05.09 "Beyond The Pale"(The Mission)

Asia

Kashmir

Naranagh->Srinagar

… the roar of the river fades in…

It is 1am and I realize I am thirsty and also need to pee. I finally accept I have to drink water (and I did) and then leave the hard yet warm cocoon and go to the front if the tent… it is tightly closed. I consider opening a small gap between the tied flaps of the entrance and pee thru it… after a try I realize I'll pee all over the gap… I am starting getting desperate; my bladder starts screaming. I look desperately around among the casseroles and Tupperwares for a container to pee and, after an internal struggle, I conclude I can't be such an asshole. Finally, I decide to untie the Gordian knot and get out. After a few minutes, I leave the warmth of the uterine tent thru a birth canal to the cold outside…

"It's full of stars"!

The view is impressive: the moon is hidden by the mountains so I can see a clean dark sky with millions of shiny blinking silver dots. On top, it's not that cold. Surprised I notice it is already 2 a.m. I pee; I feel immensely happy, I watch the stars again and a chill breeze whisper in my ears "get in again 'cos it'll get colder", so I crawl back into comfort. 

It is not until I am back into the sleeping bag that I need to use my inhaler. Delayed effect of the cold air? (maybe) Allergens/dust inside tent? (no, I didn't need it when I woke up) A bit of anxiety for fighting to close the zipper of the sleeping bag and just a little bit of physical effort in general above a low fitness threshold? (most likely). After a puff and a few mins of nothingness, the roar of the river fades away…

… as I hear the river again, I realize I am awake and there is no return to the funny yet a bit frustrating dreams I was having. It is 6 a.m.; too cold to get out, too early to wake everyone… I work on the blog and read. 

Around 8am all are awake and I get out, breathe, walk to a stream by the river and the song comes to me:

"Take me down the river

And out to sea

Catch me adrift,

Send me to sail

Just one last kiss

Before raising hell

Beyond the pale…

Beyond the pale"

Time for the last trek!

1032a start trek

~1054 start going uphill

1111 horse over roof

1137 nth stop going up ;)

It's funny how we ask Iqbal a question as simple a possible and he always answers just whatever is in his mind regarding just a part of the question. 

1200p stop. Highest point. 

1214 start downhill

1239 …where horse over roof

1256 road

118p Camp

Tea here is delicious; called Qawah (we'll have to get some ;)

Basia is such a generous person; I still have a lot to learn from her on how to give something even if you like it a lot!

After "lunch" (couple of slices of bread and honey), already packed, we had to wait till 445pm, so we chilled and played cards.

Time to return to the houseboat! (were there ca. 620p)

(note on this picture those arrangements of paper that look like a big circle: that is money and it is used in wedding ceremonies as a gift to the newlyweds)

05.08 "Safe In The Steep Cliffs"(Emancipator)/"A Forest"(TheCure)/"Raindrops"(Radiohead)

Asia

Kashmir

Srinagar->Naranagh

Rain, clouds… not an auspicious start for a day of trekking… then the clouds disperse and… wow! What a view!

Yesterday it was snowing on the Himalaya. Lovely

Per Basia's great suggestion, we had breakfast on the porch facing the mountains

Watching eagles soar high, the fishing birds dip into the lake… and we were interrupted only once by a boat seller! Paradise! ;)

We go trekking!

Depart 945a; Imran is our driver, as always in Kashmir. 

It was boy easy to get anti allergic medication in Srinagar (Benadryl)…

Inter cultural communication is so difficult; even more when one of the interlocutors think (s)he speaks well the communicating language… add to that that in every community we tend to use expressions, allegories and sarcasms that are not part of the experience of the other interlocutor… I have to force myself to speak short and clearly, using simple words and to avoid asking about abstract concepts. 

Driving up we arrived to a town called Khanan, where we had this great view

But we still had to keep climbing! The next town was our destination, Naranagh.  We left the car and started walking and I immediately noticed some strange structures that ended up being the ruins of an old Shiva Temple called Naranagh Temple. 

The day went on this way:

1247p start trek

~210p stop at highest reach. Lunch

224p continue

240p bridge

244p return

~3:10 rain starts

~3:30 back on tent. 

520p sunshine on the distance; still raining. 

535p rain stops

Rain stops but Cold starts… after 7pm it was definitely very cold. Our tent was wet inside and the floor is too badly isolated => we moved to the big tent (picture below) where we spent the night with 3 other guys… when it's cold, you want human warmth… any human warmth…

- Iqbal, what do you do in Winter?

