Kashmir: Tranquility and Terror - Srinagar, India
Srinagar, India
Where I stayed
Butts Clermont House Boat
Anguished shrieks bleated out from our hotel bathroom. Alan had awoken the next morning to discover to his horror that his backside looked like a piece of rare roasted pork. It was not a pretty sight. I had to admit that he must have suffered awfully from sitting on the red hot cement step at the Wagah closing ceremony the evening before - and reluctantly I had to agree that my bit of seat must have been pretty well shaded. And I had to apologise. And Alan still reminds me of it. Often.
Mukesh and our driver Mintu arrived spot on time and drove us from our hotel to the Amritsar Airport to catch our flight to Delhi where we would connect with a flight to Srinagar, Kashmir. The Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport was a very new and plush building, and amazingly efficient. We had no trouble with our bookings and our Jet Airways flight to Delhi was on time.
At the airport we met with an American school teacher who was leading an excursion of some twenty students to India. It was good to chat with a westerner after weeks of seeing no other foreigners. The teacher explained that the students had participated the evening before in the Sikh Golden Temple's daily provision of free meals for the poor. The process had involved a lengthy queue to enter the temple and the fatigued students had suffered considerably from the heat. This confirmed our decision not to queue up to enter the temple and we were very pleased that we hadn't.
We were pleasantly surprised with Delhi airport. It too was very attractive in design, super modern and nothing like the third world airport we were half expecting. In fact there were many designer wear and up markets shops, including the well known English Marks and Spencers operating in the airport building itself. Delhi airport seemed like a strange place to buy a swimming costume but that's exactly what I did and thankfully it fitted perfectly when I eventually tried it on back home in Australia.
To our delight we also found an airport liquor shop and Alan managed to stuff a bottle of gin, a bottle of scotch and a number of cans of tonic water in his hand luggage (tonic water we were surprised to find out, was extremely hard to find in what we thought was the Home of Gin and Tonic). The young woman checking the x-rays of our baggage could barely hide her amusement when she saw what Alan had packed in his baggage. Thankfully, she was very good humoured - something we found with a lot of Indian officials - and smiling broadly just waved us on.
Our Kingfisher Airlines flight to Srinagar was very pleasant and we were supplied with a very good hot lunch. In the early part of the flight cabin staff approached me to ask if I would agree to a young boy sitting next to me for the duration of the flight. Apparently, Indian flight regulations insist that minors travelling alone must sit next to a female.
Young Gulam was a twelve year old boy who was travelling back from London to his home in Srinagar. Highly self possessed and polite, he explained to us that he had been on a school excursion to England and was travelling alone just for his return leg from Delhi. To our surprise he generously offered us some of his potato crisps then read a book for the remainder of the flight. The last we saw of him was at the luggage carousel at Srinagar airport where he was heaving off quite a lot of heavy luggage, totally refusing any help from us. He was a lovely kid and a pleasure to be with. And entirely different from the ill mannered children we were to encounter during our coming travels in India.
We spent at least an hour filling out numerous tedious official foreigners forms on our arrival to Srinagar, and were highly relieved to find our guide Mushtaq and driver Meraj waiting patiently for us at the airport entrance.
Mr Gulam Butt's Clermont House Boats are famous world wide. Founded by his father, Mr Butt over the years has played host to a wide spectrum of guests, including Heads of States, Ambassadors, entertainment personalities, movie stars, authors and journalists ranging from Lord Mountbatten, H E Rockefeller and Mrs Nelson Rockefeller to George Harrison and well known Australian author Christopher Kremmer. Michael Palin while filming his BBC series of "Himalaya" was also a guest there and Mr Butt and his houseboats feature both in the film series and the resulting publication.
Butts Clermont Houseboats are moored on the western shores of the beautiful Dal Lake, the most famous attraction of Srinagar and around which the city is built. They are located next to an old Mughal Garden "The Naseem Bagh" believed to have been built by Emperor Akbar and which accommodates some very beautiful 400 year old Chinar (Plane) trees.
