A flavour of the Orient
Rai & Stephie in Asia

After 2 weeks in Ladakh ("land of high altitude passes")  it was time to head 500 km  west to the idyllic exclusively Muslim Kashmir valley on another spectacular mountain road. It was goodbye for the time being to the Tibetan prayer flags and rocky hilltop monasteries. Instead on the 2 day shared taxi ride we had to endure listening to songs like  :

"I am tarzan, tarzan is handsome, tarzan is strong, so listen to the jungle song...tarzan is here so come on kiss me babey" ! hahahaa.. Steph got hold of her ear plugs....hahaa

In the last 20 yrs or so Kashmir has been in the news mostly for the wrong reasons. The conflict between Kashmiris and the Central government in Delhi erupted in 1989 and has resulted in over 70,000 deaths with 112 deaths alone reported during the summer protests of 2010. The kashmir valley has the highest army concentration anywhere in the world - more than in Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma.....

But beyond the barbed wired, army patrols and checkpoints we have seen a beautiful place...green pine tree filled mountain valleys with saffron fields, fresh rivers for rai to swim in and 3 to 4 storey wood and brick houses not too different from the swiss alps and a stark contrast to the scenery left behind in Ladakh. Srinagar which translates as 'beautiful city' is the summer capital of Kashmir and Jammu province and is located among the stunning Dal and Nagin lakes filled with 1200 houseboats. 35,000 people live on these houseboats and they are desperate for tourist money... We saw few foreign tourists so it was tout heaven again....I had to be on special alert after my mistake in Delhi to avoid landing on a half sunken houseboat with no access to dry land. No mistakes were made but we ended up staying on a very nice guesthouse NEXT to the lake which was a very quiet affair until 60 visitors arrived from Gujarat with their cooks, maids and cleaners ! A kashmiri wedding also took place just outside our window to make things doubley entertaining. We were also invited to have traditional english tea and biscuits at Clermont Butt...famous houseboat where our lucky film making friend Reeve was staying....the likes of George Harrison, Michael Palin, Roosevelt stayed here too. Apart from some houseboat fun and checking out the delightful old town we hitched hicked with lovey dovey couples from Srinagar to some well kept moghul gardens for some siestas...perfect relaxation!

For a nice entertaining read on Kashmir check out  "In the Valley of Mist" by Justine Hardy and  "Until my Freedom has come", edited by Sanjak Roy...yeeees its amazing...rai who is definitely not a book worm has managed to read two books in the last 14 days!

Http://www.stephieandraigoasia.blogspot.com