- Don't waste energy; sleep, wait. 

I read a phrase that Basia also loved, and she feels is suitable for tonight:

"Somewhere there is a dream, dreaming us..." (Kalahari San Bushman saying)

It is 952pm; I close my eyes and almost immediately the roar of the river fades out…

05.07 "Kashmir"(Led Zeppelin)/"Azan"(Losers)

Asia

Kashmir

Srinagar

So, here we are: the legendary Kashmir, a land with their own identity and language (Urdu) that doesn't want to belong to either India, Pakistan or China… but is not only split among them; it's also highly militarized, to the point that has even been the source of dispute that lead India and Pakistan to 4 wars, and to be on the brink of a nuclear war in the last one (2001-2002) besides many border skirmishes. Luckily, right now there is not much tension. 

Anyway, I decided I will geopolitically name this stage if our trip "Kashmir" instead of "India": India is occupying, but Kashmir is so different to India… as Basia said today:

"I can't get over how clean, fresh, the flowers… Kashmir is definitely not India"

And if you don't know (more likely THINK you don't know) the title song, stop reading now and follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvmuDH8cgG0

And for more tourist info about Indian Kashmir, go to: www.jktourism.com

Breakfast was delicious! Tea "the Kashmiri way" is called "Qawah" has green tea, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, herbs and sugar. Absolutely addictive!

From the balcony of house boat…

… we could see fish, birds; lots of weed (since it is not a sea, I'll call it "lakeweed" ;) We relaxed a but and then went to a City tour; our first stop was the Heritage Mughal Garden Shalimar

Then we drove by the Dal Lake. This large lake is connected by a narrow strait to the smaller lake where our residence is, Nigeen Lake. On both lakes we saw many boats that mechanically harvest the weed to use it as fertilizer. 

Next stop was the high ground and impressive Mughal Garden Pari Mahal…

… but before that, we gad to get off the car and pass a security check…

You can read "BSF (Border Security Forces) Prevent Smuggling"… dude, with the effort they put on checking me, I could've smuggled 10 kilos of anything!

Now let's go back to the important thing: an impressive view

There is a strong military presence in this monument 

And a fu ny note: World Record! Shortest 200 meters! :P

Then the driver insisted on tali g us to a Carpet Factory and Store… we know how that works: they push to sell, and if they succeed, the driver gets a cut. But we didn't want to fight and we went. 

The manager showed us the steps of the process to make a carpet: 

Graphing

Designing

Coloring

Coded (system family owned; the weaver sees only a part of the code they have to weave and then return it to get the rest)

Below you can see a Weaver working. The Code of that small part is the stripe of paper at his eye level. 

We also learned carpets are mostly made of one of these combinations:

Silk-silk

Cotton-silk

Cotton-wool

I got quite tempted with one (fragment below)

… But with U$760 we can do a lot in Egypt… }:-)

Finally before lunch we went to an Old Mosque: 

This particular one has a Male entrance (main) and a Female entrance (back)… funny I wasn't aware that this separation is the rule and nit an exception in Mosques… I am quite disappointed about the way Islam has evolved; I really want to read a good translation of the Quram (until I learn Arabic }:-) because I can't make sense between the interesting and wise fragments I've read and how it is applied in society. 

After lunch it was time for a trip on a small part of both Lake Nigeen and Lake Dal. It was lovely (if we forget the merchants on boats). 

We saw eagles, ducks, cranes; lots of other birds

We learned they use Floating Islands to grow different vegetables and plants 

Getting closer to the "city", we noticed it was like a Venetian favela…

… Where we saw funny things like cows eating the grass on a cemetery…

… and very lazy dogs!

(let sleeping dogs lie)

Returning, the call to prayer (Azan; our second song of the day) is, as every time, a mix of eerie and beautiful sounds coming from multiple mosques… eerie is the outcome ;)

Once back to our houseboat, we do some "homework", have dinner and I eavesdrop on the TV show that Sahil, our butler-handyman, is watching: a fundamentalist Muslim telling how Christians are "invading" in a new crusade using money and credit cards and taking people form the "true religion"… "same same" as Christian fundamentalist televangelists would say. 

Pondering about this sad aspect of intolerance in most humans, and also pondering why I are so much a dinner, I shall sleep soon. Hours of trekking lie ahead if us tomorrow.