On our arrival we were treated to a very warm welcome and lots of hugs by the enthusiastic and lively Mr Gulam Butt. "I was soooo worried about you. Why are you arriving here soooo late?". He had not realised that we had travelled the long journey from Amritsar to Srinagar via Delhi. Nor did he seem to believe that we had come to India via Pakistan. The beaming Mr Butt, reminded me of the March Hare, moving at a hundred miles an hour and talking at a similar pace. He was a great host and could not help himself in happily fussing over us, organising tea and cake while at the same time grabbing my hand and enthusiastically showing us walls of signed photos and hundreds of flattering news paper clippings about Butts Clermont Houseboats. Mr Butt was everywhere at once.
Mr Butt was also extremely proud of his guest books. They were huge ledger style books containing hundreds of flattering testimonials from appreciative guests. Mr Butt excitedly told me that we would be the first guests in Book 16 and asked if I would write the first testimonial. It was obviously quite an honour. I also knew that I would have to think up a pretty good endorsement of Butts Clermont House Boats - and in my very best handwriting......
We were delighted to be shown our charming houseboat where we were to stay for the next two nights. We were even more delighted when Mr Butt told us that we had the houseboat to ourselves. It was a large, ornately carved wooden boat moored right next to the pretty Mughal Garden. Inside were two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a splendid sitting and dining room adorned with ornate cedar panelling and Kashmiri carpets, lit by a huge central chandelier. The highly polished rosewood dining table was covered with an immaculate stiff white tablecloth and formally set for our evening dinner with cut glass and starched napkins.
Our afternoon was spent exploring Dal Lake with Mushtaq on a shikara. Shikaras are highly attractive, brilliantly painted covered wooden boats that are used on Dal Lake and other waterways of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. In fact they have become a cultural symbol of Kashmir. Shaped rather like Venetian gondolas, they are used for multiple purposes including fishing, harvesting aquatic vegetables, local and tourist transport and even as shops. Some are used as floating homes. Drivers sitting in the lower end use uniquely designed spade shaped oars to row them and each shikara seats up to six people.
Dal Lake is the second largest lake in Kashmir, covering an area of 18 square kilometers and surrounded by a shoreline of 15.5 kilometers. The lake is famous for its unique bird life and is used for fishing, recreation and the famous "floating gardens" (aquatic vegetables are grown commercially on Dal Lake). Surrounding Dal Lake are the glorious Himalayas. Sadly, the lake is now in danger of being totally choked by weed and algal blooms. It appears this is largely due to waste water run off from the many squatters' huts located around the rim of the lake. And indeed the intense green murkiness of the waters testified to high nutrient levels. The Indian government is spending around US $275 million to try to address the eutrophication problem but locals are pessimistic about its success. Signs saying "Save our Lake", "Save Dal Lake" were erected everywhere. We saw attempts to dredge up the weed from the lake, dumping it in large heaps on the side of the road. Not only was it obviously futile but the stench of rotting weed was overpowering. The local cows seemed to enjoy it though.
I don't think however that I have experienced a more calming and peaceful setting than Dal Lake. Alan agreed. Lying back in our little shikara, the only sounds we could hear was the gentle "lap, lap" of the spade paddles as we glided through the water hyacinths and lotus floating on the tranquil waters of Dal Lake. It felt like heaven - but I hoped it wasn't....
So peaceful, it was impossible to believe that there was ever any inter-communal conflict in this beautiful region. Which of course there was - and still is. As mentioned in my Introduction, our Australian Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) has a DO NOT TRAVEL warning on the whole of Kashmir which meant that our travel insurance was void for the time we were there. http://youtu.be/VtDLYTpKGYM
We tried not to think about this during our Shikara ride but when we suddenly turned into a dark, narrow and lonely part of the the lake which soon became more like a vegetated tunnel, the thought of being kidnapped did cross my mind. Apparently Alan was thinking the same. And tourist kidnappings had occurred in the past in Kashmir. We were relieved to eventually emerge safely from our photosynthesising cocoon to the vast mirror lake surrounded by hundreds of houseboats and the endless array of brightly coloured shikaras.
Srinagar's signature houseboats first appeared in colonial times when the British were prohibited from purchasing land in India. As Kashmir was a favourite summer destination to escape the heat, a solution to accommodate themselves was to build opulent houseboats on Dal Lake.
