Happy New Year Eves from Gulmarg 31 Dec 12 Mon

Well, here we are in Gulmarg.  We finally made it!
We arrived at our accommodation, Grand Mumtaz late yesterday afternoon.  This will be our home for the next five weeks.  Not sure where we will be for the last five weeks of winter will have to wait and see what pans out.
Peter (CEO of Ski Himalaya) and Bashir (Operations Manager of Ski Himalaya) organised this for Jim in payment for training and helping the Ski Himalaya guides.

We were ecstatic when we arrived last night the manager gave us the presidential suite for the night.
After the last few days of no power, little heating and no hot water we had landed in heaven.  The hot water is scalding, the hotel is centrally heated and there is a generator for when the power is interrupted which is often in this region.
We had long showers and jumped into bed, forgot to say there is electric blankets as well. After a little while we had to turn off the blankets, we were too hot.
We moved to a deluxe room this morning and it is just as good.  The ensuite is smaller and there is no living room but we are extremely happy to be here.
The family in TangMarg are lovely but unfortunately the guesthouse is a bit basic for us.  I can't believe  Jim stayed there for a month on his last trip here.  Good on him!

Love the signage

Can only be seen in India, Kashmir

View from the road driving up to Gulmarg

View out of our hotel window

Walking around this morning

   

Tang Marg Sunday 30 Dec

Dinner last night at Bashir’s was in traditional Kashmiri style which, means we sat on the floor and ate.  There was chicken, mutton balls, vegetables, rice and chapatti.  In India mutton refers to goat. 

The food was good (I only had the veggies) but it is unnerving to eat when the whole extended family is watching.  Only Bashir ate with us, the others ate after us in the next room, another Kashmiri tradition. 

Last night we slept on two doonas and a blanket and four on top, slightly modified from the night before by adding an extra blanket and long johns.  We were toasty and slept well.  

Manzoor’s daughter brings us breakfast of toast and coffee.  Her name is Sheken and she is lovely.  She calls me madam and tells me I am beautiful.  How cute.  Jim says she just says this because we are different looking.  I said, no Jim it is because I am beautiful.  How rude.

The coffee is made on milk with sugar.  Not at all how I have coffee.  Normally I have soy decafe, how different can it be.  It is the way it is.

The power came on long enough to recharge the laptop so now that we are back on line I was able to post a few blogs.  

Walked up to the market to check out the mayhem, it is entertaining.  Enjoyed a cup of khawa (Kashmiri tea) at Downhill Restaurant. 

We are back at the guesthouse (still no power) waiting for Bashir’s phone call to see if we are able to move up to Gulmarg this afternoon. 

Skehen

The traffic mayhem

Walking up to market, the sun was trying to come out

Tradesman cutting timber for Manzoor's renovations

Tang Marg Saturday 29 Dec

It was snowing when we arrived yesterday and it continued throughout the night causing power cuts.  We have no heating or hot water.  We have a little gas heater but there are gas restrictions so we are trying to do the right thing and only have it on low.

We managed to spend 4 hours at the market today; it is within walking distance of the guesthouse.  It is a hive of activity.  It is noisy and the traffic congestion has to be seen and heard to be believed.  It is the gateway to Gulmarg.  

Whilst we were in  the market we found a tailor to take up the sleeves on my hoodie, bought biscuits for both the family at the guesthouse and for Bashir’s family, bought some long johns to wear to bed and purchased a phone card and internet usb.  Ran into a few familiar Ski Himalaya faces, guides from previous visits so this meant numerous cups of tea – a Kashmiri tradition.

Had lunch at Downhill Restaurant.  It is the best spot for watching the mayhem below. They have the best food and the warmest bakari (fire place).

Back at the guesthouse the power is still off.  There is no way we’re going to have showers.  It is too cold.  We’re going across the road to Bashir’s for dinner.  His house is the other extreme.  It is sweltering.  He has his bakari roaring. 

One of the Manzoor's sons, in the upstairs renovations

Walking into the market

Local kids playing in the snow

They agreed to a photo

Me, outside the guesthouse

Friday 28 Dec Friday Jammu/Srinagar/Tang Marg

Our driver arrived at 4am on the dot.  He said he was worried we wouldn’t be ready but we were waiting in the foyer.  There were three other passengers, two army guys and an auditor.  The auditor, how rude I didn’t even ask him his name, he was keen to practise his English so asked lots of questions.  He was the interpreter for the others.

