This is where it begins, at mumbai's domestic airport. Was quite impressed with the interiors
Stopover at Delhi airport, when an airforce fighter jet ambled by. We were delayed by 1-2 hours, as visibilty at Srinagar was reported to be bad, & the plane wasn't allowed to take off
Finally at Srinagar! The airport was beautiful: it's like landing on this open feild, there were army men right on the tarmac. I don't think the airport had a storey to it. Walked out to the parking lot, and this is your first glimpse of our Group leader: Atmaram Parab, the dude
The first scenic pic of the trip! You walk across these worn-out seasoned wood to your houseboat on the lake. Mine was to the left
The inside was carefully furnished: this is the living room opening out to the balcony. Some fundu antique furniture in there
And the lake itself. People live on houseboats 'fulltime', so you have these steps which get you to your boat on the lake
Did i say the place had intricate furniture or what! This is the balcony.
Water lilies were growing by the dozen, all over the place...smiling up at you if you peeked out of your houseboat
Macro pic of a mushroom growing on a trunk. It amazes me how often we pass these things, & don't realise what actually exists
This was on the bank, from the houseboats. This is where the group had lunch & dinner, under the tent, with a square cutout in the middle, to let in water should it rain
Now here's what i'm trying really hard to convey: it's a Huge Lake. And if you're a duck, who's an introvert like me, you can swim in peace and feel like you have the whole place to yourself. Ahh
In the evening, we went on a shikara ride. It's as peaceful as meditating, these things
If i've been quiet for the last few pics, it reflects the impact this place had on me then
The lake is like an eco-system in itself. So you have people coming to do their trade from their boats. He had some local maal to sell, but then he was up against a streetsmart marathi lady who wasn't going to be taken in by a sales pitch. And here's what interesting about this lovely lady: she's deaf but had no trouble putting him in place :)
Then we went under this bridge & turned a corner, and another world opened out for us
A flower seller dude, hoping to sell us something
The lotus on the lake looked like it had daimonds embedded in them.
What's the kid/grandmom upto? I dunno, but it made this pic
It feels almost like a jungle in parts
I like how this turned out, even though it's not technically great. That's a huge white headed eagle, many of which were soaring around the place. Will put a name to it soon.
The lotus had very many graceful formations. Is that the stalk of the lotus? (e-mail please)
Umm...ok, sorry to spoil the scenery, but some friends/relations need to know what i looked like, wokey?
The local market, how cool is that!
Don't miss the graphic on the shop sign
My brand new buddy chetan
Locals. And don't miss the flower
That was our oarsman. Was quite a cool chap, and freakin' strong, coz he rowed for 2-3 hours straight
This old couple were quite nice. The kind you see and think: made for each other
Got my shoe in, so you know i was really 'there'
This is the bakery, accessed from our boat on the lake
And this was the local bread, shaped like a donut, hard, but not crunchy, with a very different flavour to it. Why is it looking like that, you ask?
That's why! Sorry, food kinda jumps into me before i realise i need to photograph it :)
It was sunset time while we were returning
The houseboats, without exceptions, had Very interesting names! So we had Washington, Royal Palace, New Royal Palace, Heaven On Earth, Buckingham Palace....Made for interesting conversation when meeting someone in the group and mentioning where you were staying
Adieu to our boatsman & his boat. Let it be known that i rowed with him for the last 20 minutes
Sunset on Nagin lake
Very low light, with the clouds seeminly on fire
So i carried this 3 feet long (after collapsing) tripod of mine for the trip, with everyone & their mom-in-law asking me what it was & why i needed it. Probably came across like quite the camera nut. Sniff. So here's a long exposure (14 sec) pic of the lake that night <Click on my name on the top right to visit Ladhak Trip-Set2-Kargil>