We were staggered by the number of houseboats - apparently there are over one thousand, four hundred boats moored along the shores of Dal Lake. Incidentally, unlike what we had first imagined, they do not move; that is the job of the shikaras. The nice thing about Butt's was that their houseboats were located in a very secluded part of the lake and not stacked together in rows side by side like the ones we saw that afternoon. As we were later to appreciate, Indian tourists tend to be extremely noisy and we shuddered to think what the accommodation in the jammed in houseboats must have been like.
Each houseboat was given wonderful grand names such as Rolex, Neil Armstrong, Royal Palace, Shalimah Palace, Crystal Palace, Mahjong, Jamaica - although the standard of the boats varied enormously from over imposing to shoddy and "sinkable-any-minute". In light of this, Lonely Planet Guide gives ample warning about booking houseboats "Don't pre-purchase houseboat packages; never book in Delhi. Thoroughly check out houseboats in person before agreeing or paying.....". Enough said.
Our evening on our houseboat was wonderfully relaxing. Ramzan, who has worked faithfully with Mr Butt for more than forty years, brought us a sumptuous three course meal - all served with great flair.
The next morning Mushtaq took us on a tour of Srinagar city, the Mughul Gardens and local mosques. Srinagar is surrounded by the timbered mountainous country of the foothills of the Himalayas. After our trip to Pakistan and then Amritsar, it felt somewhat strange but rather lovely to to see lush moist vegetation.
Srinagar is the summer capital of the Indian State of Kashmir and Jammu. It is situated in the Kashmir valley and lies on the Jhelum River, a tributary of the mighty Indus which was such a familiar friend to us in Pakistan. The river divides the city in two parts that are connected by its nine famous bridges. It has a population of some 1.2 million.
Srinagar, once the darling of wealthy international tourists, has suffered terribly both socially and economically from the ongoing territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. Following Partition in 1947, the eastern part of Kashmir became part of India, causing great grief and turmoil for its mainly Muslim population and of course the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Thousands have been killed in both the Indian - Pakistan wars and the fight by militant separatists for an independent Kashmir. Rival tensions and frequent killings are still concerningly commonplace.
Mr Butt had explained the evening before that tourism in Srinagar had been virtually nil for the last sixteen years due to the continuing deadly conflict. His proud face saddened and with moist eyes he told us about the terrifying conflict between the Indian army and separatist factions. One night during the conflict several militant separatists came to his home demanding money. Mr Butt told them that he had very little money because he had had no guests for the last ten years. One of the separatists laid his rifle on Mr Butt's kitchen table saying "Your money or your life..." Two nights later the same thing happened but this time it was the Indian army. Mr Butt had no choice other than to give the little money he had.
Although he was very bitter about the conflict he was however very optimistic about the future. Local Indian tourism was at a high for the first time for years and he was hopeful that overseas countries may relax their warnings on Kashmir. Today (December 2013), the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs gives a "Do Not Travel" warning for Kashmir, with the exception of Srinagar and Jammu which still have a concerning "Reconsider Your Need to Travel" warning.
Incidentally, we read in the newspaper the following day that an army soldier was killed and another injured when militants opened fire on the Srinagar - Jammu National Highway during one of the days we were in Srinagar. It was the third such shooting incident in Kashmir over a five day period, resulting in a total of nine deaths.
With its mild summers Srinagar in its past hey days was well loved also by Indian locals to escape the blistering heat of the southern areas. Mushtaq told us that the past few days had been unusually hot. And this day was very hot; too hot in fact to comfortably walk around the gardens and mosques.
The famous Shalimar Mughal Gardens (Shalimar Bargh) were the first gardens we visited. Built in 1619 by Mughal Emperor Jehangir for his wife Nur Jahan, the gardens are located on the north-eastern side of Dal Lake.The layout of the Mughal gardens reflect a strong Persian influence and indeed were very reminiscent of those we saw during our trip to Iran in 2011. Most of the gardens have a similar design with terraced lawns, fountains, pools and cascades, interspersed with flower beds, Chinar (Plane) trees, pavillions and mock fortress facades. Whilst the garden setting was rather lovely, the gardens certainly needed some attention and we thought that an hour and half was far too long a time there. By that time it was more entertaining to watch local Muslim school girls in their hijabs and school uniforms splash wildly in the waters of the pools.
