21.4.2011
Gulmarg
Too tired to write. See the photographs today. The bike is giving real problems. This time it was the gear. Started for Gulmarg at 7.30 in the morning. Waited for four hours at a place called Kunjar for the spindle to arrive from Srinagar. Reached Gulmarg at 3.30 pm!
20.4.2011
Srinagar
We have finally reached Srinagar.
The weather cleared in the morning leaving behind fresh snow all around us. It was very cold. So we started late – at about 8.30 am because it was terribly cold . We lost half an hour also because a family of 14 wanted to have pictures with us and our bike. They did not pose together but one after another. They took my autograph! Ahem!!!
We travelled fast for about 15 kms from Banihal. Then clouds wrapped us from all sides. Visibility was less than 10 ft. Inside Jawahar tunnel, it was absolutely dark. The lights had not been put on for whatever reasons.
A group of army jawans took pity on us, stopped us, offered us tea and a fur jacket each. “You must be crazy. You can’t proceed any further with only these clothes,” one of them said firmly. The foam jackets we had purchased yesterday were actually doing no good. When we insisted, they agreed to accept Rs 200 for the two jackets and a pair of woolen gloves for Pat. We took only the fur inners and left behind the olive green outers. “Go slow Sir. It is dangerous to drive fast on these roads,” the major said, as we waved and drove away. The roads are in a really bad shape because of the rains which is continuing for the last 20 days. Without those jackets, it would have been really difficult for us to reach Srinagar.
The snow cleared, though, as we came closer to Srinagar. It was not that cold either. There was no time to move around the city. So we decided to celebrate. The “official” mission of reaching Kanyakumari and Kashmir from Kolkata is complete now. We ordered a Kashmiri thali each, which contained a shikh kabab, mutton keema, Rogan Josh, Rishta and Gustaba along with rice for Rs 180. DELICIOUS!
Every house boat in Dal lake has a name – some are too original. People dress up to pose before the camera during Shikara rides. (see photos).
We visited Abi karapora – an island village inside Dal Lake – to see the craftsmen at work. twenty-four year old Abdul MAJID SHOWED us how they were weaving a pasmina shawl – one single shawl – for the last seven months. It will take another four months to be completed. The cost of raw material will be about RS 700 and the daily wage is Rs 200. The shawl will sell for anything between Rs 70,000 and one lakh. Aren’t Pashmina shawls banned?
We also saw Bashir Ahmed, a 59-year-old man carving out magnificent designs from wood.
We can’t go to Leh, which we had hoped we would be able to do. The road is still closed. We plan to go to Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Pahelgaon etc in the next few days.
But as night approaches, we can see dark clouds gathering again. We are facing really bad weather for the first time in this long trip.
19.4.2011
Banihal
We tried to reach Srinagar today. But could not proceed beyond a place called banihal. It is 100 kms from Srinagar. It rained without stopping for a moment since yesterday.
The two shirts that I am carrying and was wearing today along with the jacket we bought were wet. My only pant was wet. Same with Pat. We were shivering. The hotel owner took an hour to repair his room heater and we came to our senses. It was 2 pm.
Just an hour later the sky cleared completely. But it was too late to start again. The road is broken and slippery. Accidents continue to happen. We saw two cars and one police van badly crushed. The army jawans cleared the road soon.
There has been fresh snowfall in the hills all around us. It is very cold here. At the time of writing, the sky is clear. We hope it will remain so tomorrow.
18.4 2011
Patnitop
We are at a place called Patnitop. Our plan was to reach Srinagar. But heavy rain halted us. Once again it was a boon in disguise.
At 9.30 pm the weathewr is still bad. Still raining. Very cold. We don’t have any warm clothes. The hotel owner gave us his jacket and his best room. But that is only for tonight. Sweaters/ jackets are not available here. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. I want to reach Srinagar.
We travelled from 40 degrees (Bikaner) to 2 degrees here in three days. No time for acclimatization. But I have fallen in love with this place.
17.4.2011
Jammu
We reached Jammu today. From Amritsar.
Our trip was Kolkata-Kanyakumari-Kashmir. We have reached Kashmir.
Instinctively, as soon as we reached Jammu, I opened the map.
We have travelled a long distance indeed! From a human habitation called Kolkata, we crawled all the way to Kanyakumari. Now we are in Kashmir ! We have travelled 10,560 kms.
Like ants we crawled. Like ants we struggled.
Why did I make this trip? I still don’t know.
What have I learnt? I still don’t know.
Where have I reached? I have no idea.
The people I met in this long journey are the same people I meet in Kolkata everyday. Different language, different attire, different climate. But they are similar.
Nature makes them similar. Same people. Same animals.
Nature.
Incomplete? Still in the process of evolution and inching towards perfection?
That is a lie, a dream.
Or a hope, which will never come true.
Nature has created hunger, jealousy , hatred, ambition, treachery, incomplete human beings.
Then why should we love/respect nature? And criticize our fellow sufferers? Put the blame on others?
Only those gods are revered who fulfill ones desires – desires to make more money, to have babies, to see the wife/husband die and replaced by the lover, to see the enemy subjugated.
Gods, who do not pamper human greed, are not pampered. Vaishno Devi, Tirupati and so many god’s abodes we have trampled upon told us the same story.
