2008 ** : Kashmir declared most dangerous place in the world by Bill Clinton (for all that his opinion is worth). Our journey a 30 hour train ride (sleeper class, suffocating heat) from Mumbai to Jammu (jammu & kashmir province), on the Pakistani border. Our ticket reservation status RAC - still don't know what it means, but the result is that two people have to share one seat. Still struggle to follow the logic, noone seemed to be able to speak enough engllish to elaborate. very unhappy mikhaela and a restless night. Most vital gear for the ride: Black Diamond spot (headlamp...like all good things available at drifters), used by mix to fend off three freaky guys that had settled half a metre from her and were staring at her sleeping at 1am. Nothing as unpleasant as a 75 lumen light shining directly in your eyes. Good work Black Diamond!
Eventually arrived in Jammu. I was distraught to find the airport closed when I got there...no luck at fetching my bag and getting clean that night. In the mean time Mix had come down with a ghastly flu. Unsure at this point whether we would be able to continue our journey the following day. Delicious fruit shakes, friendly hand shakes (from shijk-like looking men), only non-Indian people in town it seems. Plenty of blatant stares on us, everywhere.
The morning comes, I am reunited with my bag. Mix is down, unable to travel on. Me still hobbling up and down, down and up the dusty, scorched roads of Jammu. The heat is unbearable. In the night I am hit by food poisoning or something of that sort. Spend the remaining hours hugging the toilet.
Finally the morning comes after an unfulfilling night's sleep. We decide to take a Jeep and head north towards Srinaghar.
** author's comment: misread the Lonely Planet. Bill actually said this in the 90s... some two decades ago. Some incidents happened in 2008, but they weren't as bad. No worries, Kashmir is a safe place. Sorry for misrepresenting history.
Eventually arrived in Jammu. I was distraught to find the airport closed when I got there...no luck at fetching my bag and getting clean that night. In the mean time Mix had come down with a ghastly flu. Unsure at this point whether we would be able to continue our journey the following day. Delicious fruit shakes, friendly hand shakes (from shijk-like looking men), only non-Indian people in town it seems. Plenty of blatant stares on us, everywhere.
The morning comes, I am reunited with my bag. Mix is down, unable to travel on. Me still hobbling up and down, down and up the dusty, scorched roads of Jammu. The heat is unbearable. In the night I am hit by food poisoning or something of that sort. Spend the remaining hours hugging the toilet.
Finally the morning comes after an unfulfilling night's sleep. We decide to take a Jeep and head north towards Srinaghar.
** author's comment: misread the Lonely Planet. Bill actually said this in the 90s... some two decades ago. Some incidents happened in 2008, but they weren't as bad. No worries, Kashmir is a safe place. Sorry for misrepresenting history.