Built in 1633 by Mughal Asif Khanh, the Nishat Mughal gardens (Nishat Bargh) were much more impressive with steeper terraces and gorgeous views of Lake Dal with its solitary immersed archway. They are located on the eastern side of the lake and is the second largest (Shalimar is the largest) Mughal garden in the Kashmir Valley. Like Shalimar, the Nishat Bargh is laid out as a broad cascade of terraces lined with Chinar and cypress trees.
Mushtaq was going to take us to another garden but we decided that enough was enough. We were hot and we knew we had to do a tour of three mosques before we could retreat to our secluded houseboat for the afternoon.
The first mosque we visited was the Shah-e-Hamadan. It was very impressive with beautiful paper- machier reliefs and elaborately coloured faceted wood panelling. The Mosque is built on the site of one of Kashmir's first mosques that was founded by the Persian saint Mir Sayed Ali who arrived in Kashmir in 1372, one of 700 refugees escaping Timur's conquest of Iran. he is said to have converted 37,000 people to Sufi Islam and it is likely that he introduced Kashmiris to the Persian art of fine carpet making. Non-Muslim people are not allowed to enter the mosque but we were able to have a peek through the main door and the interior architecture was both ornate and beautiful.
On our way to the Jama Masjid Mosque we caught glimpses of the craggy crumbling houses of the Old City.
The Jama Masjid is located at Nowhatta in the middle of the Old City. Built by Sultan Sikander in 1400, the mosque displays grand Indo-Saracenic architecture, a huge courtyard and 370 tall wooden pillars, each fashioned from the trunk of a single Deodar tree. This spacious mosque is considered one of the most sacred mosques in India and has a capacity to accommodate 33,000 worshippers.
The main streets of Srinagar were bustling hives of activity selling everything from brightly coloured cloth to electrical goods and street food. Alan however was unable to buy any tonic water for his gin - something he didn't give up on during our entire stay in India - but with very little success. There were hundreds of local tourists but we did not see any foreigners, probably because of the international NO GO on Kashmir.
Our last mosque visit was to the splendid Hazrat Bal Shrine situated on the left bank of Dal Lake and visible from our houseboat. Bearing a huge white dome, it is considered to be the holiest shrine in Kashmir. At the time of our visit, the building was undergoing extensive renovations and was covered in scaffolding. To our relief, prayers were being held and after an hour's wait Alan and I decided we wanted to get back to our beloved houseboat.
Mr Butt was waiting for us and suggested after a late lunch that we may like to look at some of the famous Kashmiri cashmere pashminas. His son Nawaz Butt had a pashmina business and could pick us up late in the afternoon. We didn't want to buy a pashmina but decided it might be interesting just to "have a little look". I should have known better. Alan the Compulsive Hand Woven Rug Buyer was on the loose again.
During our drive to the pashmina business, we noticed the unusual architecture of the surrounding residential houses. Looking more European than Indian, most had steeply peaked roofs and built in a "chalet style' with shuttered windows. Apparently the cold winters and heavy snows are the reason for the steeply pitched roofs. They reminded us very much of those houses we had seen on our trip to Kyrgyzstan in 2009.
The pashmina "shop" was a family run business operating out of a residential house. Mr Ahad Bhat had founded this famous business and along with his wife and son Mansoor Bhat, hand made all their pashminas. We had no idea that the pashminas woudld be hand embroidered. It was such fine and delicate work, with some pieces taking a year to make. Mr Bhat's wife was sitting on the floor spinning fine cashmere on an ancient spinning wheel while we we shown numerous gorgeous pashminas.
And like good salespeople, each pashmina presented to us was more beautiful than the other. The last piece took our breath away. It was gorgeously hand woven cashmere with large colourful checks and totally embroidered with tiny flower motives. This pashmina was made by Mansoor Butt - and he was obviously very proud of it. We couldn't look at anything else after we saw this piece. And not surprisingly (for anyone who knows how impetuous we are) we bought it. We probably paid far too much but in its full glory on our bed at home, we admire it every day and consider it as a rare piece of unique art.
Mr Bhat and his family were very friendly, showing us various paper clippings about his famous pashminas and telling us he founded the business from scratch many years ago. He was especially proud of his house which was newly built and very colourful and ornate. Business was obviously going well for them.
After more futile tonic water searching in Srinagar city, we finally arrived back at our houseboat where we enjoyed a very late but delicious formal three course meal, served proudly by the ever courteous Ramzan.