The view out of the shakira, with lucky lotus blossums hanging from the top.

Kids yelling "mi mi salaam" in greeting on the banks of the river.

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2003-08-13 - Srinagar - Water Trek (Day 120)

The first stop on the way to kicking off the water trek - a four day ride in a Shikara up the rivers around Srinagar - was to stop in the town market to pick up vegetables for the trip. In all my travels, I have not had anything stolen but on the trip to the market, I was hit by a pickpocket for the first time and I was simply amazed. I was standing on the street and literally, a blur came by my right side, I felt a hand in my pocket and then the blur of a young boy ran into the market and turned a corner. I immediately had a big grin on, it was just so impressive - he was so FAST, I didn't see a thing and there was no way I could have ever caught up with that little blur. I was less amused by the shopkeeper next to me who was chuckling as obviously he knew about it and his acceptance of this sort of thing was annoying, but that didn't diminish how impressed I was at the little thief. However, I was also grinning in realizing that I'm left handed and always use the left pocket for anything which I guess most guys don't being right handed, I was immune to the little ruffian as my right pocket was empty, he got nothing. "Cool!" I thought, another plus for lefties, pickpockets are usually going to go for the right pocket and I never have anything in there!

I climb into the Shikara that is bigger then the ones used on the lake but styled about the same. It held two rowers and a cook for the trip, a small gas stove and the provisions. I had a large mattress and pillows under a canopy so I could lay back and watch the river go by - talk about indulgence! The boat itself and the furnishings weren't that amazing but simply laying back on pillows while two guys row and one makes me afternoon tea seemed terribly indulgent and decadent and just wonderful!

We went first out of Srinagar through the old town which looked little changed from the drawings and woodcuts of Srinagar in the 1800's which I'd seen in a couple of books written before the turn of the century. The buildings were wood and towered over the river, but unfortunately while the shells were intact, the window panes were often broken and the houses looked generally in disrepair and as if they were simply waiting to die. I did not see any gentrification or love for these old buildings, which their location and grandeur could have inspired. We passed under the famous "seven bridges" of Srinagar's old town, but only a couple of the original wood bridges were still standing. The others had been replaced with modern concrete and steel spans, which were not very inspiring though the bases for the old bridges were often in place. Unfortunately, many of the ones that could be seen bore the marks of having been burned down, presumably in the fighting over the past 13 years.

Heading out of town the houseboats that served as homes started to look much more downtrodden and old, as did the shanties that came into view as we passed the outskirts. Countryside life on the water also came into view with boys bathing naked in the river, women washing their hair still in the full pant and tops that constitute daily wear and dishes and clothes being washed. There was the expected garbage in the water and I counted three dead cows decomposing in the water, which I passed on the first day.

Everywhere I went the kids on the sides would run out or call out greetings from windows, wave and smile. The older folks turned and look with the men waving and calling out and the women just staring stoically. The young kids loved the camera when they saw it, though girls older then 12 or 13 would turn away or run away from the lens and the men just ignored me or gave me the ridged non-smiling pose that became almost a caricature.

Night came and after dining on the boat, I turned in and slept on the boat looking out beyond the sides of the canopy at a sky filled with stars. As there are few lights around, no street lamps etc. to dull the night sky the stars simply filled the sky.

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