We stopped for a tea break at 5am putting us ahead of all the trucks.  It didn’t become light till after 7am.  Once we started to climb up the mountains the scenery was spectacular.  We stopped for a toilet break (for the boys, no where for me to go on a mountainous road, good thing I didn’t have a cuppa earlier) and look down the valley. 

Driving over the mountains we stopped again to look at Titantic Viewpoint but it was snowy and foggy, couldn’t see much.  On the other side the weather cleared and remained that way till we hit Tang Marg. 

We were due to arrive in Srinagar at 1pm and we did, on the dot. 

Bashir, from Ski Himalaya was in Srinagar to pick us up and take us to Tang Marg, which is 50km away.  We will stay in a guesthouse across the road from Bashir’s house for a couple of nights before heading up to Gulmarg (13kms).  This is the guesthouse Jim stayed in three years ago, it is owned by Manzoor.  He lives here with his family.  They are very friendly and helpful.

5am teahouse

Scenic view

Toilet break - over the edge

Titantic view point

Cricket bats drying, many many along the drive into Srinagar

Jammu 27 Dec Thursday

Jammu is known as the city of temples.  

We went walking to find one but gave up after being harassed for rupees.  The same thing happened yesterday afternoon.  We went and got a coffee in Café Coffee Day, an Indian Gloria Jeans.  Hiding out really, bit sad isn’t it.

Our driver (Reaoul, not sure how it is spelt) arrived at 6pm to meet us.  He seems nice, he has very little English but his body language is good, he shook our hands a few times.  He says we have to leave at 4am to get ahead of the trucks.

So, it is off to bed for us for an early night.  

Dharamsala/Jammu 26 Dec Wed

It was a four and a half hour drive from Dharamsala to Jammu.

Today is a sad day because we have said goodbye to Deepak.  He has been so good at looking after us these past 3 weeks.

5km before we crossed the border into Jammu Kashmir, Deepak rang Rashid (our travel consultant in Delhi) to check about the driver from Jammu to Srinagar.  

Our travel plans were about to change.  We pulled over to a roadside service centre to wait to hear back from Rashid.  The sign said “Fast Food”.  The coffee and cookies were good.  They were baking their cookies in what looked like a pizza oven.

The situation is due to heavy snow from last week the Jammu Srinagar highway has only one lane open.  Traffic is taking turns departing and arriving from Jammu.  We were meant to leave tomorrow (Thursday) but we’ll have to wait till Friday, that means an extra day in Jammu.  Not ideal as foreign tourists are not common in Jammu so English is not widely spoken.

The hotel room is clean and comfy enough, it will be home for the next two days.  At least it has windows to let in some air (notice I didn’t say fresh air), even though it is like being in a box because the building opposite overshadows our room.  It is difficult to communicate with the staff with the language barrier.  They seem more comfortable at reading English than speaking it so we are pointing a lot.  We are managing.  It’s like playing charades.

We have been without Internet access for the past two days.  The hotel in Dharamsala didn’t have wifi and our usb stick wouldn’t work either.

The mobile card we have been using for the rest of our trip stopped working at the Jammu Kashmir (JK) border, this is normal practice.  The government makes it very difficult to obtain phone cards and Internet access in JK due to the past years of terrorism.

Bashir, operations manager of Ski Himalaya in Gulmarg will organise a phone card and usb for internet when we arrive in Tang Marg.  Tang Marg is the village below Gulmarg like Tawonga/Mt Beauty to Falls Creek.

See what happens in the morning.

 A stray that kept nudging me for a pat - notice the reflection in the window  - the boys tying the skis on yet again

Writing the daily blog, even though we can't post them,  in my yak hoodie and newly decorated laptop 

McLeod Ganj 25 Dec Tues

Christmas Day in Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj)

We slept in till 8am then had our normal brekky (normal for the past week or so) of juice, toast and coffee/tea.  We bought some local honey to have on our toast.  Mum has sent us some Vegemite hopefully it will be waiting in Gulmarg for us.

After breakfast we went for a wander down the end of our street to the temple where the Dalai Lama lives.  It is quiet and calm away from the hustle and bustle on Temple Road.  No sign of his holiness.  On the way out we visited the Tibetan museum.  They have been fighting their cause for over fifty years.  What a sad state of affairs.  Around town there are banners with photos of Tibetans still dying for the cause.

