I departed early yesterday morning with my new friend, Gulam, to his home in Kashmir. His family has a nice guest house on a gorgeous plot of land in the river valley outside of Pahalgam. It is fascinating to visit this furthermost Northwest state of India because it is so distinct from the rest of the country. The proportion of the population that is of the Muslim faith is dramatically higher here, and the place generally feels much more like Central Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.) than South Asia (the rest of the Indian subcontinent). The Kashmir region is not only world-renowned for its rugs, teas, and silk, but also for the multi-decade long armed conflict over the disputed border between India and Pakistan here. The violence is relatively mellow at the moment, and non-existent here where I am. But, this is the region which, perhaps outside of the Bay of Pigs incident, brought the world the closest to the use of nuclear arms in 1998. The military presence is certainly felt still today, but the people generally do not live in fear at this time.

That has not always been the case. I went for an afternoon trek today with a wonderful guy named Valle, during which we talked quite a bit about his life in Kashmir. He spoke at length about how hard life was here during the height of the conflict between 1989 and 1991. At this time everyone lived in complete terror, as the violence was imminent and widespread. It was the first time I have received an eye-witness civilian account of living in a war zone. Hearing about the personal consequences that were suffered and the everyday struggle to survive, I was struck with how fragile peace and prosperity can be, and how fortunate most of us are to live in a land of freedom and peace.

Within five minutes of leaving the guest house, we were trekking through a landscape that appeared totally timeless. Unaltered nature, with the occasional shepard tending to his flock of sheep. We later came across a gypsy camp, where Valle communicated in Urdu with these nomadic people. Their lifestyle is truly frozen in time, with their daily tasks and material possessions being very nearly the same as their ancestors from centuries past. In many ways it is a beautiful, simple existence. At other times, their lives are struck with preventative illnesses which they have no money to cure, or some other event knocks them from their fragile subsistence balance. No bank account, no insurance policy, no mortgage; these people have only what they can pack up and put on their backs.

The scenery is quite simply the best of what I've seen of India thus far. Untouched mountain streams teeming with rainbow trout rush down wildflower-covered valleys, weaving between huge pine and deciduous trees, complete with high snow-covered peaks towering in every direction. The weather is nearly perfect in this season, the bugs are nonexistent, the people are friendly, and I've seen two other tourists since I arrived into Kashmir four days ago. It feels safe to me, and the reward for the adventuresome traveler who ignores certain U.S. government warnings is simply exceptional.

There was some violence in the capital city of Srinigar over the past month, coinciding with the drawn-out process of the world's largest democracy going to the polls for their Parliamentary vote. The Congress party had a decisive victory in the election, and Manmohan Singh will retain the PM job for another term. He is India's first non-Hindu leader, and took the post when Sonia Ghandi, the next heir in a long line of politicians from that family, declined the post. Singh is a member of the Sikh faith, which is a relatively young religion (17th century), blending some of the tenants from Hinduism and Islam. Sikhs represent roughly 10% of the population of India. He's an accomplished Economist who was trained at Cambridge, and these credentials are serving him well in this tumultuous global marketplace.

written by  Katy and Mark Lewis on May 16, 2009 from Pahalgam, India
from the travel blog: India and Nepal
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Hey Buddy,

Greetings from back home! Sounds like you are having the incredible, enlightening experiences you were looking for. Your trip to Kashmier with your new found friend sounds super interesting, one of those experiences so far off the tourist track and totally unplanable. I heard you had to use that pepto bismal sooner than expected, haha, hope that is the only time! Keep the posts coming and keep living the dream.

jason

written by  JNewquist on June 1, 2009

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