Paradise on Earth
Kashmir is paradise on earth is what I have been told. There's an aweful lot of coiled barbwire at the train station in paradise. Piles of sandbags, soldiers with handgranates strapped to their uniforms, tanks covered with green tarps and army checkpoints every kilometer or so. Then there is the beauty. Palm trees sprouting from an enclosed courtyard. Lush green fields fenced in by a giant jagged mountain range. Meadows of flowers and blue skies. The greenest and bluest eyes I have ever seen set in faces with pointy chins, surrounded by shades of sunkissed dark hair. Men with long lanky legs that would make any supermodel green with envy. And a huge amount of wild marijuana plants growing all over the place.
I lasted exactly six hours in paradise. The road into the depths of this heaven was treacherous. There was a big landslide. Roads were closed. I had the choice of waiting for them to reopen the roads tomorrow or else keep moving. I didn't want to take the chance of waiting because in India things don't exactly work on time. "Some time tomrrow" could easily turn into some time next week.
Travelling on this latest leg of my journey started yesterday at 4:45pm with a ticket to Jaisalmer. I got to the New Delhi train station with ten minutes to spare. I checked the board for my train's platform. I didn't see it so I pulled out the ticket to make sure I was looking for the right number. Yup, right number. A man leaned over my shoulder "that's for the other train station". The ticket said Delhi and apparently that means Old Delhi. There was no way I would make it across town in ten minutes to catch the train. I did the only logical thing: I rebooked for Jammu to head to Srinagar in Kashmir. Met a nice man by the name of Lorenzo (I figured this was a sign) who was also heading to the Old Delhi train station, so we had dinner and took the metro together.
The Delhi metro is another world. A clean world with potted plants and a metal detector and police who searched our backpacks before we could get to the platform. It is an incredibly efficient and fast system.
The train at Old Delhi station however was a zoo. Two to three people were sleeping in berths made for one person. I met a very nice 13 year old girl who was heading to Katra to visit a Hindu temple with her family. One very uncomfortable sleep behind me I got off the train in Jammu ready to head to Dal Lake when I was given the information about the roads further into Kashmir. Adullah stopped trying to sell me on his beautiful houseboat and the comfortable local hotel that would put me up tonight when he figured out I wasn't going to be staying. He switched tactics to try and make me stay for the night so HE could show me around Jammu. Everything was offered: dinner, sightseeing by bicycle rickshaw, a free stay at the hotel and a ride to the train station for my onward journey to Dharamsala. I declined and he started to tell me where he made most of his money: brown sugar also known as hash. He exports the stuff. His best client lives in Montreal.
The mountain range was a crisp white backdrop to the blue sky today. The bus headed into the big puffy white clouds where Dharamsala sits atop a hill that backs onto a snow covered moutainous wall. The valley drops in front of the town with small undulating hills as far as the eye can see. No funny signs to mark the roads up this time around. Instead the signs read "Road Damage" "Bridge Damage Drive Slow" or "Strong and Furtive is the Norm. The Indian Army". There's a big army base on the way up here. Much like Darjeeling, Dharamsala is cold but at least there is hot water around here. The Dalai Lama is running lectures this week and next and the town has filled up. I have to apply for a security clearing tomorrow and then am free to attend his lecture series. I am certain things worked out like this for a reason....
I lasted exactly six hours in paradise. The road into the depths of this heaven was treacherous. There was a big landslide. Roads were closed. I had the choice of waiting for them to reopen the roads tomorrow or else keep moving. I didn't want to take the chance of waiting because in India things don't exactly work on time. "Some time tomrrow" could easily turn into some time next week.
Travelling on this latest leg of my journey started yesterday at 4:45pm with a ticket to Jaisalmer. I got to the New Delhi train station with ten minutes to spare. I checked the board for my train's platform. I didn't see it so I pulled out the ticket to make sure I was looking for the right number. Yup, right number. A man leaned over my shoulder "that's for the other train station". The ticket said Delhi and apparently that means Old Delhi. There was no way I would make it across town in ten minutes to catch the train. I did the only logical thing: I rebooked for Jammu to head to Srinagar in Kashmir. Met a nice man by the name of Lorenzo (I figured this was a sign) who was also heading to the Old Delhi train station, so we had dinner and took the metro together.
The Delhi metro is another world. A clean world with potted plants and a metal detector and police who searched our backpacks before we could get to the platform. It is an incredibly efficient and fast system.
The train at Old Delhi station however was a zoo. Two to three people were sleeping in berths made for one person. I met a very nice 13 year old girl who was heading to Katra to visit a Hindu temple with her family. One very uncomfortable sleep behind me I got off the train in Jammu ready to head to Dal Lake when I was given the information about the roads further into Kashmir. Adullah stopped trying to sell me on his beautiful houseboat and the comfortable local hotel that would put me up tonight when he figured out I wasn't going to be staying. He switched tactics to try and make me stay for the night so HE could show me around Jammu. Everything was offered: dinner, sightseeing by bicycle rickshaw, a free stay at the hotel and a ride to the train station for my onward journey to Dharamsala. I declined and he started to tell me where he made most of his money: brown sugar also known as hash. He exports the stuff. His best client lives in Montreal.
The mountain range was a crisp white backdrop to the blue sky today. The bus headed into the big puffy white clouds where Dharamsala sits atop a hill that backs onto a snow covered moutainous wall. The valley drops in front of the town with small undulating hills as far as the eye can see. No funny signs to mark the roads up this time around. Instead the signs read "Road Damage" "Bridge Damage Drive Slow" or "Strong and Furtive is the Norm. The Indian Army". There's a big army base on the way up here. Much like Darjeeling, Dharamsala is cold but at least there is hot water around here. The Dalai Lama is running lectures this week and next and the town has filled up. I have to apply for a security clearing tomorrow and then am free to attend his lecture series. I am certain things worked out like this for a reason....
posted by LOTC at 10:11 AM
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