We went out onto Temple Road and cruised the stalls and shops.  Nothing like switching from human sadness to commercialism in the blink of an eye.  We decided to buy Christmas presents for ourselves  Jim bought a puffer jacket ($38).  I bought a yak wool hoodie, fleece lined Nepalese socks, fur lined moccasins and a long sleeve tee shirt ($22). Everyone loves a bargain.  They will all be handy for Gulmarg.  We bought Deepak a torch for his key ring.  The locals were thoughtful by saying Merry Christmas wherever we went.

After shopping we went for lunch.  Jim had seen a sign yesterday advertising “free beer with hookah”.  The smoking pipe not the female version.

Walking up the few flights of stairs to the roof it was obviously a nightclub.  Even at 1pm in the afternoon the dance music was pumping out rap music with obscene language as lyrics.  I can imagine it turns into a real scene at nighttime.  Some youths (because we are old) arrived with their jeans hanging down showing their undies.  It seems that trend has been spreading the world.  Deepak says it happens in Nepal as well.  How tragic!

Food is not their specialty - a tad disappointing to have Maggi 2 minute noodles for Christmas lunch.  Jim enjoyed his hookah (herbal mix with mango and beer.  I joined Jim in a quarter of glass of beer for a Christmas toast and had a toke on the hookah.  It did taste like mango, definitely not tobacco because I didn't cough.

While Jim had an afternoon kip after his Christmas beers and hookah I indulged in chocolate cake and a mocha at the Tibetan Coffee Table café.  It was really good – that was my Indian version of Christmas pudding and custard, which I love and missed today.

Before dinner we were chatting with the boys from the hotel.  We were standing out the front watching the sunset and Jim was joking with the boys.  One of them says “funny man”.  I said yes, he thinks he is too. 

For Christmas dinner we went to a café recommended in Lonely Planet called Moonpeak Thali.  The boys had thalis and I had the yummiest vegetable soup with paneeer (cottage cheese) stuffed prantha (Indian bread). 

Christmas Day over.

Looking at Dalai Lama's temple from our room

Looking back across to our hotel from the temple

From the roof of our hotel

Is Jim's smile big enough? & Deepak's - he is naturally smiley

Back online! Amritsar/Dharamsala 24 Dec Mon

We thought yesterday was foggy, this morning was even worse.  We had to drive through it for two hours and Deepak even had his hazard lights on. 

Once the fog lifted we made a toilet stop.  When Deepak and I got back into the car Jim had ACDC’s “Highway to Hell” playing.  How apt!  I’m so glad he didn’t have it playing whilst we were driving through the fog.

Driving past fields Jim pointed out a tractor with a cover, he says, “Your Mum has been here”.  For those of you who don’t know, my Mum likes to make covers for things to protect them e.g. the washing machine, the fans.  We’re not laughing at you Mum but it was funny.

Leaving the last district town (large, noisy, bustling centres) the scenery changed to mountains and rivers.  I said to Deepak this reminds me of Nepal.  I don’t think I have mentioned that Deepak is Nepalese.  He is 27 years old, married with two little girls (5 & 1).  He tends to work for a number of weeks and then goes home, a village near Pokara for 7 to 10 days.  Deepak asked if we were an arranged marriage, we both answered no!  Deepak told us his was.  Jim asked, “Did you get a good deal?” He laughed.

Anyway, back to the days driving.  We stopped for lunch at a restaurant where Santa was flagging cars down.  He was the scary Santa I was talking about yesterday.  The restaurant sat high above the river.  The food was really tasty, I had veggie thal, Jim had chicken pakora (like chicken fritters) and Deepak had chicken in gravy (a curry sauce).

Scary Santa

Driving to McLeod Ganj

Temple Road, McLeod Ganj

We arrived in McLeod Ganj, 10kms out of Dharamsala about 3.30pm.  There are many tourists here, foreign and domestic.  Our hotel is on Temple Road, which is one long market place.  There are stalls of Tibetan jewellery, ornaments, meditation & music DVD’s, hippy clothes, Kashmiri goods (rugs, cushion covers etc), hiking gear etc etc.  It is lovely hearing the Tibetan chant “Om Mani Padme Hum” on the streets.  The stall owners selling the DVD’s all play it to entice sales, it worked with me.

Merry Christmas from Amritsar

Merry Christmas for Tuesday.
We wish you all a fun day of eating and drinking with family and friends.

We didn't miss out on Christmas lights all together because there is a catholic church just up the road from here, St Paul's.  It is covered in Christmas lights and looks great.

