• Srinagar to Kargil, TravelWithaCouple
    History - Nature's Wonders - Places

    Himalayan Safari Tales #4 – Srinagar to Kargil

    August 22, 2010 - By 

    Most often during our travel experiences, taxi drivers turn good travel companions. Giving the local flavour to the many stories behind the places or simply by joining the conversations with their points of views or sometimes sporty enough to gauge the moods of the travellers and offering to take detours that might match their interest. This time however, we had a tad different experience. We had two vehicles for our group and a third vehicle joined with some other passengers and since the drivers knew each other, they decided to move as a convoy. A tightly packed schedule meant hurrying…

  • Places

    Himalayan Safari Tales #3 – Srinagar: The Bazaar and the Conversations

    August 8, 2010 - By 

    “A few centuries before the Christ, the Athenians developed ‘agora’ as a place of palaver, long parley or conversation, which doubled as a location for exchanging goods and services. With some variation this pattern repeated across the ancient world. From Persia to India, market places came to be known as ‘bazar’, derived from the Pahlavi term ‘vacar’ or ‘baha-char’, meaning the ‘place of prices’. And yet the bazaar was as much a place for social connectedness as for striking a deal and determining the ‘price’” – from Bazaars, conversations and freedom by Rajni Bakshi The Dal lake by itself is…

  • Food - Places

    Himalayan Safari Tales #2 – Srinagar: The Calmness That Belies All

    August 8, 2010 - By 

    For a valley city whose name symbolizes wealth and abundance, peace certainly was in not in abundance. Decades of strife, uncertainty, and violence perhaps has taken its toll. The calm and serene Dal lake perhaps belies all. The quite witness. Taking care of hundreds of families who are dependent on it. Colorful shikaras silently offering rides for the travelers. The shikaras, the house boats and the trade are still the main source of income. Dal lake lies in the catchment area in the Zabarwan mountain valley, which surrounds the lake on three sides and is a part of a natural…

  • Places

    Himalayan Safari Tales #1 – Srinagar: The Day After the Curfew

    August 8, 2010 - By 

    Srinagar was waking up after intermittent curfew days. The roads were so crowded and jammed that it took more than an hour from the airport to the Dal lake. Everyone was in a hurry to get the work done and be back in the safety of their houses, for no one knew when the curfew would return. Buses were packed to the brim that many were even sitting on the roofs and hanging on to the ladders at the back. Army jawans tried helping the local traffic police in managing the traffic. But it was chaos mostly. We began our…