From a Backpacker's Paradise to Paradise on Earth

After a very relaxing time indulging in Shimla's good food and beautiful promenades, we headed off to Daramsala, the Dalai Lama's residence in exile. In Daramsala we stayed in the little town of Macleod Ganj, a backpacker's paradise. So far, our route has taken us on the Indian pilgrimage routes and to Indian holiday towns, like Shimla, so it was nice to experience the foreign backpacker circuit for a little while. Macleod Ganj has the typical backpacker chillout-type restaurants with Tibetan, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Korean, Italian, Thai and Israeli food, several German bakeries, English breakfasts (the real deal with all the works - not easy to find in India), Continental breakfasts with croissants and lots of the local bhang going around. So we did the backpacker thing and sat around for hours talking to Tibetan monks about China’s actions towards Tibet (Dave taking the provocative side of the argument, of course), the history of Tibet and all our past and future lives. It was a busy social calendar having met up with our friend Glynnis from back home and Anke, another lovely South African, who spoilt us with our first home-cooked meal in 2 months, introduced us to their local mates and to some lovely restaurants and hang-out spots.

Delicious dinner with Glynnis and Anke at a Korean Restaurant in Macleod Ganj

Having managed to finally escape from Daramsala (a couple of days later than originally planned) we were off to a whole new world in Kashmir - Paradise on Earth - as we were told by one of the thousands of army guys posted there, who stopped us to take all our details on the way in. There's no need to be nervous going to Kashmir, India has literally posted personnel every few 100 meters on the 250km road in - in full army gear. In Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, we planned to find a houseboat on the lake - it's the thing to do there. There are hundreds on the lake (it's a big lake so there seems to be plenty of room for all) but with tourism still a little slow post the trouble between Pakistan and India, you have to be prepared to handle all the touts trying to get you stay on their houseboat (the first tout followed our motorbike - 8kms from the lake - shouting at us from his bike!).

Flipping through Satellite TV channels in the luxury of our houseboat

With Dave's tough negotiating skills we managed to find a great houseboat at a ridiculously low price - 100ft long, very luxuriously decorated with a personal butler at your service 24/7 - all for about R250 per day for both of us including fantastic Kashmiri meals! It was strange having the butler, Rajah, ready to get us anything we needed – all we had to do was shout (like the manager of the boat did) at the top of our lungs: “RaaaaJAAAAAHHHH” and tea or laundry or dinner would appear but - being boring South Africans - we’d wait around until he happened to walk by and then, having caught his eye, we’d politely enquire whether or not a cup of tea was at all possible…

Dal Lake at sunset from the veranda of our houseboat

The houseboat thing on the lakes in Srinagar was started by the British because the Maharaja of Kashmir wouldn't allow them to buy property there - and they really decked them out well: our houseboat was lavishly decorated with hand-embroidered Kashmiri curtains and bedspreads, hand-carved walnut-wood furniture, hand-painted vases and lamps, thick maroon carpets, fine china tea-sets and satellite TV.

Lillies on Dal Lake

The lake is peaceful and beautiful - especially at sunset although you do get bugged a lot by salesmen coming around to the boats selling vegetables, flowers, saffron, Kashmiri shawls and fabrics, painted artwork and all sorts of other things. They're really tough businessmen and you have to have your negotiating skills finely tuned - it can be pretty hard work - Dave's really good at it but Rejane just gets skinned!

Boat tour on the lake

After enjoying days on boat tours around the lakes and being thoroughly spoilt by Rajah and the family who manages the houseboat, we headed off to the eastern half of Kashmir, following the ancient silk route that crossed through Asia to Europe, passing wild looking mountain nomads with their huge herds of goats – tough looking people who traverse mountains thousands of meters above sea level to graze their animals in the short summer months and who you probably wouldn’t want to challenge to a game of Survivor!

Herdsmen and their goats on the old silk road

After a tough day of bike-riding, we reached the town of Kargil, an important town during the time when the silk route was the main trading road through Asia. It’s largely populated with very devout Shia muslims – girls as young as 3 years old are covered up in burkhas. The next day, we took a detour south to the Suru valley and got our first puncture. Being a little inexperienced at motorbike tyre changes, it took a couple of hours to get it done, surrounded by curious, snot-nosed kids and very helpful local guys.

Changing the flat tyre on the Suru Valley Road

In the morning we took the first shot at our mission in the Suru valley – to see the majestic snow-capped Nun-Kun peaks and glacier fields. We got very lost and had to try it all again the following day – but it was worth it! The views of the peaks and the valley below were just breathtaking. The villages during these summer months are just idyllic with families very busy harvesting barley and wheat crops in a breathtakingly beautiful setting. The winter months are tough, though, with the villages under snow 6 feet deep for 9 months of the year and the only way in and out is to walk on the frozen river.

Views of the Valley from the mountain top

The Nun-Kun Peaks

We planned to carry on further into the remote Zanskar Valley, to see its ancient Buddhist monasteries but we busted a shock absorber on the motorbike and given the atrocious state of the roads, it was best to head back to Kargil to get it fixed. Despite its claim to fame as having been a major town on the old silk route, there isn’t much to see in Kargil itself so, having fixed the shocks, we headed to our next big destination –Leh, Ladakh, in the eastern, undisputed, half of Kashmir.

Dry desert stretch on the Kargil-Leh Road

Breathtaking views of the desert Himalaya mountains

On the 234kms stretch of road, the towns became less Muslim and more Buddhist, with pure white Stupas (Buddhist shrines) gleaming against the stark desert landscape. We were well above tree-line now and crossed a mountain pass 4019 meters (13479 feet) above sea level. The views were undoubtedly some of the most beautiful we’ve ever seen. We were lucky to have just missed a landslide and managed to wind our way cheekily through the traffic jam of hundreds buses and trucks, backed up while the landslide was being cleared – one of the biggest advantages of being on a bike! The mountain pass is so narrow that the huge trucks had to pass each other literally inches from the edge of the pass in order to clear the traffic jam.

Psychedelic trucks passing each other with inches away from a tumble down the mountain pass!


Dave on the mountain pass at 4019m (13479ft) above sea level

Having arrived in Leh, gob-smacked by the spectacular drive, we were further impressed by the fantastic value of the accommodation – lovely, bright rooms with beautiful flower and veggie gardens and views of the snow-capped peaks in the distance. Leh is also teeming with environmental, cultural, womens’ rights and other NGO’s that have managed to ban plastic in the town and who have made interesting documentaries about the changes (good and bad) that tourism has brought to the region. We participated in some fascinating and thought-provoking discussion groups before heading to relaxing meditation classes...