Driving back into Amritsar from the border there was a tout selling Father Christmas hats and masks.  They looked like they would scare children.  Seems strange seeing Christmas stuff in a mostly Hindu country.  There is a small Christian community and commercialism is world wide.

We are looking forward to being in Dharamsala for Christmas.

India/Pakistan border 23 Dec 12

The plan was to get to the India/Pakistan border early to beat the rush, the gates open at 3.30pm and the ceremony begins at 5pm.  

We stopped for lunch at a Punjabi roadside restaurant on our way, best vegie thali I’ve had since we arrived in India.

Deepak and thali meal

5km before the border trucks line the side of the highway.  Jim counted 385.  They wait till 7pm to go across the border and unload their goods onto Pakistani trucks.  Amazing how things operate in the world without you knowing. 

The line of trucks lining the highway

We arrived at the border at 2.45pm and there were long queues already.  Being foreigners we were put with the school groups in a queue off to the side away from the main queues.  Two other American ladies arrived after us.  Despite the crowds we thought this seems okay and orderly.  Not for long!!

Then the scene turned to chaos.  Our gate was opened and a stampede from the main queue came rushing over to our gate and we were caught up in a mosh pit.  We were feeling unsafe as we watched people being pushed over in the rush near the barbed wire fence and we weren’t even near the passport check-point yet.  

The end of the story is we decided to leave.  Walking out we saw more foreign tourists coming through, looked like bus groups.  I thought we could have stayed with them but the crowds were still coming in and Jim said it is going to be just as chaotic getting out so it made sense to leave.  At this point I had to agree. 

Should have bought the ceremony DVD offered by the touts selling them on the way in, will have to Google the event now to see what happens.  

Back in the hotel room reading Lonely Planet, it mentioned the stampede of people.  If I had read that beforehand I still would have gone.  

Amritsar The Golden Temple 23 Dec 12

Our room here at Hotel Fairway is like a dark cave with no window so was easy to sleep in till 8.00am.  The hotel is well maintained with modern fixtures and best of all a lovely bathroom with hot water.  I even had a proper shower and had to add cold - thought I might as well report on with the hot water obsession I seem to be having.

It is another foggy cold day, apparently this is the norm for the Punjab in winter. 

We met Deepak at 10am and went to the Sikh Golden Temple.  It was very impressive.  It was so cold there was steam coming off the water and we were in bare feet.  We waited in a queue for an hour to enter the inside of the temple where priests were chanting from their holy book.  You could hear the chanting outside, it was soothing whilst standing in the queue.

Everyone has to have their heads covered & feet bare

The Golden Temple

Being part of the queue to go into the temple itself

The plan was to witness the India/Pakistan border ceremony but that's another story.

Shimla/Chandigarh/Amritsar 22 Dec 12

Today was our longest day driving at 9 hours, lucky we both enjoy being passengers and watching the world go by.  You see some amazing things.

We left Shimla at 9am and drove back down the hill to Chandigarh.  Deepak is an all round driver, he drove down the mountain road really well.  He never takes chances but doesn’t dawdle either.

We arrived in Chandigarh at midday to fog.  We had to drive for an hour in this to reach the highway.  The traffic moves along at the same pace even in the fog, the only difference is many drivers put their hazard lights on.  The horn blowing can be nerve racking in the fog.  The fog lifted to high fog once we hit the highway so the toe grip (in my boots) loosened up a bit.

The orange fruit stands I mentioned the other day, well they are mandarins.  We stopped at one this afternoon to buy some fruit, 30 Rupees (55 cents) for 1kg.  The stand wasn’t one of the award winning ones we’ve seen but the stall owner was very smiley and made a show of picking out only the best fruit.  Deepak then made a show of checking them all and making the guy replace one.

The traffic congestion was full on for two hours prior to reaching Amritsar.  In some spots we were at a standstill for what seemed like forever.  I don’t mind waiting, it is the issue of beggars kids and cripples, when you stop in the traffic, they come out of nowhere.  We give occasionally but you run the risk of giving to one and many more will turn up at the window.  It is human nature to nurture so having to deal with this natural instinct can be draining.

Mandarins not oranges!!

Shandy towns set up along the highway - Deepak calls them gypsies 

Good little girl helping Dad push the load

Congestion - more mats being delivered

A farewell from family & friends

I forgot I had this photo on my phone.  I should have posted it at the start of our blog but it is never too late.

