28th of May, 2023.
Hitchhiking in India: Pahalgam
It was really cold last night, even inside the room, with my sleeping bag and all the blankets I used. I would’ve certainly had frozen if I was camping.
I wished I had woken up, and gotten up earlier, so I could’ve left earlier.
I find the way easily; it is really only one way. I pass by a camping spot, where many people are camping. I see only Indians, and no tourists. But it surprises me a lot that so many people were camping here. It is a beautiful spot, by the river, and it must’ve been quite pleasant to spend the night here. But I have no idea how well behaved all of them were. If there’s something I cannot stand when I am camping, it is noisy people. They all have thick blankets hanging outside their tents. That explain a lot.
Quite a few cars pass by me but I don’t want to hitchhike, I want to hike, enjoying nature and views. After sometime I get to an entrance gate. You must pay a fee to keep going after this point. Why? I wonder. There isn’t really anything that requires maintenance or a place with infrastructure. A lot of cars, full of people, pass by and they pay. Most of them are from India, but tourists in Jammu and Kashmir. Talking with the men at the gate, I ask if I can go without paying the fee. They let me.
After this gate it is a short walk to the view point. I like it here. The mountain air is so clean and fresh, the views are nice, and being surrounded by nature is so enjoyable that I am filled with a sense of rightness.
The view point is really amazing! I mean, the views are gorgeous! Some people stop here from time to time, to take photos for a while, and then they carry on. I wonder where they are going…
I go a bit downhill and find a nice, flat spot to take photos. The light is not ideal but I manage some decent pictures. Then I sit and enjoy the view for a while. I peel and eat a mango. When I spread the skin, equally around the grass, a crow flies out of nowhere, grab a piece of mango skin, and fly away. It is a very funny scene but I am afraid the bird will be a bit disappointed. After spending some time admiring the gorgeous mountain views, I walk back to Pahalgam.
After gathering my stuff, I decide to leave. You see, I forgot to mention before but, after Jatinder dropped me off and I was walking to a hitchhiking spot, a young man in his motorbike offered to drive across town. I accept it. When we are riding across the town, he invites me to come to his family house, and have some tea. I accept. I meet his mum, his wife and some other family members. They have a nice house, with a garden full of vegetables, some fruits and flowers. Muzee tells me that, when I am coming back from Pahalgam, I should come and stay with them for one night. I say that would be nice and he gives me his phone number.
So, when I am leaving Pahalgam after lunch, I know that I can make it back to Muzee‘s house, and it would be nice to spend the night there and to start my journey to Ladakh next morning.
A car with two men and a senior lady picks me up just outside Pahalgam. The woman makes craft clothes and she shows me some beautiful quilt she made it. We drop her off at some point, as also for the other man. Then the driver drops me off right next to Muzee‘s house. I know the specific place from the main road where I should take left, through a tiny alley, and eventually I would reach his home. But the alley is tortuous, and I am uncertain of the way, so I rather to remain by the main road and just wait for him. Well, at least that’s what I thought.
I was trying to call him since morning, even before I went up to the view point. I told him I was to come back today, so I could stay with his family, but I wanted to confirm with him, to let him know for sure that I was coming. But he didn’t pick up. I tried a few more times throughout the day, but nothing.
I am waiting by a shop across the street, and the owner of the shop is very kind and try to help me. He calls Muzee many times from his phone, but there’s no response. I tell him I will just sit down and wait.
After some minutes, a woman comes to the shop with her little son. Immediately as she sees me, she invites me to come to her home. Then, when the shop owner tells her about what’s happening, she put even more emphasis in her invitation, so I decide to come.
She lives with her family only a few metres from the shop. They live in a very comfortable and luxurious house. Once we arrive, I meet her twin daughters, Fahadu and Farheen, and they are 12 years old. They get extremely excited about my presence. I am the first foreigner they have ever meet. They are super sweet, very polite and with great manners. One of them gives me a cute keyholder. Because they can speak a good English, we start chatting and I tell them all about my travels. They translate everything to their mum, Shazia, who is then very surprised too.
Shazia asks if I am hungry. I haven’t eaten anything real since morning, apart from that mango by the mountains. It is with much delight that I have a meal prepared by her. It is a curious fact for me of how, in India, even people living in very luxurious houses are very simple.
I am chatting with the girls in the garden when their father arrives. He is a strict man, and I see why the girls are super sharp in their behaviour, as they were always afraid of something. For what they have told me, there are many things they like to do, or would like to do, but due to their culture and traditions, they cannot. Simple things, really, like singing.
Because there’s no response from Muzee, I ask the family if I can stay with them. They agree and the Shazia shows me a room upstairs where I will stay. We spend some time in the dining room, which is beside the kitchen, and all the members of the family gather here. After dinner, I take a quick bath and go to sleep.
Next morning, I try the Kashmiri tea for the first time. It is salty and pink. I have read about it before, in Dervla Murphy’s book, Full Tilt, and just as it was for her, it is really weird for me at first. But in the opposite of her, I don’t have time to get used to it.
Before I leave, Shazia tries to give me a sweater, as she got to know that I don’t have any winter clothes with me right now. The only reason why I don’t accept is because I keep thinking that, in a few days, I will be back to Rajasthan, where the heat will be almost unbearable, and I will have to give the sweater away. It is a beautiful sweater, so it is better if she keeps it and continue to wear it.
P.S.: Later on, I got a message from Muzee, here on my blog, where he apologizes and explain that he had a family emergency that day, and that’s why he didn’t pick up the phone.
10 Years Around the World 