was the first time we were meeting his next to kin. They understand only a bit of Hindi but they were really warm and welcoming, as everyone from that region is.
Our breakfast was a mere Frooti and Uncle Chips (courtesy our Prince, who's on a diet these days) and by the look of the food that was set in front of us, we were really glad we had totally empty stomachs.
Chicken and Rajma, served with rice. Seems a pretty normal lunch menu but only the people there can tell you how amazing it was. Chicken is a delicacy eaten the Punjabi way or Halaal but I presumed there was only one way to make Rajma. I was so very wrong.
Everyone says it's the mountain water that gives it that irresistible taste but whatever it was, we barely looked at the chicken and devoured the rajma as if it was our last day on earth.
Next up, we got into Hussey's hatchback and went around Kargil. He recounted stories of his childhood and the various small wars that found their way to into their lives.
We spent the rest of the evening by a rivulet, sitting, throwing stones and talking. Me and Prince Little even got our shoes off and dipped our feet into the ice cold water just for the heck of it. I don't really remember what made us make a wager as to who can keep their feet in the water longer, or who actually won that bet but throughout the way back to Hussey's place, we couldn't feel anything from below the knees.
Day 3 - LEH
We made quite a few pit stops on the way, gazing at sublime scenery, watching rivulets trickle down to meet rivers but the most amount of time we spent was testing the theory at Magnetic Hill (that your automobile, even switched off, will drift onwards) which, even after trying a dozen times, didn't seem to hold true.
SECMOL - Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, is an organisation founded in 1988 aimed at reforming the educational system of Ladakh, by a group of young Ladakhis returning from university who understood the problems of the younger generation with modern education, their lack of focus and the cultural confusion. The brainchild of Mr. Sonam Wangchuk, the main campus building at SECMOL was inaugurated by His Holiness, The Dalai Lama himself in 1998.
Their activities include working to reform the government school system, helping village students in their education, awakening youth to the problems stemming from inappropriate and insensitive schooling, producing related videos and radio programmes, and designing and building solar-heated eco-friendly buildings.
Hussey's elder brother, a volunteer at SECMOL gave us a tour of the place, told us how the institute worked, how it is almost fully self-sustained. Almost everything is produced in-house, everything is recycled and reused, non-recyclable stuff is discouraged (chewing gum is banned) and whatever they can't make, is bought by selling apricot jam made by the volunteers and the students.
We also met the various teachers living on campus, most of them foreigners and the 20-30 young British girls who had just finished High School and were there for a 2 month volunteer program.
Day 4 - PANGONG TSO
Pangong Tso is in disputed territory. The Line of Actual Control passes through the lake. A section of the lake approximately 20 km east from the Line of Actual Control is controlled by China but claimed by India. The eastern end of the lake is in Tibet and is not claimed by India. The western end of the lake is disputed between Pakistan and India as a part of the Kashmir dispute. After the mid-19th century, Pangong Tso was at the southern end of the so-called Johnson Line, an early attempt at demarcation between India and China in the Aksai Chin region.The route from Leh wasn't exactly uphill but a mix of sub-stretches going up and down. Pangong is in a valley and only 30% of the lake exists in India while the rest of it behind the Chinese border. In the years that have passed, global warming and human intervention has led to evaporation and destruction of a major portion of this beautiful water body and it won't be long when it will become extinct and we would have mere photos to show our kids and grandkids that we had been there.After walking for an hour we reached a portion of the lake that was entirely uninhabited. No human or fauna could be seen, except us and the rare duck on the lake. We clicked an infinite number of photos trying to capture the scene from every angle possible, lit up a Cuban cigar (although with the breeze flowing, we could hardly light it up). We floated a paper boat into the lake which, hopefully, would have crossed the Chinese border by now and etched our initials into the sand before heading back to LEH for a night's rest.Day 5 and 6 - SRINAGAR & NEW DELHI
Our trip was almost over. Next morning we headed back to Kargil. Reaching there around 4PM, we stretched our legs for a few hours before catching a bus back to Srinagar.Hussey stayed back at home to spend a few more days while Prince Little, Maggie and I bid our adieu and boarded our ride that would reach Srinagar early morn, just in time for us to board our 7AM flight to New Delhi.
As we touched down in the hot and humid capital, I vowed to return. To see the lake again, when it would be frozen solid in winters and also, to run the Ladakh half marathon that takes place every year in the month of September.
Till then, these photos might suffice ...
