April 30 to May 2, 1985: Srinagar, Kashmir and the House Boat

 30^th April: Srinagar

  Taken from Back to the East, India, Nepal, Kashmir on Amazon

(some images taken from on line)

We stayed the night at the Hotel Palace in Jammu, although not exactly a palace. We had to share a room with a Canadian guy. We were up at 6 AM to continue our journey on the bus.

Of course we were going to be many hours later so whoever was going to meet us at the bus depot will probably not be there.

It seemed to be that every long bus ride in India comes with a little adventure.

It was a nerve-wrecking drive through excellent scenery with sights such as monkeys and herds of goats along the way; sometimes we had to stop for the goats on the road. The herds and goats were driven along by what looks like whole families.

There’s a 5200 foot long tunnel and signs reading “This is not a race or rally, this is Kashmir Valley”. I was not sure that our driver could read though.

One surprise was seeing stalls along the way, selling cricket bats, made from local walnut.

When we finally arrived in Srinagar at about 6.30 PM, we were met by a group of young hasslers each claiming that they have been sent to meet us, not one seem to know of the name of the person that sent them, so we went to the office to phone Kashmir Himalayan Holidays. Before we got an answer, a guy arrived with all our details and off we go by Rickshaw and Shikara to our houseboat, the New Wild Rose.

Shikaras are of various sizes and are used for multiple purposes, including transportation.

 

The usual shikara seats six people, with the driver paddling at the rear. Like the Venetian gondolas. They are a cultural symbol of Kashmir. Some shikaras are still used for fishing, harvesting aquatic vegetation (usually for fodder), and transport, while most are covered with tarpaulins and are used by tourists.

We met Ibram and Bashir who were there supposedly to do our will. Omelette and chips served, we were shown to our room which was OK, but not as good as the Kashmir Paradise where I stayed in l981.

 

1^st May

It rained all last night and most of today, which I spent playing backgammon. It was almost chilly after Delhi. I was glad I had my sweater. Outside were some salesmen on their shikaras, touting for business. One was selling furs. Lesley had ordered one and given her red leather jacket so they can measure it. In the distance we heard children probably at school, horns and the whistling and squawking of geese and other birds. A simple meal of rice, vegetables and dahl, cooked was served to uson the houseboat.

2^nd May

It had stopped raining so we took a shikara to the land and walked to the poste restante at the main post office. There was letter from my friend Stan, back in Norwich, short with no mention of money.

The two Australians, Brad and Kelly, who were staying on our houseboat were both sick, which made me wonder abut the hygiene here, or lack of it. Although the water looked clean here, we were downstream from many other houseboats. Down by the bridge where the poorer families live on far less luxurious boats, it was stinking. And it seemed like the toilet empties direct into the lake, where they also seemed to wash dishes and cloths.