Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: Intoxicating India 2013

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Intoxicating India 2013 - Day 2

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Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels

Intoxicating India : 9th to 16th February 2013

Flying over the Himalayas

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DAY 2 - 10TH FEBRUARY 2013

A. THE JOURNEY TO KASHMIR

In the early morning of the 2nd day, we had a nice breakfast at our hotel the Acura BMK, packed our bags and said goodbye to the friendly doorman.
We were very excited indeed as today we will be flying to Kashmir, the Garden of India. After all it was the beauty of Kashmir that had attracted me to India.

We are back at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) but this time to Terminal 3 that handles domestic flight.
Security was tight for those heading towards Kashmir First checkpoint was at the entrance to the building.
Then at customs (to avoid difficulty with customs, we were advised not to carry on big baggage for hand-luggage and also to remove batteries from our cameras)
And finally at the exit door to board the planes.

Well, might as well have some coffee while waiting to board the plane.
A cup of aromatic Costa Coffee did me good - Costa is the British equivalent of the American Starbucks; India have stayed true to it's colonial roots.

There are Indian art to be admired hanging on the walls of the terminal.

Waiting time's over! Time to board the plane: up the transfer coaches and down again next to the plane.
We will be flying IndiGo Airlines (an interesting wordplay on India Go), the dark blue stripes on Indigo's plane making them very distinguishable.

On board, I chatted with Darpeda, a Chinese looking stewardess. She assured me that she's Indian coming from the Northern States. "I cannot speak a word of Chinese but Hindi is no problem for me!" she quipped while shaking her head Indian-speak style.

As the plane drew nearer to Kashmir, the landscape change from brown/green plains to blueish white mountains - snow-capped mountains!
I looked out the window and was awed by the sight, the majestic Himalayas not to far away.
After all this is the Himalayas the highest place on earth - it does give one a true feeling of being on Top of the World.

We landed at Srinagar airport, and I won't delve further on the security, it was consistently there. Srinagar is the summer capital of Kashmir.
Forget about the security! Might as well enjoy the place, the vistas, the people as promoted by this poster.

Yes! First the people - the porters where fantastic, it boggles my mind on how they could fit so many large luggage bags onto the airport trolley. The baggage for all 20 of us were loaded onto just 3 trolleys!

Outside, two Hummer tourist vans were waiting for us. We sat inside and our baggage were loaded on top. And we started, off heading for Dal Lake, an hour away.

There was some sort of curfew ongoing in Srinagar and we had to make many stops for security checks; and even some detours as some roads were closed off.
Seems like it will take us more than an hour to reach our destination with this zig-zagging about.

But we are adamant to proceed on, the surrealistic Himalayas ahead beckons us like a mute Siren.

Suddenly, through the mist we could see Lake Dal!
First the people and now the sights.

B. LAKE DAL & OUR HOUSEBOAT

Finally we reached our destination - Ghat (pier) No. 13.
Across the lake could be seen house-boats, in one of which we will be staying for two nights.

And below, waiting for us, were attractive yellow "Shikaras" (Kashmiri gondolas); ready for us to board and take a slow ride across the lake.

Each Shikara seats four passengers, so another couple and us boarded one and headed across the lake.

The Shikara boatmen, with his heart-shaped oars, seems a quiet lot; no songs no serenading, just a bit of chit-chat.

But it doesn't matter, for our eyes were glued to the front -
Ahead lies our house-boat the "Mumtaz Mahal".
Ha! How appropriate for a a cozy houseboat to be romantically named after Shah Jahan's wife for whom he built the Taj Mahal.

Inside, the house-boat was a luxurious furnished living room with nice red Kashmir carpets and carved pine-wood wall & ceiling panels. There is a wood-fired heater at one corner.

Next to it was an equally resplendently furnished and decorated dining room.
Yes... I can get used to this rich decadence!

Each houseboat even comes with a neatly uniformed, personal butler. This is Kaka who will be attending to the seven of us.

We unpacked, freshen up and was ready for lunch.
Lunch was simple; hot soup (badly needed in this cold weather), and rice with 4 other dishes - spiced cauliflower, stewed lamb, mixed vegetables, Kashmiri veggie balls and curry chicken.
(...see more on Kashmiri Houseboat)

Freshened and well fed, we are ready to move on to see more of Kashmir. We boarded our Shikaras again to head for the mainland.

Yup! That's life on Kashmir's Lake Dal. Every time one wants to head for the mainland, it's board a shikara; and row, row, row over to the mainland.
Sounds tedious?
No. it gives one time to appreciate Nature.
To see the reflections on the lake;
to smell the freshness all around;
and to listen to the calls of the ducks and the eagles soaring high above.
It gives one TRANQUILITY.

C. SHALIMAR BAGH - THE GARDEN OF LOVE

On the mainland, we boarded our vans and headed for the Shalimar Bagh (The Garden of Love)

The Shalimar Bagh is a terraced Mughal garden build by the Moghul Emperor Jahangir.

From its higher terraces, the view of Lake Dal is incredible. In spring with the greenery and flowers in full bloom, one can really fall in love here.

From here, there is a also panoramic vista of the Himalayas.

D. THE CARPET SHOP

From the Garden of Love, we went over to somewhere more practical - a carpet shop.
But first thing first, the rest room. In the cold weather, one's bladder does get filled up pretty fast.

In the shop, we were given a short talk on carpets.
- Why are Kashmir carpets better? Because there are made from the fine wool of the Kashmiri goats, and also they are hand-woven.
- How to judge the quality of a good carpet? Good one uses natural dyes for color and have a higer knots per square inch; up to 960 knots!

Some of the Kashmir carpets on display :

E. KASHMIRI EVENING

Kashmiri dusk viewed from houseboat verendah

Our Kashmiri adventures over for the day; we returned to our houseboat, freshened up, had dinner, chit-chat among ourselves and was ready for bed.

But the day was not over yet for the Kashmiri, as one scarf vendor came knocking on our door and proceeded to lay out his wares in the living room.
The girls were of course thrilled, after all they did not do much shopping as most of the shops were closed because of the curfew.
Can't shops at the shops? Why not bring the shop over to us.

The vendor did have a lot to show. Scarves of different types - 100% Cashmere wool, silk, and a mix of wool & cotton. They came is many design and colors.
Cashmere wool is obtained from the fine hair of the Kashmiri mountain-climbing goats and is renown for their softness. For the scarves, the finest wool not exceeding 19 microns are used.
As there are not many Kashmiri goats around, Cashmere wool is quite rare.

With the last shopping of the day over, we were ready to retire to our wood paneled bedrooms and call it a day.

शुभरात्रि - Subharatri! Goodnight!

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