Hashtag My Kashmir Diary (Part I)

I never really thought about visiting India but being home alone during holiday wasn’t interesting so when I was asked to join the trip, I said yes but if Kashmir was added to the itinerary. Bare in mind that I was just a tourist with a Canon 600D hanging around my neck. Anyway, here’s my story (28-31 Dec. 2017).

As a kid I used to watch more Bollywood than Hollywood movies, but with this memory of a goldfish I can hardly remember the settings, actors, or even the ending three months after watching a movie. So I may not remember which movie introduced me to Kashmir, but I recall it was called ‘the Mini Switzerland’.

Kashmir is a part of Jammu and Kashmir state along with Jammu and Ladakh. It’s the northern-most state of India that shares borders with Pakistan and China. Around 95% of Kashmir’s population are Muslims who speak Kashmiri and Urdu but finding someone who can speak English isn’t hard.

Day 1, New Delhi-Srinagar

After meeting our guide—Narendra aka Anil (a Nepali who’s been guiding tourists in India for 9 years), we took a flight to Srinagar, the summer capital lies in the Kashmir Valley (Jammu is the winter capital). On the first minutes of the 90 minutes flight, I was in a bad mood because I didn’t get a window seat (Ikr very mature).

Fortunately, I sat next to a friendly married couple. 30 minutes before landing, they pointed the Himalayas from the window across the aisle. I tried to maximize my camera’s zoom feature to capture it and suddenly a lady offered me her seat. We hadn’t landed yet but I fell in love with the place and the people already.

The view from my new seat

After claiming our baggages, they asked me to wear a thicker coat and waved me bye. Shorty after, a serious-looking man asked us to follow him to fill the arrival forms for foreigners. It’s honestly staggering to see many armies holding rifles in our first 15 minutes.

We were picked up by three taxis and my family got in a car with two others and a driver who couldn’t speak English. Turned out the armies were also patrolling in the street, creating uneasy feelings for us. When we lost sight of the other cars, someone got really worried and said, “I wonder whose idea it was to visit this place!” and I just sat there not knowing what to say because it was mine, so technically I’d be the one to blame if something bad happened.

When I suggested the visit, I was aware that Kashmir had a long history of conflicts but I also knew that it’s recovering, and most importantly there’s no travel warning issued. Thank God we arrived soon after that and were welcomed warmly.

View from our houseboat

Kashmir is famous for its houseboats mainly docked in Dal and Nigeen Lake. Our houseboat, Wangnoo Heritage Houseboat, was overlooking the Nigeen Lake. Each houseboat has three well-decorated bedrooms and there’s a captain on duty, assisted by some others to ensure safety and cleanliness, and provide meals, heater and such. There’s also a dining room where we always gathered. Hawkers came on their Shikaras to our houseboat everyday. Warm clothing, boot, phiran (Kashmiri traditional outfit), bags, seeds, jewelry, souvenir, you name it, they had it all.

We spent that afternoon having a short course about the conflict and were convinced that it’s currently safe to travel there. The separatists are never against tourists because tourism has immensely contributed to their economy.

Our neighbours

My favorite spot, the patio

A shikara approaching our houseboat

Day 2, Srinagar-Gulmarg

Everything was covered in thin snow when we woke up. Before starting the tour, Anil handed mineral water and asked us to bring extra warm cloths. I didn’t listen to him because I had read the itinerary before and we’re only supposed to visit some gardens nearby, so I didn’t think it’s necessary.

After an hour drive, I said that I wasn’t expecting the drive would be that long and Anil replied, “Haven’t you heard? We’re going to Gulmarg, around two hours drive.” My mom gave me that ‘I told you’ look immediately and I was shocked because I only wore thin clothes when we’re about to ride world’s second highest gondola. I tried to distract myself by looking at the beautiful country side along the way and got excited whenever we stopped in scenic routes.

We met a local guide in Gulmarg who then took us for a quick lunch and headed for the Gulmarg resort. There are several options to reach the place but he booked sledges for us. Each sledge can take one person and is pulled by one or two pullers. It’s not the quickest way but it helps the locals.

My sledge was recklessly pulled by a thin guy, turning my excitement into worries. As we reached the main road, I finally fell. My face hit the muddy asphalt and my camera, phone and cloths got wet. He tried to help but my tears started falling, more because of worry and embarrassment. Some people came to help and my puller looked so sorry so I sat back on the sledge, checked my stuff (my phone screen cracked) and wiped my tears with my muddy gloves (you should’ve seen my face).

I’d rather fall here

In the resort, we could ride the gondola right away because there weren’t many visitors. The gondola has two stops: Kongdoori (3,747 m) and Aparwath (4,200 m). It takes 10 minutes from the resort to Kongdoori and 12 minutes from Kongdoori to Aparwath.

We stopped at Kongdoori and were asked to drink. Once again, I ignored him just because I’d been in snow before, totally forgot it’s my first winter. I was indeed so stubborn that day. When it’s finally free time, we decided to go to a collective shops because we were shivering. My phone showed -15°C and God knows how cold it was at the Aparwath.

The Kongdoori station covered in thick snow

I was busy keeping my body warm when I saw my mom’s pale face. I asked what’s wrong but she couldn’t speak and I realized she had trouble breathing. I called my dad and sister but none of us knew what to do, so we’re panicking until I saw a group of people bringing a bottle of water. I asked if we could have some and they said we could have it all. My mom eventually got better after drinking.

Inside a coffee shop, we sat near a room heater that brought everyone back to life. When we all gathered, everyone talked about their experiences—my mom wasn’t the only one. We’re told that the air was very thin and we probably didn’t get enough oxygen. That’s why it’s important to drink water (lesson learned).

After a cup of tea, I went outside and finally could appreciate the beauty. People were skiing, sledging, riding snowmobile and touching the snow. I only took a couple of pictures and videos because it’s hard to just move my fingers. We were up there more than an hour and went down with the last gondola at 5 PM.

Stunning

I watched him struggling to stand for minutes. When he finally made it, he waved and posed for me.

Tips: wear something bright like my sister did for a beautiful contrast

The cold never bothers me anyway lol

Outside the resort, the sledge-pullers had been waiting. I actually didn’t mind walking but it’s a round ticket. I tried to be positive but fell again five minutes later on the same road. Idk whether I should blame him or it’s just me who couldn’t balance myself, but I was so done. I wouldn’t be that upset if he pulled more carefully or if I fell to the snow, but it wasn’t the case so I offered to walk the slippery road together. He looked worried but I could walk just fine (thanks to my boots) and most importantly, I could stop whenever I wanted to take pictures or just to adore the monkeys in the pine trees.

The coldest place I’ve been so far

Gulmarg means the meadow of flowers and I believe it’s true from the photographs displayed in the resort. Winter is the best time to get that ‘winter wonderland’ feeling, but in spring and summer you’ll agree that Gulmarg isn’t merely a name. On our way back, we’re told about the wars and conflicts—like the Kargil War—behind the beauty. I learned the reason why there’s a huge number of army bunkers there was because the border of Pakistan is only a short 30-minutes trek from the Aparwath Peak.

I learned and experienced many things that day, but there were also many things that we didn’t get the chance to do. Hopefully I’ll be able to come back again someday, preferably in other seasons! Thanks for reading my very first blog post! Don’t forget to read the rest of the story here 😉

You’re looking at a picture of a toilet 😉