New Delhi and the North of India.

The road to Pakistan Kashmir and the frontier. As I have mentioned before in my blog, part of the reason for undertaking this adventure across asia was to help understand the partition of the subcontinent and get into the areas of the world that are the cross over zones of culture.

I arrived in New Delhi with my new found partner in crime Jenny of Saskatoon. Jen and I focused our attention on dealing with administrative details in Delhi, as one usually does in a capital city. I investigated my Iran Visa, we sought out information about the North of India, transit options, and I took the time with the wide availability of internet to research about Pakistan.

Jen was a big fan of jogging, as it is something I do daily while travelling to keep in shape, I was thrilled to have some one else with me. The looks I usually get while jogging around the world are quite something, throw in a blonde female with me, on some of the craziest and most crowded streets in the world, in a country where women seemingly never appear outside, and you have one heck of an adventure.

We hurdled over donkey carts, weaving between cars, rickshaws and billions of people(And I literally means billions, this is India after all). We ran from Pahar Ganj, the Delhi backpacker hub, all the way to the Jama Masjid Mosque in Old Delhi, along with other locations around old Delhi, where we would eat dinner and then walk back to our hotel. It was truly a hilarious venture, and I have to say, Indians do form quite a cheering section while running, even with my ipod lost, I had all the motivation I needed from the supportive crowd, and you should have seen the attention Jenny got, lol.

We also managed to have a DINOS FOOTBALL reunion in Delhi, as my good friend Aneel Brar has been working in Rajistan, building a maternal health clinic there, and happened to be in Delhi at the same time. He opened Jen and I up to a whole new life style in Delhi, seeing a part of the city, Hauz Kauz that is one of the more posh, where not only do you see girls, but you see them in dresses, drinking wine and dancing to the latest tunes of India and from around the world. A stark difference from Old Delhi, that is for sure.

For those of you interested in Aneel’s work, which in my opinion is an outstanding project done by a Canadian of Indian descent, check out his blog here:

http://prominenthomescharity.wordpress.com/

Regardless, our time in Delhi was outstanding, and we made some moves Northward into Kashmir, to the city of Srinagar and onto a house boat for a couple days. It took 27 hours on a gruelling bus trip to get to Kashmir. We would have flown, but Jenny’s passport was in processing at the embassy, so this was not an option, but I assure anyone thinking of visiting Kashmir, TAKE THE FLIGHT!

We enjoyed our time in Kashmir, we relaxed on the lake, visited the old city of Srinagar and its 300 year old mosque, despite every Indian in the city telling us not to visit, due to their fear of muslims. 95% of the tourists were Hindu’s and Sikhs, not to mention the MASSIVE military presence in Kashmir, it gave me the sense of a type of “occupation” in the region.

I have to say though, the Kashmiri’s have to be some of the most handsome people in India, and due to the lack of international tourism in the area, they are quite receptive to tourists, as we found the local police and shop keepers in town to be quite thrilled seeing two visitors from Canada. And the usual Indian travel hassles of being ripped off, lied too and jerked around rarely apply here. A fantastic spot if one needs a break from the usual tourist trail of India.

We left Srinigar on a two day bus journey to Leh, in the Ladakh region, or as some call little Tibet. This bus journey, despite being long was beautiful, an amazing experience, kicking in a few Danish and dutch tourists and your have quite a concoction for a great trip. We managed to have a solid three hour delay due to land slides, had to spend a night in Kargil, less than ten miles from the Pakistan border(the city invaded by the Pakistani’s in 1999) and saw some of the strangest landscape changes on earth, passing through some of the coldest inhabited places in the world, which the signs outside town were happy to present. I also discovered the ice hockey, my nations national sport is participated in widely here. Now I doubt that the Indians will be in any position to challenge the hockey powers of Canada, Russia, the USA and Sweden, but it is cool to see them playing something besides cricket for a change, something that I actually understand. If I ever make it up to that region in winter, I will definitely strap on some skates and give it a go in India, I think that would be quite a feat!

After Kargil we headed down to Leh. Passing over peaks and passes over 4000 metres in elevation, some of the people of the bus got a little altitude sickness as we climbed and descended at an impressive pace. After muslim Kashmir, Buddhist Leh was quite a bit of a shock. Having spent the earlier part of this adventure in Nepal I had seen plenty of Buddhism and Tibetans, but this was a whole new ball game. They call this place little Tibet, and wouldn’t you believe it, the Dalai Lama himself actually came to visit during our stay in Leh. I found it astonishing that only days before we had slept within jogging distance of Pakistan, and here in Leh we were at the edge of the Chinese frontier, India is quite a country when it comes to its northern reaches, and most travellers miss out on this frontier of culture and topographical beauty.

I spent my days in Leh hiking the surrounding peaks, taking in the cool mountain air, the clean rivers and the overall peaceful and honest vibe of the Tibetans. We bought veggies in the local market, cooked them at our homestay and drank plenty of Indian wine with our new found friends from Holland, Switzerland, France and the USA.

After a few days here and seeing his holiness, I had decided it was time for myself to get moving towards the Pakistan border. Jenny and I said our goodbyes and myself and Haus, the Swiss man, to whom I believe is legend made our way on a solid 16 hour journey south to Manali.

Haus is a man of impressive adventure. He drove his motor cycle all over West, Central and North Africa, camping in the deserts of Algeria and the jungle of Cote D’Ivoire. He also has travelled to India and Pakistan several times in the past, so picking his brain about the changes in India was quite something.

We made our way from Manali up the river to a small town know for its hot springs, a place Haus visited about 20 years ago, where he stayed at a small homestay. The place had all but changed, and as a sacred pilgrimage site for Hindu’s and Sikhs, it was over run with domestic tourists. I managed to introduce Haus to the concept of visiting a Sikh temple for some free dinner and an opportunity to meet Sikhs and celebrate with them. Despite all his visits to India, he had never visited to the Punjab, or the famous golden temple. I tried my best to convince Haus to join me on the Punjabi frontier, but he was bent on making his way to Goa and relaxing before heading back to his family in Switzerland.

After a fantastic few days together, we said our goodbyes, Haus went to the small Israeli hippy village and I boarded an over night bus for the Punjab, my final destination in India!

Next up, the final India chapter and a little piece of Déjà vu!

Cheers,

William Delaney