12 JUNE
The next morning, I woke up at 5. Totally fresh!
We got up and got ready in the houseboat. How they have managed to create a 5 star hotel on water is a wonder. The fun part was you could hear the conversations going on in the adjoining room. We got ready, clicked many many pictures and headed for breakfast.
From the first day, I was seeing beautiful flowers and I so wanted some for putting in my hair. I asked the houseboat folks and they gave me a bunch of three beautiful red roses. I forgot to click a picture of them but I put them on in my hair for the rest of the day.
Shikara Rides
After breakfast we all went for a shikara ride. I think of a shikara and this song starts playing in my head “Socho ke jheelon ka sheher ho, lehron pe apna ek ghar ho” from Mission Kashmir.
This was the most relaxing part of the trip. We were sitting in a shikara and people were coming about and bringing all sorts of things to sell in shikaras.
There was someone selling items like baskets, clocks small handicrafts etc all made in wood.
Then a photographer who went around clicking pictures. He called people into his Shikara, giving them a Kashmiri costume and clicking pictures of them in the lake. The best part of this photo session was hopping from one shikara to another.
Then there was an ice cream seller. It looked like the regular kulfi but it tasted much much better.
Water Lily Bracelet
What I liked most was the water lilies. I asked the Shikara driver if we could take two lilies. One for Khushbu and one for me. He did not just get us the lilies. He made us jewellery of our choice out of it.
Khushbu asked for a necklace and I for a bracelet. I don’t like any kind of jewellery on me. Not even watches. But I love the natural flowers. I like putting flowers in my hair. And today I came to know I could even have bracelets made out of them. So, this kind of jewellery I absolutely love.
The Market on Dal Lake and Nadir Uncle
Next, we saw the market set up on the lake itself. Shops half afloat, some on shores of the lake just like houseboats. The shikara guy stopped at specific shops. Probably the ones that gave them a cut. We wanted a big bag to put in all the small stuff we had shopped for in the past few days. Finally that one shop came. It was owned by Mr Nadir. A very pleasant man. He looked at me and said some very nice things about me by looking at my forehead. :) I was his first customer of the day. They call their first sale- boni and lucky. I got 1 bag, 1 purse and 3 wallets from him, only because I liked him. Not that I needed any of them. He gave me a lot of blessings. And that was priceless. I took a liking to him like I have for my favourite uncles. The people there asked me to come again, next time for a few months at least.
By the time we reached our houseboat back, it was time to check out. We quickly packed and said our goodbyes to the staff. They gave us their names and clicked pictures for us. I also clicked a few pictures with them.
On the shore, I saw PoleStar waving at me from afar. Well, first the roses, then the Shikara ride, then the lilies, then Mr Nadir, then the beautiful pictures, and now PoleStar – it looked like just so many happy blessings one after the other.
On the shore, we unloaded our luggage from the Shikara. The ladies took off for shopping! I got myself a wooden bracelet and my fika time - with the last views of the Dal lake. Khushbu and my mum popped golgappas in my mouth. -:D
After loading our bus with our luggages, we set off for Mughal Garden.
Getting tickets - As you by now very well know, I leave no chance to leave the bus and crowd. So, I got off with uncle and PoleStar to get tickets. There was a queue but PoleStar had priority -1. He got tickets for us. The bad part was when asked to calculate the fare. 1 ticket costed 24 bucks there were 32 of us. So 24*32 = it was easy, still I was using a calculator. 24*30=720+ 24*2=48 = 768. Uncle ne calculator se pehle kar liya. Galle par baithte the to calculator ko haath nahi lagaate the. Ye Dhingra uncle bhi naa underrated star hain.
De tour to Shopping
From the bus to the garden it was around 50 m. And there was a market complex in between. Needless to say, all the ladies detoured to the market without a second thought. Garden to dekhte rahenge, shopping is important. And since my mum also went, I followed her too. After yesterday’s 10 mins high adrenaline drama, I could not afford to be anywhere away from her. :p
I checked out the shops and found a wood shop while she was at a suits shop. This woodshop unlike the huge emporiums and galleries I had been to, was a small one, but housed more items and at cheaper prices. The wood box that was marked for 12.5k tag everywhere, was offered for 5k here. My happiness knew no bounds. This woodbox I had been wanting since the last two days. I wanted it since I had laid my eyes on it. And here it was, at an affordable price finally. After showing it to my mom and PoleStar and taking the expert advice of the shopkeeper, I finally got my precious at 4000. And my mom also got herself a dry fruit box.
Mughal Garden
The gardens in Kashmir are all very beautiful. With large exotic roses. I have never seen so beautiful and large roses in all colours at once. They are all very well maintained. PoleStar told us it was the second largest garden in Kashmir. The largest one is Nishat Garden. It was built for Noor Jahan. We clicked some pictures here. Exchanged our numbers! And headed out.
On our way back to the bus, we got ice cream. I got an orange bar, one of my childhood favourites.
Lal Chowk –
Next stop was Lal Chowk. The most popular market of Srinagar. But today, most of the shops were closed and “Footpath market” was there. We all wanted to visit it atleast once. Also, we were running out of time. I don’t know why, but everyone wanted a picture with the “Ghantaghar”. I guess it was something in Srinagar. So, we all either took autos or walked ~ 1 km to the ghantaghar. I walked in block heels. :p
When we reached back to the bus after pictures at the ghantaghar, some people went missing.
Aaj mere alaava kuch aur log gaayab ho gaye.
Sethi Uncle, me and PoleStar tried to find them.
And jis tarah se unhein sunaaya gaya, I felt lucky ki main kal gaayab huyi thi aur aaj nahi.
It was serious because today we had a flight to catch. Anyway, finally everyone was in we hopped on to the bus and set off for somewhere we could grab a quick lunch.
Some things I would want to change
As I sign off on the last day, there are two things I would want to change here --
Vehicles with a cleaner fuel. Diesel absolutely ruins the air quality and environment of pristine places. Hopefully electric vehicles come soon.
I saw almost everyone smoking here. I don't know why? I see a lot of people smoking everywhere these days, but here it was just almost everyone everywhere. And this needs to stop. Especially, the youth here needs to be made more aware.
But I always end my notes on a positive note, so here it goes!
Off to the airport
And then after lunch and with a few final views of Kashmir we went to the airport.
PoleStar got off before the airport after taking a few selfies!
We said our goodbyes. Me with my usual handshake, him with his fist bump/brofist. It was the end of our trip and the beginning of a friendship. -:) (*touchwood*)
- twwg
- manu
(Link to master post --> https://www.thewarriorwizardgirl.com/post/kashmir-diaries)
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