So I am going to Srinagar... Dad called me up and said that there were some protests in Srinagar due to the fact that Afzal Guru, who attacked the Parliament was going to be hanged. I said Ok, I will take care of myself.
:D
Kargil to Srinagar... We travelled at 2am in the morning from Kargil. All transport generally starts at this time because they close the bridge at Meena (Nagar?) at around 5 in the morning. Also, the army convoys travel to Drass during the day and it is not allowed to overtake them. So in order to avoid getting stuck behind some very slow moving vehicles, you have to do this...
So here I was going from Kargil to Srinagar, via Drass starting at 2AM in the morning, going through some really treacherous mountain routes.... ah! the joys of travelling!
Went past zoji-la at around 5am... there is a tunnel being constructed here.. the height is around 11700ft... awesome mountains... for the first time i see the treeline in these hills... the pass is so wide i can imagine the afghans et al moving in... looking for bounty.... the roads wind up so far above the hills that you can see trucks on top of you about a km above...
Finally reach Srinagar... the army is there in every street leading up to Srinagar.. they dont seem intrusive... it is like the cops when the PM lands in your town... not like the British banging up the locals... though I cant be too sure that the Kashmiris dont feel that way... Sad..
In Srinagar! Here is a pic of the Dal Lake.
The Hazratbal Masjid - my first entry into a mosque with my Auto driver Sajad. He says that there was so much "bhaichara" here... which all but went away after the entry of gun culture in Kashmir...
BSF folks from Jhunjhunu, Kanyakumari and Kerala.
The Jama Masjid
Again - the Hazratbal
Army folk are everywhere - near the Dal Lake as well
South Indian eateries are there near famous places in Srinagar.. veg dhabas are also available.. mostly called Vaishno Dhaba or Sri Krishna Vaishno Dhaba...
The Moghul Gardens
The Shalimar
The Dal Lake
The Transport Office which was blown up when the peace bus was started..
The Dal Lake
I went to the Shankaracharya temple and got the prasad for home.. They wont let Digital Cameras in.. :((
The film roll ones are ok..
The spot where Adi Shankara meditated in Kashmir is still there... a small rock house, supposedly built by Bhim... according to the local priest... which makes it thousands of years old... from the Dwapura yuga...
Pictures of the Srinagar Airport... Security is very heavy.. I passed through six X-Ray machines before reaching the departure gate.
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