Land of Kashyapa - Page #2 - First impressions


“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

With age, small things are valued. Like my filter "Kapi '' in the morning or the Dosa with "podi" or having at least 5 hours of good quality sleep every night. Travel throws a spanner in the works. Travel is challenging. Travel is stressful. To make travel a joy the locals, government and the infrastructure should be in complete sync. Kashmir is not there yet. Perhaps the long periods of instability could be the reason.
After this past week, I can say that Kashmir is not yet fully geared either for the traveller or the tourist. There are islands of efficiency with lots of grey areas in between. Taxis charge additionally for switching on the A/C. (Yeah. Srinagar can have warm days). The drivers create a ruckus when there is a deviation in itinerary. Many drive like maniacs. Hotels take forever to deliver food. Many places that are crowd magnets have very little toilets. Hot water is not available round the clock and sometimes pipes run dry even in the best of hotels. Most Kashmiris are laid back. Their day starts late and they want you to start late too. And when the locals talk, most are loud. But if your stars and Karma are good, you will be with the sweetest of the locals, be served within minutes of your order in restaurants, have running water round the clock, will get a good car and will be able to check all the places in your itinerary. I found kind autowalas, I could ask random strangers directions and be replied with courtesy.
Many agreed that after the revocation of article 370 and the peace the army has brought with its presence into J&K - business has been booming. They have never had it so good for a very long time.
When we left Chennai, my mom and my friends were praying for our safety. The media is always abuzz with killings in the valley. Exiting the Srinagar airport and travelling to our hotel was like proceeding into a war zone. Barbed wires, armoured personnel carriers, convoys and army personnel with land mine detectors fill the roads. I saw more guns per square meter than the number of paneer cubes in my masala curry. Haha!
Our hotel was on the Dal Lake promenade. The evening sun was going down and the lake had a golden glow. Chinar and Weeping willow trees pepper the long walkway around the waters. When I was taking pictures, Soumya went ahead with her evening walk. Soon a gun wielding army personnel stopped her and advised her not to walk alone. It seemed that stone throwing at women who walk unaccompanied are frequent.
Internet works great in the city. Every business place seemed to accept only cash or sometimes card. Many were unwilling to do UPI. Wonder why ?
As the sun went down the distant sounds of Azaan (call to prayer) echoed. The Shikaras were neatly tied up. It gets cold quickly after sunset. Dinner - There are more “100% Pure Vegetarian” restaurants in this part of the lake than around mylapore Kapali temple 😀
I looked forward to the next day’s itinerary which was Sonamarg.
Sriram(Hari)

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