Friday, October 20, 2006
6 October, 2006
Waking up at 5h45 is not our forte. We were running late for the airport (as usual) and check-in was chaotic. We arrived in Kashmir really quickly (very short flight), and Rami was waiting for us at the airport. We drove through the city and it was like a different world compared to Delhi, except for the fact that there were army soldiers with huge rifles everywhere. The driving was the same madness and lunacy. We drove along the lake and stopped by the roadside only to enter into a beautifully decorated boat that took us to the boathouse. The sun was shining and it was so surreal. When we arrived at the Boathouse it was so different. We had a whole house to ourselves (lounge, dining room), and someone at our beck and call all the time. We were given Kashmir tea and some dropped scones. Then things got a bit tense because we had to negotiate a price for our itinerary in Kashmir. This was not an easy task! At all!
To cut a long story short we got taken for what we call the Kashmir Boathouse scam! We were trapped on a boathouse with no means of getting anywhere or doing anything unless we went with their program. Anyway, we left on a tour of the lake and it was so beautiful and peaceful. The mountains were all around us and we rowed along the lake the entire afternoon with our guide Showkut and Mohammed. We stopped at a mosque and it was Ramadan and a Friday. It was absolutely insane and people were pushing and shoving and staring at me as if I was some alien that had just landed from Mars. Jokes aside I have never seen people stare like this before- anywhere in the world. We left the chaos and visited a paper machee factory with the most amazing stuff and then a place for pashminas- all on the lake. After dinner I bought a pendant. It is a Kashmir rock, or so they say, but it is pretty anyway. We were very ready for bed.
Waking up at 5h45 is not our forte. We were running late for the airport (as usual) and check-in was chaotic. We arrived in Kashmir really quickly (very short flight), and Rami was waiting for us at the airport. We drove through the city and it was like a different world compared to Delhi, except for the fact that there were army soldiers with huge rifles everywhere. The driving was the same madness and lunacy. We drove along the lake and stopped by the roadside only to enter into a beautifully decorated boat that took us to the boathouse. The sun was shining and it was so surreal. When we arrived at the Boathouse it was so different. We had a whole house to ourselves (lounge, dining room), and someone at our beck and call all the time. We were given Kashmir tea and some dropped scones. Then things got a bit tense because we had to negotiate a price for our itinerary in Kashmir. This was not an easy task! At all!
To cut a long story short we got taken for what we call the Kashmir Boathouse scam! We were trapped on a boathouse with no means of getting anywhere or doing anything unless we went with their program. Anyway, we left on a tour of the lake and it was so beautiful and peaceful. The mountains were all around us and we rowed along the lake the entire afternoon with our guide Showkut and Mohammed. We stopped at a mosque and it was Ramadan and a Friday. It was absolutely insane and people were pushing and shoving and staring at me as if I was some alien that had just landed from Mars. Jokes aside I have never seen people stare like this before- anywhere in the world. We left the chaos and visited a paper machee factory with the most amazing stuff and then a place for pashminas- all on the lake. After dinner I bought a pendant. It is a Kashmir rock, or so they say, but it is pretty anyway. We were very ready for bed.
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 7:11 AM 
