Different Delhi and Camping Kashmir

So there I was in Delhi, another one of those cities with a population equal to that of all of Australia. Luckily I had a semi-local in Cara to show me around and navigate something close to a fair fare with the rickshaw drivers. Though even Cara (who has spent several months here over the years) was a bit disoriented because Delhi is undergoing dramatic changes in preparation for next years Commonwealth Games to be held here. In particular the construction of the underground metro system has changed many travel routes, both in terms of roads currently available and in terms of altered traffic flow on various routes as a result of the parts of the metro already in use.

Delhi doesn't really strike me as much of a tourist destination, except as a transport hub. It has it's own fort, but this has nothing on the one in Agra and it has temples and other sights but nothing really unique. The unique experience for me though was staying in outer suburban Delhi with Cara who was house sitting for a friend. This gave me a chance to experience something of everyday life for the everyday people - and of course escape the touts and guides! Better yet it was a chance to just stop and hang out with Cara after the packed in schedule I'd had with dad.

What Delhi is famous for is Delhi Belly (food poisoning) but of course I'd had that in Kolkata and again in Darjeeling so it was time for something different. It started as what seemed to be a case of sunstroke and dehydration from wandering too long in the sun with out water. At first this just added to my lack of motivation for doing much and I was happy just to rest and read some of the cheap books I bought. But after a couple days my recovery felt stalled and Cara returned from a religious retreat and diagnosed it as some sort of virus - always good to have a nurse around! Presciption: more rest - oh well! So in the end I had nearly two weeks in Delhi and stayed in several different parts but I can't say I did much exciting.

So for some excitement - how about Kashmir? it came with both high recommendations and serious warnings. The recommendations featured relaxed stays on houseboats and mountain hiking while the warnings are about the old conflict over the territory between India, Pakistan and the locals. The conflict hasn't flared for a while though so it seemed relatively safe. While I was there I saw nothing untoward, though the army was out in full force for the Prime Minister's visit on my last days there, so obviously there is some level of risk. My stay was much more along the line of relaxing houseboats and mountains. I'd met a guy in Delhi who helped me one night when I was particularly unwell and so supported his family's business buy staying on their boat and taking their hiking tour. Happily there was a young Japanese guy doing the same thing, so we shared some time together. The houseboat and family were nice enough but nothing special. It's probably better closer to summer as by late October it's getting pretty cold up there. I was glad to actually need all the warm clothes I was carrying though - and more!

The mountains were really the highlight, particularly with beautiful autumn colours. The first snow and fallen a week before and still remained on the higher peaks but thankfully none fell while we were there. The climbing was very steep and I was surprised to find that I needed to ride the horse brought along for that purpose. I think this was partly because having climbed close to 5000m the air was thinner than I'm used to, plus we were trying to squeeze a lot into our main day there. Anyway we made it heights I never reached before and back down along near sand-dune-like dusty track (they obviously get very little actual rain to was away the dust) before dark. The second day we tracked more along than up and saw some magnificently steep gullies - there's nothing quite like really rugged country to me. Then it was back to town because we were being charged more than $100 a day. Our guide was able to quote quite a few expenses, none of which seemed unreasonable on their own but it did all add up to more than I thought it should of.

The other new part of this experience was being taken camping/hiking. I've done plenty of this before but always by my own arrangement - or shared with companions. The notion of going camping but having someone else do all the camp set up, cooking and route planning actually removed half the fun of making sure you have everything you need to survive in the bush for however long you want. It also meant there were times of sitting around waiting (eg for dinner) which would be fine in the warm, but in the cold I'd much rather have something to take my mind of the cold and keep me moving a bit. Not that we suffered or anything, just a reflection on the mental experience. All in all a well worthwhile experience, though I've no need to go back.