Kashmir: Chinar, cheese and horses

I wasn't trying to be cute with the title - those are, wierd as they may sound , the first images that come to my mind when I think of our trip to Kashmir.

It was waay waaay back in 1988 (wow that's 18 years ago! I remember kashmir so well that didn't realise how much time has passed since I last went there). Kashmir was still untouched by terrorism and militants, Punjab ( i don't remember what the political context was) was the state we were told to avoid. But our family of determined travellers chose to pay no heed to all warnings and took a train through Punjab to Jammu.

All I remember of Jammu is thousands of flies, a filthy station and a woman breast -feeding her kid in the midst of all that. Not a very lovely image... I remember thinking "UGH, and people say Kashmir is heaven on earth?" Or maybe all I thought at that age was "Hauji ka Pauji why is she nangu pangu in public (shame shame, why is she showing her boobs in public!)

Our first stop was Srinagar. We were staying at a really pretty hotel, I still remember its dining room with big curtains where I would hide and talk to my "bhoot" (imaginary) friends. Ofcourse, it was only later that Ma baba realised that the place was more expy than they had imagined (that's a funny story by itself - when baba realised that we were near being broke so instead of paying the hotel bill he went and shmoozed the manager and presented him a nice tie!)

I made a best friend in record time there - this sardarni called Jasmine. I think that's what she was called - a nice punju kid with big thick plaits. I wonder where she is now- probably married to Mr Balvindar Singh with 3 chhota chhota joori waala boys soemwhere! Oh but I am digressing....

Srinagar was hotter than you expect Kashmir to be. The parts I enjoyed most were the Shikara rides on Dal lake, where the occassisonal pretty lil flower girls/boys would pass you by in little boats full of flowers. The grand meal at Adus - mmmm I can almost taste the Gustaba still! The minister's son's reception with the dancers and the huge feast (LOL I am as usual focussing more on the food experience!)

The next stop were the rose garden and spring in Kokernag. I tried looking for pics on google but almost got traumatised. Most pics are about fire, shootings and terrorism and not too many on tourism. Hmmm, what a waste. Anyhow trust me even without pics, Kojernag was really beautiful. The much talked about "mughal garden" with its sweet spring water and remarkable landscape architecture was quite soemthing. I am not sure whether it was here or Shalimar gardens where we saw the light and sound show late one night. It was almost mystical to be hearing stories of Mughal times sitting amongst the roses and pillars. Quite magical.

Oh, I suddenly realised our first stop was not Srinagar but this less known place whose name started with a P. EEKKS I can't remeber the name of the place and it's driving me crazy (let me call Ma!). We stayed there for Ma baba's anniversary. This remote hill town with lovely Chinar trees and beautifully green walks through forests. I had a set of 3 detective book series to read - Ma baba had gifted us gifts for THEIR anniversary!? I remember lying around in the cushy big beds and watching the trees outside with my book in my lap. (Strangely I remeber the stories in that book but not the name of the place!) Memory selects such strange things as worth preserving. PATNITOP!! Yah that's what it was called! WHEW.


The next two short stops in our one -month long vacation were Gulmarg and Pehelgam. The journey to Gulmarg is as enchnating as the destination - with views of snow-covered mountain tops, rice fields, poplar and fir forests. We made a day trip to this place and had a cute lil picnic lunch with the most spectacular views. But inspite of its "Swiss" like charms I think I was more impressed by the green green meadows, rolly polly hills and quaint bridges of Pahalgam - probably because we stayed there for a longer time.


Pahalgam is known as the Valley of Shepherds, it was once a shepard's village.Apart from the usual magical meadows, flowers, deodar, chinar and poplar forests, Pehalgam has the added charm of having a river run through it. The mountain town lies along the bank of river Lidder and is known for its trout fish! Don't worry, I am not going to rattle out fish recipes once again! I don't quite remember where we stayed in Pahalgam, but I do remember the huge golf course (altho' Gulmarg has the most famous one I believe "Highest golf course" or something like that), the greeeeeeeeeen greeeeen well maintained grassy slopes which seemed like such a waste to me. Especially since they did not let me roll down on them. Sorry, but that's about all I could squeeze out from the mind of the then 8 year old me!

