27th of May, 2023.
Hitchhiking in India: Pahalgam.
The roads are empty. I walk for quite a while until I can find a proper spot for hitchhiking. Luckily, we are almost outside town. Unluckily, I don’t think this is the best way to Srinagar. Either that or it is still too early. Unless the road blocks are making people take another route. In anyhow, it sucks! I get to a point where the barricade is formed. Trucks, and some cars, are waiting in the opposite direction, for the road to be open. But almost nobody is going on my way. A few trucks pass by me, but I am not considering to hitchhiking in one of them.
I get to a tunnel. It is pitch-black inside. Meaning, I cannot really cross by walking. When I see a motorbike approaching, I decide to ask for a lift just across the tunnel, so I can hitchhike right after. Little I knew that I was about to embark in a very tough but interesting journey with Jatinder.
The weather up here in Jammu and Kashmir is cold. I might have nice trousers now thanks to the keeper of the Gurudwara in Kolkata, but I have no jacket, or sweater, or any long sleeve clothes. All I have is my rain cover. That’s what I am wearing. After we leave the tunnel, Jatinder just let me know that he is going further away, so I say it is fine, he can continue. I let him know where I am going, to what his response is that he can drop me off in a good spot, in a small town called Khanabal, where he will go in a different direction, and I can carry on to Pahalgam.
I don’t really know how long we will keep riding together. I have The Hulk with me and Jatinder is carrying my smaller backpack on his chest. He is Sikh, by the way, and we stop to have chai after some time. My hands are freezing and I can barely feel them. My legs also hurt a lot. It is not simply the cold, it is the thick air of the mountains, the uphill road and also all the curves all the time. Bu the chai helps a lot. Jatinder insists that I should have also a paratha. It is steamy and delicious! We carry on after that.
I think that in total, we must have ridden in the motorbike for over one hour. When we arrive at Khanabal, Jatinder tells me that I must let him know if I am safe and if everything is OK. He is a very sweet man. We take a photo, and that’s when I notice how dirty I am. Laugh. My face is covered in dust, and even my lips are black. It’s quite funny.
I walk for a while until I get to a suitable hitchhiking spot. While I am waiting for a car, some people from houses around start to get curious about what I am doing. Some of them come and ask me what’s going on and they are, as usual, surprised and in denial when I tell them my intent.
So, I assume that they were even more surprised, and most likely also worried about me, when four friends in a SRV stop. They are all young man and they are going to Pahalgam. Yay! Mohammed, Tavel, Ajar and Nasim are taking a few days off to travel around. They are very nice guys, super funny too, so it’s a very pleasant trip. They buy some drinks and snacks, and guess what? The snack they got for me it is actually pop-corn!
When we arrive to Pahalgam, they tell me that, just like me, they also want to go to Betaab Valley (if I am not mistaken, because there are quite a few nice valleys around Pahalgam). We carry on together and explore the Valley. It is beautiful and quite scenic. It looks likes the type of place where Indian films were made. The mountains in the background, with a little snow on top, the still green landscape, with trees all around, and the river running down the valley. It is really gorgeous up here! But also crowded with people.
The guys are super funny, as I said before, so we have an enjoyable time here for quite a while. On our way back to Pahalgam, I ask them to drop me off in the Gurudwara, which is by the main road. I could camp, and if I was to find a good spot with some great views, that would be amazing! But then, I know it might be cold; I still need to get some food; and because my plan tomorrow is going to explore another great view point, called Ghaint, I will need a place to settle and leave all my stuff. In resume, staying in the Gurudwara was my best choice.
When I am walking around, trying to find someone to talk and ask to stay, a young man approaches me and offer to help. Aman is visiting Pahalgam with his family, and came to the Gurudwara while the other members of his family are somewhere around. We finally manage to find someone, Aman helps me with the translation, and they say I can stay. After I drop of my backpacks in the room where they are letting me stay, Aman and I go for a short walk, looking for his family. He insists on buying me some fruits, and I accept. When his family is ready to leave, I say goodbye to them and keep exploring the place a bit more.
10 Years Around the World 