Sunday 7 October 2012

Our First Excursion out of Delhi – Part I (Kashmir)



In honor of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on October 2nd, the American School gave the kids a five-day weekend. We used the extended holiday to take our first excursion outside of Delhi to Srinagar, Kashmir and Amritsar, Punjab.

Srinager, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, is situated in the Kashmir Valley and lies on the bank of the Jhelum River. The city is famous for its beautiful gardens, lakes and colorful houseboats. It is also known for its traditional hand loomed rugs, papier-mâché and of course, pashmina.

After spending a day in Srinagar I was struck by how different it felt from Delhi. It is obvious that this city has not been influenced by Western culture nearly as much as Delhi. The women dress mostly in traditional dress and about 20% of the women wear burkas. We did not see any franchises - not even a McDonalds! - and people seem to live pretty simply. It was obvious how large a role the Muslim religion plays in Kashmiri's lives. Our tour guide assured us that things have in fact changed in the last ten years since the Government allowed satellite TV into people's homes. Now that Kashmiris are enjoying Bollywood movies, the young women want to dress more fashionably and burkas are slowly giving way to more body slimming kurtas and saris. 

For our first couple nights in Srinagar we stayed at a hotel on the Jhelum River. This was the scenic view from our room. 




Once we got settled, our first round of sightseeing in Srinagar was to the Shalimar Gardens, an exquisitely beautiful group of gardens built by the Mughals in the Islamic style of architecture.  It was built by Mughal Emperor Jahangir to please his wife Nur Jahan, in 1619 and is now a public park that is frequented by many locals.

The gardens have seven terraces that take over an hour to completely walk up. Water flows down from the top terrace, which comes from the mountain tops, down to Dal Lak. We visited on such a beautifully sunny day that the gardens looked so lush. It is no surprise that these gardens are considered the high point of Mughal horticulture.

This is a picture looking down from the second terrace onto Dal Lake with the mountains in the background.





This picture was taken on the fourth terrace




 And this one was taken from the fifth terrace.



The kids were so proud of themselves when they got to the top terrace - and the top of the waterfall!



The next day we drove 2 ½ hours to Gulmarg (translation: Meadow of Flowers), a famous ski resort and the world’s highest 18-hole golf course. Gulmarg is considered the “heartland of winter sports in India” and is Asia’s seventh biggest ski destination.

The resort is especially famous because of its Gulmarg Gondola, the second highest cable car in the world. It ferries 600 people/hour to and from the shoulder of nearby Mt. Apharwat Summit.



Once we got to the mountain we went horseback riding to a waterfall that ends up at Alpahter Lake.




Akash hiked up to the top of the waterfall. We were holding our breath watching him because it was not an easy trek.




It was so scenic on Mt. Apharwat that we didn’t want to leave!


Needles to say, we were very tired when we arrived back to Srinagar that evening. The next morning (and every morning!) we were woken up at 5 am to the sounds of prayer chants from the local mosques broadcast over loudspeakers all over Srinagar.

That day we discovered old Srinagar. We visited Shah Hamadan Mosque, the oldest mosque in the world. Built in 1395, it has been raised to the ground due to fire and rebuilt three times, most recently in 1731. The mosque is an excellent example of indigenous wood architecture that draws inspiration from Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic architecture.



The architecture is so beautifully ornate that I tried to capture different aspects of it in the pictures below.





We then walked through the narrow alleys of old Srinagar, which are full of vendors peddling all types of food and fabrics.



The electrical wiring is absolutely frightful in places like this!


Next we walked to Jamia Masjid, the largest mosque in Asia located in the middle of the old city. It is known as one of the most sacred mosques in India and has the capacity to accommodate more than 33,333 people offering prayer at one time! It was built by Sultan Sikandar in 1400 AD. Later, the son of Sultan Sikandar, Zain-ul-Abidin extended the mosque.

This is the modest entrance.


The mosque is surrounded by wide lanes on all the four sides that seem to go on forever. One of the most unique aspects of the mosque is that it is built on 370 wooden pillars




The mosque has a perfectly square garden in the middle.


Since there are five prayers a day, whose timings change based on when the sun rises and sets, this handy digital clock in the mosque reminds visitors when to pray.


We couldn't leave Kashmir without doing some shopping so that was our next stop. Our tour guide took us to an old mill where rugs are hand woven. This is quite a rarity today as most rugs are machine woven. We got quite a lesson on how laborious the rug making process is -- it can take 1 1/2 years to hand weave a 9x12 rug!! The finished product is truly a piece of art!


We also visited a papier-mâché factory. Hand made papier-mâché is another dying art. The man who ran the factory prided himself in his craft, which consisted of endless hours preparing the molds and finely painting each papier-mâché product. Can you believe the elephant priya is sitting on is made of papier-mâché?


We ended up our day by taking a shikara ride on Dal Lake. Shikaras are a type of wooden canoe used to transport people along the lake. Drivers use oars that have a unique spade-shaped bottom to row the shikara. Like the Venetian gondolas, shikaras are a cultural symbol of Kashmir.


The kids loved the comfortable ride.


 The scenery was breathtaking!


Colorful houseboats lie along the banks of the lake.


We especially enjoyed riding down the canals filled with bustling bazaars.



There were so many amazing photo opportunities on the ride!





Our ride ended with the sun beginning to set. At that time of the day the reflection of the mountains on the lake was captured beautifully through my camera lens.



That evening we stayed in this quaint houseboat.





At the houseboat we were treated to homemade Kashmiri meals served in our living room. It was a real treat! Our stay on the houseboat was the perfect ending to an enchanting weekend in Kashmir!

Next we traveled to Amritsar, Punjab (Part II). 

Footnote: Traveling through the Srinagar airport was like getting security clearance to enter the White House! The airport implements a multi-tier security system and the first security check occurs 1 km before you even arrive at the airport. Everyone has to exit the car for a full body check (yes they do touch you everywhere!) and all the baggage has to go through x-ray screening. At this point we thought, great we are getting this out of the way before we get to the airport. That was not the case! At the airport we went through two more rounds of full body checks and three more x-ray baggage screenings. I'm not sure if the Kashmiri's don't understand the purpose of x-rays, or if there was a reason for the multiple security levels, but after our bags were x-rayed they had to be hand checked as well. We understand that Kashmir is a hotbed for terrorist activity but the security system seemed over the top. Perhaps there is fear that the people working at the airport were potential terrorists that can insert something in a passenger's bag after it's been screened. Who knows, but at least we felt safe on our flight!