day 346 – it snowed like mad the whole day. after breakfast i walked around town taking photographs of the snow. it was a lot of fun because people were happy to let me take their picture – even though it was snowing and freezing cold. i returned to chowkhang gompa and took some photos there too.
it was cold and my clothes were starting to become wet from melted snow. i retreated to the internet cafe for a while to warm up, then i returned to the snow and took more photos. i bought some food and returned to my hotel to let my clothes dry out and read my book. i finished the book in the evening, packed and slept.
day 347 – there had been no flights out of leh for the past three days, due to the bad weather. so when i went to bed the previous night, i secretly feared that the poor weather would continue and i’d be stuck in leh. being stuck in leh isn’t so bad actually, but i wanted to keep moving and was keen to reach kashmir. when i woke up it was still dark, but i went outside and looked at the night sky – it was dotted with stars and i knew that the weather had cleared.
i packed and left my hotel right on dawn. i walked into the main street but there was nobody awake yet and no taxis. i managed to get a ride with some airport workers and arrived in time for my flight.
the flight was delayed by five hours because the airport officials hadn’t been able to clear the runway of snow from the previous day. surprisingly, they had no snow-clearing equipment and the local army had come in to clear the runway using shovels. during the long wait i got talking to a couple of kashmiri guys who work in leh but live in srinigar. we talked about india, cricket, islam, kashmir and numerous other things. it passed the time and i was happy.
eventually we got on board the plane and flew to srinigar. i’d already arranged a houseboat and guide, who was waiting for me, so i was quickly whisked off to dal lake to my houseboat, some food and hot tea. on the way to the houseboat i couldn’t help but notice the enormous number of soldiers lining the streets, supported by vehicles and armoured personnel carriers. i started to worry that maybe it wasn’t as safe as i first thought, but the guide reassured me that it was just a regular sight in srinigar, especially when some kind of event was coming up – like the planned strike on the following day.
the houseboat was really nice and i enjoyed sitting in the warm room with food and drink. i found out that the owner, who is a kashmiri muslim man, has a french wife. i talked with the owner’s son for a while and after dinner the french wife appeared. she introduced herself with a huge reefer in her hand and asked “do you want to smoke?”.
her name was victoria and she was actually the owner’s second wife (his first wife is also kashmiri) and they all live together on the houseboats which he inherited from his father. we talked for quite a while and i got some sleep.
day 348 – i spent the morning relaxing on the houseboat. the boat was warm from the fire in my room (inside a huge stove) and the gas burner in the living room. i ate and talked with the owner, mohammad, and organised a four day itinerary to see srinigar and the kashmir valley. i talked with victoria a little bit, drank some great coffee, and walked into town.
everything in town was shut due to some local strike, so i walked for a bit and had a snack at a local tibetan restaurant. nearby was an internet cafe, so i also checked my email. i returned on dusk and spent the quiet evening watching a movie on my computer.
day 349 – i had breakfast and then went on a long two hour boat ride around dal lake. dal lake is enormous there are thousands of houseboats scattered around it. parts of the lake have small islands and these often contain shops, mosques and schools. we went through some canals and saw the old city side of the lake. the place is amazing and it was nice to look around and see the whole thing.
afterwards i spent some time editing and backing up photos (which i hadn’t done since ladakh). then i went into town to withdraw money. i had a coffee, checked email again and returned to the boat. i edited some more photos and went to bed.
day 350 – today i got an early start and we drove out to kashmir valley and the city of pahalgan. i rented a horse and rode to the top of the hills which had a great view of kashmir and the valley itself. i took a break at the top and had some coffee. there were a few vendors there and i had the chance to go sledding. instead, i followed the sledders and took photos.
i rode back down and returned to the car. i had some lunch and then visited a hindu temple called ‘the fish temple’. inside the temple is a small lake which comes down from the mountain. fish live in the lake and it’s part of the temple’s long history. the place wasn’t very interesting though, except for the fish, so we kept going and wandered around some ruins of another hindu temple which are 1100 years old. the local caretaker was keen to guide me around (i knew he’d want money) but i scorned him for how dirty the place was – littered with cigarettes and firecracker paper. he blamed the local kids, but i didn’t care since he was the caretaker and it should have been his responsibility … not to mention the fact that the site was looked after by the indian archaeological society.
indians have a way of saying ‘as you wish’ when they want money. it’s supposed to mean ‘pay me as much as you wish’ or ‘you decide how much to give as a tip’ … of course, they’re never happy with the amount of the tip and will always suggest more. i’d become fed up with indian baksheesh and, since i hadn’t asked for the guided tour, walked off without paying any tip at all.
we returned to srinigar and when i returned to the houseboat a floating store (a paddle boat acting as a shop) came by. i bought some snacks for the evening, edited some more photos, had dinner, watched a movie and slept.