Sonmarg, our last stop was the icing on the cake for sure. The title's "cheese and horses" - in case you were wondering - is from our stay at this little guest house in the middle of a valley, surrounded by short green hills and really tall snow covered mountains. I have to mention this little food detail though- it's essential! We reached Sonmarg in the middle of an unexpected downpour. All of us (our bus people) rushed into the only restaurant (dhaba) visible. The dhaba didn;t really stop the rain - the roof had big leaky holes but served the best piping hot chicken rice anyone can dream of! For the bus full of starving passnegers it was a dream come true. (This brings back memories from a different trip - on a similar starving situtation in Kasauli one year, the khhichurhi and pakorhas god sent for us in the form of proshad at the temple on monkey top was something I'll never forget!)

Well fed and happy, we trudged on to our guest house. Late that evening we sat around a bonfire and (I am sure) totally spoint the romantic evening the honeymoon couple had in mind by playing antakshari nonstop! Nights were really chilly and the "kind" guest house manager kept giving us one extra blanket after the other, apart form a seperate iangeethhi for each bed. Only later did we realise he planned to charge "extra" for all the kindness!

Early morning I got up to see the valley full of horses and sheep - it was the most amazing site possible. Believe me if you saw a pic of that you would think I played around with th eimage - it was so pretty! I went and fed all the horses our entire supply of snax biscuit and cheese! OOOOHHH IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE:)

The rest of the days were spent running up and crawling down the hills with one of the family members ging hystericla with fright mid way, the walk (in our bathroom slippers!) to the glacier nearby. Well, no we are not the crazy trekket type but this was totally unplanned. It started off as just an evening walk but, egged on my an english father and son, we made it to the glacier. Ofcourse with no shoes or gloves we were half frozen. I remember the fantastic sled ride P and I took from a snowy mountain side and the terrifying horse ride back. Yikes, I swear I felt like the horse will walk if the edge any second the entire way back. That was NOT fun!

Munsiari: Waterfalls, mountains and history

One of my favorite places in Kumaon Himalaya is the little town of Munsiari,in Pithhoragarh district. I've always maintained that HP has greener and more exotic spots than Kumaon, but Munsiari is definitely an exception.


We went to Munsiari for the first time in 2003. Baba was detremined to show me some unforgettable lands in India before I packed off to Amreeka. Our first pit stop was Nainital. But I've written enough about that! After stocking up on gas and supplies, we started off for our next pit-stop - Chaukori.



At an altitude of around 2100 mts, Chaukori is another exception to my HP is better rule. It offers a magnificent view of the Panchchuli peaks and brilliant Himalayan sunrises and sunsets. Forests of pine, oak and rhododendron are interspersed with cornfields, orchards and tea plantations. We usually stay at the KMVN log huts, very quaint, red roof-topped huts, good home-style food, no electricity at niggts making it conducive to non-stop anatakshari games and a tower that gives a magnificent view of the entire area. The stop at haukori is not mandatory Munsairi can be reached straight from Naini. But then, why would you want to miss such a pretty place!

Lots of people had warned us about the road to Munsiari - but compared to that to Manali, it was not too bad. The streams and waterfalls running into the only road does make it a bit dangerous but FUN (esp when you are not driving!). Munsiari is a quite hill town with an altitude of over 3000 m. The route to this town is as breathtaking as the town itself with huge ups and downs, curves and bumps, green hills, snow-covered mountains and huge waterfalls.

A less-known destination for most tourists, Munsairi is mostly visited just by trekkers as a base for their trek to Milam Glacier up to Malari, which is part of an old trade route to Tibet and China. But even if you are not the trekking kind, Munsiari is definitely worth a couple of visits.
Some of the things I remember from the trip are the famous "Martolia lodge" which serves authentic Kumaoni food and long term acco for foreigners. The dal chawal sabji meal in a glass room facing the himalayas was quite unforgettable! The food was nothing great but just the whole thing was quite something :)

Then the tiny market, where there is a high restuarant that serves just pakoras and chai, the tea shop where we sat and had Marie biscuit and chai, the NGO where we found a long-lost friend, the walk up and down spiralling roads with a sudden wild animal strolling by ( I think they were yaks)...

Momo Land

The rain on the green New England hills reminded me, in an odd sort of a way, of Himachal Pradesh and the cute little town of Mcleodganj - the land which is a fascinating mix of people from different cultures - Tibetans, Himachalis, Israeli tourists in search of ganja, more spiritual tourists in search of Buddhism, the bizarre clan of german (?) origin Sikhs.. And ofcourse as importantly (at least for this blogger!) an exciting potpourri of cuisines - momos, thukpas, carrotcakes and authentic Italian pastas!

