Kashmir is beautiful

I went to Kashmir because when I met Waseem Aziz two years ago through his Fulbright exchange, he told me that there are ski resorts in the Himalayas. The place did not disappoint.  Waseem took me on a whirlwind tour of some of the sights over four days of perfect weather. We started in at the mountain town of Sonamarg, where the Thajiwas Glacier nearly sinks into town from snow-capped peaks. We took a short trek into the mountains, passing scores of Indian tourists on horseback and a couple of school groups. The air was clear and thin, but we made it to a small waterfall and I got to do some boot-skiing down a snowfield. This area is protected from development, but there are nomadic tribal Kashmiris who make their homes there in the summer herding goats, and take people sledding down July snowfields on traditional toboggans. Sonamarg is also on the route of a Hindu pilgrimige to the Amarnath caves, and on the route to the high mountain area of Ladakh. We saw a a lot of traffic going this way, and did some shopping in the shops along the muddy main road.

Next up was Goulmarg, where we stayed in a traditional vacation hut, which was decked out with intricate Kashmiri wood carvings from floor to ceiling. We skipped the horseback rides, and opted instead for a ride on fat bikes, which I loved, and Waseem thought may have been over-rated. The scenery was not as dramatic as Sonamarg, but, this area stays open all year round. I would love to come back for skiing.

While getting a glimpse of these sites while in Kashmir was exciting, I am also always interseted in everyday experiences. Waseem and I ate a lot of meat, lamb kabobs and lamb balls, red and white sauce, at roadside resteraunts all along our trip. We also stopped at Waseem's hometown, where I got to meet two of his three brothers, his father, mother an uncle and some cousins. Kashmiri living rooms feature a carpet, and pillows around the walls where we leaned back and drank tea. The Aziz family is intense, and within three minutes of meeting his older brother, we were debating religion and morality over tea.

We ended the weekend trip cruising through Srinigar in Waseem's car with his younger brother as a driver. Dal lake is beautiful, and is peppered with more intricately carved houseboats and leisure boats lined up along the shore. I even saw a water skiier cursing in the distance. We also visited the Mogul gardens, where scores of Kashmiri families were relaxing the day away in and out of these this 12 level fountain.

Indeed Kashmir is beautiful, but, I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that Kashmir also feels occupied. The Indian army is everywhere, with heavily armed troops posted every 500 meters along the main roads, as well as armored cars, and long convoys with soldiers posted out of the top of cabs holding automatic weapons. This is because many Kashmiris do not want to be part of India, and in some recent instances individuals have taken up arms against the Indian army, and have been killed.

In talking to people about it, there is clearly a lot of resentment at this heavy military presence. People I spoke with would say things like "in India, things are different than here," not even acknowledging the fact that Kashmir is part of India. This was identified to me as the language of resistance. Many Kashmiri's want their own state, independent of India. I don't know how that is going to work out. I never felt unsafe at any point, crime rates are much lower than they are in other parts of India. But, the unfortunate status quo is a heavy, persistent military state, warnings from the U.S. State department for foreigners to travel there, and thus untapped potential for tourism and development.