Praying is greed.
(Vivekananda had refused to pray, to beg. )
Why do we talk? One upmanship? To forget boredom? To seek care?
Isn’t seeking of love desperate seeking of care for self?
And what is pleasure?
Isn’t it prolongation of pain by survival, procreation?
Death.
Nothing ends in death. The greed continues.
Our journey continues.
(all phones are jammed here. the mail is on.)
15.4. 2011
Amritsar
“Ye road safety kya chiz hay? Helmet bechte ho kya?” a gentleman had asked Pat yesterday after coming to know that campaigning for road safety was one of the objectives of our trip. That was enough provocation for both of us to say goodbye to Bikaner and head for Punjab. We started early today and reached Amritsar a couple of hours ago. Immediately after we crossed over to Punjab, the reaction of the people changed. A Sardar welcomed us to his shop when we were asking for the shortest possible route, pulled out a map of the state and showed us the way. When did we start from Kolkata? Which places did we visit? Was the bike giving any problems? These were his questions. We travelled 530 kms today – the longest so far. The landscape changed rapidly from sand dunes to sporadic appearance of green to lush green. Not a field was left barren in Punjab. The road was perfect. In fact the state highways were better than the national highways. I will write about the journey in detail later.
13.4.2011
These are the pictures of Shonar Kella (The Golden Fort) and of the city inside it. Only some of the buildings are in ruins and not the entire city as was shown in Satyajit Ray’s film. Most of the houses have been converted into hotels and restaurants. Peacocks abound in Rajasthan. But we have not seen any inside the fort. It is too crowded for the birds. The fort is now a museum. But lack of planning and knowledge is evident in the display of exhibits and in the attitudes of the guards. The management could learn from those in charge of Jodhpur Fort.
13.4.2011
Bikaner
I was jolted out of my sleep. I was dreaming of a leopard brushing its tail against my hand.
A found a dog trying to slide under my quilt and he had woken me up. I was grateful. Millions of stars were staring at me. The sound of the biting-cold wind was enormous. In front of me were waves of yellow mountains.
It took me some time before I remembered that we were in the middle of a desert. I was shivering. The dog, seeing me jump up so suddenly, ran away. Pat was sleeping happily. The young camel owner had left us long ago. His wife was waiting for him, in the village 10 kms away. I was alone, staring at those stars, which look beautiful only from a distance. When people die, they become stars – my grandmother used to tell me. I never believed in fairy tales except in one. Even till recently.
On 11.4.2011 we arrived near the Sam village to be picked up by two camels. Riding a camel is not easy at all. (I now believe that Santosh Dutta’s expression in Shonar Kella was purely natural.) But this is the only way one can go near the sand dunes in the Thar desert in Rajasthan. The sky was overcast and the heat was no longer intense. Within hours we left the villages and then even the thorny, bushy topography behind us and directly faced the sand dunes. We had lunch and then an early dinner and prepared ourselves for our first and only night in the middle of a desert. The photos portray only part of the experience.
We returned to Jaisalmer the next morning to see the “Golden Fort.” Built of yellow sand stone, this fort glows in the morning. So does most of the houses in the small city of Jaisalmer because they too are made of the same yellow sand stone.
The museum in the fort is not quite impressive because unlike in Jodhpur fort, the exhibits here are rather poorly displayed. The interesting part is that there is a small but functioning city inside the fort. But most of the houses have been converted into hotels and restaurants. Also, some young men have developed the habit of leering at the ladies – particularly those from abroad – and of seeking their friendship. I don’t know since when this started. But if this continues, the flow of foreign tourists in Jaisalmer is sure to decline in the coming days.
We reached Bikaner today.
The Route: Jodhpur-Mandore-Agolai-Balesar-Dechhu-Pokhran-Lathi-Chandan-Jaisalmer. Distance: 298 kms
Jaisalmer- Chandan-Pokhran-Phalodi-Bap-Bikaner. Distance: 326 kms.
10.4.2011
Jaisalmer
What a ride it was!
Immediately after we left Jodhpur behind, the landscape began to change. Dry and rugged with hot wind howling all the time, yellow sand floating away in the distance. It was mesmerizing. It was hot, very hot. Thorny bushes were the only greenery nature offered.
Yet people live here in this arid land with little water and food and little opportunity to earn a living. “Yanha sukha bhi jyada, bhukha bhi jyada,” an old man lamented.
We saw wild camels for the first time. “Ut chhetra,” a notice board read in Hindi. We also saw one wild ass. They were resting under the bushes – even the camels. We were the only ones with no shade above us. AC cars wizzed past us. We were slow – really slow. The wind was slowing us.
We are yet to see the city. We will do that later. We have other plans. Jaisalmer has a strange look. All the buildings are golden because that is the only type of stone available here. The city glows.
We are waiting for tomorrow. We will see sand dunes. There will only be sand all around us. We will go near the Pakistan border at the heart of the desert. At the height of summer the temperature reaches here 50 degrees. Duties of army jawans last for two hours.
We have dropped our plan to move on to Bikaner tomorrow. We will do that on Wednesday. I will not be able to post tomorrow.
On Tuesday we will visit Shonar Kella.
allindiabiketrip 