Hello Hello!
Since leaving Jaipur, Lauren and I have been traveling in the north and ended up in the beautiful state of Kashmir for just over a week. We found Kashmir to be a really beautiful and welcoming place. After a day of bus and jeep rides we settled down in the city of Shrinagar in the famous houseboats on Dal Lake for 3 days all together. During that time we were able to explore the area with a contact I had been given by my friend Omar ji. Karam, who was our spunky tour guide in the beginning of the trip, turned out to be a real friend by the end. We were so lucky to have Karam to show us the best of Shrinagar and share so many laughs and memories. We also got the chance to introduce him to trekking in the Himalayas of his own state, which he had never experienced before.
We all set out on a 5 day trekking trip starting in the mountain town of Naranag with a lot of determination and little knowledge of the challenges we would face along the way. The first night we camped along a beautiful river that was fed directly from the snowy mountains, which were just above us. The valley was almost completely enveloped by the mountains, and the night sky was filled with the most beautiful starry constellations I have ever seen. The next day we headed up the mountain and camped on a pasture with an outrageous view of the snow capped mountains. The panoramic view provided us with a heads up of oncoming rain and snow storms.. which were a common occurrence over our next 2 days on top of the mountain. The next big day hike was to a lake surrounded by the snowy peaks. To get there we walked many ours on another pass running along the sides of the mountains. What I did not expect was the snowy mounds we would have to cross along the way. This created a battle within myself for the rest of the day as I fought my paralysing fear of falling down the snowy slopes of the mountain. I was so lucky to have Lauren and Karam motivate and support me during this inner conflict, as well as the experienced and laid back attitude of our fantastic guide. We ended up having a really challenging and rewarding hike that day, over mountains and snow, but did not make it to our final destination. We turned back early for the long trek home, and got caught in a snow storm along the way! Our guide kept us going even through the wild weather, and we returned back to the camp by night fall.
After that day you might imagine that we were all a little worn-out. We spent a final night at the camp, desperate for warmth in the wet and cold storm, before heading back down to the river the next day. There we spent a relaxing final night and day along the river. After spending a little more time in Shrinagar, we said our farewells and took another long bus trip to McLeod Ganj, where we are currently staying. I will say that although neither of us expected to end up in Kashmir, we are so thankful for the experience. It was very interesting to compare the culture there to that of Jaipur, which had been our home for so long. It was also great to see the current state of Kashmir since many people, including ourselves, have an inaccurate perception of the state because of its controversial conflicts in the past.
With that I will cut myself off and post some of the pictures that help tell our story of Kashmir.
Wishing you all the best,
Tay
Since leaving Jaipur, Lauren and I have been traveling in the north and ended up in the beautiful state of Kashmir for just over a week. We found Kashmir to be a really beautiful and welcoming place. After a day of bus and jeep rides we settled down in the city of Shrinagar in the famous houseboats on Dal Lake for 3 days all together. During that time we were able to explore the area with a contact I had been given by my friend Omar ji. Karam, who was our spunky tour guide in the beginning of the trip, turned out to be a real friend by the end. We were so lucky to have Karam to show us the best of Shrinagar and share so many laughs and memories. We also got the chance to introduce him to trekking in the Himalayas of his own state, which he had never experienced before.
We all set out on a 5 day trekking trip starting in the mountain town of Naranag with a lot of determination and little knowledge of the challenges we would face along the way. The first night we camped along a beautiful river that was fed directly from the snowy mountains, which were just above us. The valley was almost completely enveloped by the mountains, and the night sky was filled with the most beautiful starry constellations I have ever seen. The next day we headed up the mountain and camped on a pasture with an outrageous view of the snow capped mountains. The panoramic view provided us with a heads up of oncoming rain and snow storms.. which were a common occurrence over our next 2 days on top of the mountain. The next big day hike was to a lake surrounded by the snowy peaks. To get there we walked many ours on another pass running along the sides of the mountains. What I did not expect was the snowy mounds we would have to cross along the way. This created a battle within myself for the rest of the day as I fought my paralysing fear of falling down the snowy slopes of the mountain. I was so lucky to have Lauren and Karam motivate and support me during this inner conflict, as well as the experienced and laid back attitude of our fantastic guide. We ended up having a really challenging and rewarding hike that day, over mountains and snow, but did not make it to our final destination. We turned back early for the long trek home, and got caught in a snow storm along the way! Our guide kept us going even through the wild weather, and we returned back to the camp by night fall.
After that day you might imagine that we were all a little worn-out. We spent a final night at the camp, desperate for warmth in the wet and cold storm, before heading back down to the river the next day. There we spent a relaxing final night and day along the river. After spending a little more time in Shrinagar, we said our farewells and took another long bus trip to McLeod Ganj, where we are currently staying. I will say that although neither of us expected to end up in Kashmir, we are so thankful for the experience. It was very interesting to compare the culture there to that of Jaipur, which had been our home for so long. It was also great to see the current state of Kashmir since many people, including ourselves, have an inaccurate perception of the state because of its controversial conflicts in the past.
With that I will cut myself off and post some of the pictures that help tell our story of Kashmir.
Wishing you all the best,
Tay
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| A view of the mountains when we reached the pasture to set up our base camp. |
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| Lauren with the wonderful horses that are used to carry up the camping necessities |
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| Lauren as we cross over a snowy mountain top! |
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| Our calm and collected guide, Zepher, leading the way. |
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| Sunrise on our last day at Dal Lake in Shrinagar. |
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| Sunset when we first arrived at Dal Lake. |
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| The small boats that transport goods and people on Dal Lake and a view of the houseboats in the distance. |
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| The 3 Musketeers visiting the Mughal gardens. |