We had dinner with Gregor & Lotta, Sean & Tracey and the kids on the Saturday night before we left.
The girls had made this banner for us along with a customised going away card with a ferry on Sydney Harbour on the front.  We were very touched.   Thanks guys!

Must not forget to mention we had a lovely family lunch on the Sunday with Jim's family.  It was just like Christmas except for Jacq's delicious plum pudding and custard, which we will miss next week.

My parents put up with us for a month in Brisbane before we flew out which we are so grateful for.  I got to finish my study and do my assessments for the year.  We tidied up all our affairs and travel arrangements and the best part got to spend time with family and friends which we don't do on a regular basis.

Shimla 21 Dec 12

When the train was making its way closer to Shimla Jim commented how spread out it was.  He was here 24 years ago.  Now there is Shimla, Shimla 2 and Shimla 3. 

Our hotel is in Shimla 2, too far to walk to town even by my standards.  It is a shame we are out of town because we are away from the action.  The original Shimla is based around the mall along the ridge.  It is great for people watching, food and bazaars zigzagging their way down the hill.  

One thing we did notice is there are not many foreign tourists around.  We saw one other white person in a shop, he was European listening to his English accent and I saw two in a passing car.  It is very busy with Indian tourists though especially honeymooners being wedding season and all.

This morning we went shopping in the mall for Bashir.  He is the Ski Himalaya operations manager from Gulmarg.  He phoned us last week wanting us to pick up a few things for him particular to this state, Himachal Pradesh.  He wanted two caps and 4metres of hand woven wool fabric.    

This afternoon we went for a 30km drive, yes I know hard to believe when all we have been doing is driving for the past few weeks but Deepak loves to drive and he wanted to show us a popular spot for horse riding through the pine trees.  Unfortunately, we did not share his enthusiasm. The track was a quagmire and after being on a camel just recently we were not keen to get on the back of any animal.

We were looking forward to a rest back at the hotel after a long day yesterday.

Photos for sale on the back of the yak - I  don't think so

Picking up your horse

The horse pack is off

Fairy floss, you see this everywhere in India, even in the remote desert villages 

Noodle stop on the way down the hill - the cheesy puffs are Jim's

Toy train, Kalka to Shimla 20 Dec 12

We could have slept a few extra hours because the 5.10am train was cancelled.  Once again Deepak came to the rescue and spoke to the rail officials.  We had to purchase new tickets for the 7.30am train.  This done we waited in the car, which was the only warm place to be.  Once again the boys talked gadgets and played with their phones, while I snoozed in the back seat.  The Tata is like a second home to us.

There were people asleep on the station platform.  One clever street dog was asleep on the corner of a sleeping person’s blanket.  He knew how to keep warm.

We boarded the train at 7.15am where we waited again till 8.30am, another delay.  Whilst we were waiting a group of teenagers on the platform were intrigued by us.  We were the only white people around.  They introduced themselves one by one and shook our hands.  Some were braver than others trying out their English.  It was a funny to be such a novelty.

The toy train trip was the only thing we really had in mind to do whilst in India.  We were determined to catch the train.  The wait was worth it.  The scenery was spectacular, almost tropical in places.

The train was first class so came with a meal of vegetable patties with bread and sauce and tea.  It is amazing what you’ll eat and do when you travel, when your norm is no longer.

Enjoying a warm cup of tea for brekky

The toy train is a narrow gauge train so it chugged along slowly.  Being so tired the rhythm of the train was putting me to sleep, I had to keep repeating to myself “stay awake, stay awake”.  I didn't want to miss anything.

7 carriages in total 

First glimpse of The Himalayas coming into Shimla

Fantasy rock garden Chandigarh 19 Dec 12

Nek Chand created this 25-acre garden made of recycled junk and organic materials. 

After independence he came across from Pakistan and decided to stay in the newly formed state of Chandigarh.  He created his art for 15 years before the government discovered he was on government land, they admired his work (and methods of recycling) so employed him and helpers to keep up his art/work.

It truly is a maze of intrigue.  Each archway opened up to another amazing area.  What a brillant story.

Jim had seen Brett Lee at these gardens on TV so was keen to visit.

Deepak joined us for a tour of the gardens as he not seen them before unlike most of the other sites we have seen. The next morning he told us that he posted one of his photos from his phone onto his Facebook page and his friends commented "great photos". 

One of many waterfalls in the gardens

Under each archway there was a long swing & there were many archways

Who do you think liked this statue?

Ladies made of old bangles