My first memory of Mcleodganj is muddled with those of Dharamsala. For the amateur traveler the two might be the same - but for a seasoned (well, I claim to be a super seasoned one!) the two are poles apart. For those who are familiar with Manali - the difference is as pronounced as that between New Manali (the Karol Bagh of HP with a few Sher-e-Punjabs thrown in to give the hill station touch) and Old (cross the bridge and you are in Surreal -land, where there are no cops, no honeymooners only babajis, felafal and smoke-filled moonlight cafes!).But I am digressing - this post is about Mcleod not Manali...

Oh ya, so the only thing I remember from our first trip with Baba was the ziliion momos we consumed and the Tibetan Children's village that had such cute kids that it got even P to start feeling maternal (hee haa haha)!

Flashback 2: P and I are in M'ganj on our own this time. We decided to stay at Green Hotel - of the carrot cake fame. The days were spent pretty much the same way everyday - getting up and sitting in the small balcony facing what looked like a hostel for monks with a honey lemon tea and sutta. Early morning was spent watching monks of different shapes and sizes, in varying degrees of undress(!) walk by, hear some Nyom myoho renge kyo echo around, do some ooh aahing over the Dhauladhar range AND the most imporatnt task of planning the menu for the rest of the day. The big dilemmas used to be "Should be stuff our faces with the Farmer's breakfast (a mish mash of potatoes cheese and egg) and risk not being able to hike or share some slices of carrot and chocolate cakes and risk not being able to hike?!", "should we eat our usual Thukpas at Tibet Hotel or try Italian", "should we waste money on a hard cider or save up for another piece of carrot cake as a mid-morning snack!"... Ahhh those were TOUGH questions!

Apart from stuffing our faces, I do remember that we hiked to this semi-mountain-top and sat hidden by the trees looking down at the valley and a river full of women trying to wash carpets and children. strangely it was a really amazing sight - the fact that I still remember it so well(this was 11 years back) goes to show how cool it must have been. It was like watching a movie - sitting in the most perfect movie theatre! Then the walk to the neighboring town's Ashram, snuggled between forests. About an hours walk from M'ganj is this Ashram where people go for meditation camps. The reason why I remember this is cos once you approach the place there are big signs saying "NO TALKING BEYOND THIS POINT". And ofcourse P and I being the way we are - our attempts at silence sent us off into fits of hysterical giggling. We'll never make it past a minute in the Ashram.

This was also the trip where we encountered the clan of German Sikhs - where even the women religiously follow the 3 K rule - wearing a kara (a steel bangle), kirpan (a sword or knife) and kachcha (special breeches). Imagine this group of blue-eyed blondes and cute looking goras with turbans and swords wondering around in a remote hill station in India. Quite radical huh! I wonder what their history is.

Flashback 3: Mcleodganj with Ma. I had just returned from a surreal trip to the land of wierd relatives in Allahabad - I was forced to take the TEST FOR SPOKEN ENGLISH - incidentally the most bizarre test in the world where they ask you to give directions in english! And Ma announced that we are going to m'ganj! So, without even getting the time ti unpack, Ma and I boarded HPT rattly bus early in the evening. I was quite sure Ma would be all achy and cranky with the 13 hour bus ride but being an even more seasoned travelor - she was not! For some wierd reason - whole of M'ganj was teeming with people and Ma and I had to run from one hotel to the other before we atlast got a tiny room but with a big window facing the Dhauladhar in Green hotel.

mmm, thinking about it - mostly what we did again was get up in the morning in the little balcony facing the monks' hostel, with a tea and sutta (just me this time - hehehe) and plan the menu for the day! I forced Ma to try some tibetan food (which she hated as it tasted like raw meat to her!) and to get revenge she forced me to have Butter chicken at night (how sacrilegous is that - to be eating mughlai in momo-land!). We took long walks thru' the town, meandering thru back lanes and discovered some amazing places, a pine-lined walk (where Ma took a tumble cos she was so busy admiring the view and screaming "ki Apoorbo" and Rabindro Sangeet's at the trees!). We ventured up the hill one day and pretended to be intersted in renting rooms in some snazzy and very expy huts! Ofocurse we just giggled, sat on their cushy sofas and came running back to our cheapy room! Oh ya, teh walks around the monastery (the circle walk through woods) was quite pretty as well... Somehow, I can't remeber much else? Maybe Ma remembers more??