Kashmir – a vacation – last day

Saturday, the 6th of June, 2009

11:48

Dear Diary,

Today we went to a famous lake in Srinagar called Dal (pronounced “Dull”) lake. It is famous for its boats known as shikaras. We were really unlucky. It was very windy, so it was not safe to go on a shikara in case it capsized and we all drowned. Shikaras are really lightweight and sway too much in the wind.

Hannah also came with her family. First we all had bhuttas. Then Ajaz Uncle drove us to a garden from where we could get a scenic view of Dal Lake. The garden was well-manicured, maybe because the governor and maharaja of Kashmir live at the foot of the hill, and this garden is on the maharaja’s land, and there are many VIP cottages over here too. The garden was called Chashmeshahi garden, Chashmeshahi meaning royal spring. There is a pure water spring that runs through this garden and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru drank from it when he visited Kashmir.

I lost the lens cap of dad’s camera over here, I think. Hannah climbed up on a nearby litchi tree and got an entire branch of litchis for us. I climbed up too…

We then went to this fortress built on top of a mountain by Shah Jahan, one of the Mughal emperors who ruled India. This must have been a watchtower. It was called Pari Mahal. It has six terraces, five that have well maintained gardens and two that have hamams (saunas). We left Pari Mahal soon and headed home. Today is our last day in Kashmir. Tomorrow, we take a flight back to Delhi’s Domestic airport, where our trip started. I really enjoyed my trip.
And you?

 

Kashmir- a vacation – fourth day diary

Friday, the 5th of June, 2009

08:00 pm

Dear Diary,

We set out from Gulmarg today at 3:00 in the afternoon. After driving for at least one hour, we found that the road ahead was blocked because rebel groups were pelting stones at the windows of passing cars, burning the car tires, and doing other such nonsense. These rebel groups either want Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan, or they want it to be independent. One group which wants it to be part of Pakistan is Lashkar-e-Toiba, the group responsible for killing so many people in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. We went nice and slowly and the mob did not pelt stones at our car. Hannah’s dad’s car was stopped by the mob but they were also let go. We all escaped narrowly. Once Ajaz Uncles car was on the road in front of his house, we felt a lot safer. Aunt Asfia and Ajaz Uncle had taken all this very calmly. This happened at least 4 times a month to them, they told us. Areeba was nevertheless very frightened, Arsh was sucking his little finger, Tuli was asleep, and I was observant and biting my nails under the cover of my heavy pink jacket. While on the road in front of his house, Ajaz Uncle stopped to buy milk for the evening tea. The shopkeeper had 3 cartons but he refused to give us the third one in case somebody else like us needed it.

When the car finally pulled up the driveway, I exhaled with relief; we’d made it safely!

Everyone took a shower (what with sitting in the car for 4 hours and chewing our fingernails…). After having some tea, Areeba took me out to the gazebo in their front garden. I had to finish my holiday homework. After finishing that particular assignment, I noticed a dirty birdbath nearby, which had no water in it. I and Areeba set about cleaning it with a hose pipe. After that was done we cleaned the birdhouse. And after that was done, we cleaned the gazebo itself. That was fun because we cleaned it with the hose pipe and got all wet. I discovered a small-sized, shallow, rectangular depression on the floor of the gazebo.

After an hour, we are now washing our feet in the depression, which is full of water and swimming with rose petals from the roses that grow in the garden.

“Come inside both of you….come on!” My mom is calling. I have to rush for dinner. I can smell the lamb meat from here (Mmmm…)