Being on the border of Pakistan, running from the army dogs, adventuring in the Himalayan powder, drowning in powder, drinking Chai, making amazing friends... This is what Gulmarg, Kashmir is...
I wrote this reflection whilst ill in bed. Throughout my time in Gulmarg, the generosity of the people was amazing, and, the joy with which the local people approach life, a pretty damn tough life, was inspiring. Oh, and the snow was okay too!
"This town is insane, I feel like I've met more people I connect with in the last 10 days than the last few years. We roll through days as a community of crazy-ass skiers. I don't quite know how to describe the sheer joy of floating on powder, of partaking in uncontrolled whopping and then dinning with 17 adventurous people for a few dollars a day.
Although the phrase "not possible" is a favourite of Indians and Kashmiris, everything seems possible here. The absolute freedom we as westerners feel is pretty electrifying. I wish I could share that joy with some Kashmiri women. Unfortunately, except a few rich (usually Indian) tourists there is literally no women in town. It makes it a fairly strange experience living here - all the men have homes in villages down the mountain in which their wives and children wait for them for a cold winter. This leaves Gulmarg as a very testosterone filled environment.
I felt like a bit of a pornstar just going for a run around town. There were definitely videos being taken by Indian military men. In addition, I was nearly attacked by a pretty scary dog, but I survived after 10 mins of nervous backwards walking!!
However, all that testosterone has some advantages too. Us lucky western ladies feel like princesses. Currently I'm staying for free at one of the swankier hotels in town. Feels a bit bizarre to have had a bath in Gulmarg, but maybe I should embrace the recuperation it allows. My traveling body is certainly becoming weary!
Many of the people who end up here seem to be in search of something more. Perhaps it comes from the many years most of us have spent living the hedonistic ski-town life. Everyone seems to be an adrenaline junky, nearly everyone is well educated, and most of us, to a certain extent, need to justify our freedom. Sometimes I wish we could all just be happy in the moment. However, I guess when each moment is as intense as those here we feel the need to actually earn those turns over and above walking up the mountain. I'm not entirely sure anyone can earn these kinds of experiences. How can I deserve to do what I love every moment? It feels especially indulgent in the face of the poverty and unhappiness that is the life of many Kashmiri people. I guess what I hope, and many of my Gulmarg friends seem to dream about, is using the happiness we experience to improve the lot of others."
And so my days on the road ended. I will post again at some point a bit more about the political situation in Kashmir. The time in Gulmarg certainly did make me hope that in the future I can find a way to combine the love of my life, snow, with some useful social goal.
We will have to wait and see though, because, for the moment I'm at a desk in a suit trying out life as a lawyer! I'm trying not to worry too much as to what the future holds. Jack Kerouac eloquently sums it up in an excerpt from On the Road I happened to read after a particularly stressful time near the end of my trip:
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| Wandering up to the summit of Mt Apharwat on split boards... |
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| Spot Jesse walking to the top of Monkey hill |
I wrote this reflection whilst ill in bed. Throughout my time in Gulmarg, the generosity of the people was amazing, and, the joy with which the local people approach life, a pretty damn tough life, was inspiring. Oh, and the snow was okay too!
"This town is insane, I feel like I've met more people I connect with in the last 10 days than the last few years. We roll through days as a community of crazy-ass skiers. I don't quite know how to describe the sheer joy of floating on powder, of partaking in uncontrolled whopping and then dinning with 17 adventurous people for a few dollars a day.
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| Split-fest. Riding down to the river with a big group before a walk back up through the little village, Drang, often inaccessible by road in the winter. |
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| Top of the one of the highest gondola's in the world 3,979m |
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| Lunch time at one of the dhabas at the midstation of the gondola! |
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| The skiing here is exceptional; endless bowls and faces of powder to explore. There were only about 40 real skiers in town when I arrived in January! I have had without doubt some of the best turns in my life, including a fairly technical descent of Shark Fin Colouir - ask somebody, it was epic! Cara, a new friend from England, and I went for it. We were the 3rd and 4th people to ride the line for the season!! An amazingly big day that evinced just a little jealousy from our male companions. |
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| The couloir! My track is the highest one that dog legs out to the viewers left before coming back through the narrower little line into the main couloir! |
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| Happy Cara walking out of the Shark Fin bowl! |
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| Sledge wallahs on the golf course waiting for some Indian tourists to pull around... |
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| Fayz, the manager of the backpackers where Cara and I first stayed. |
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| If others will take photos of me without asking, I will take photos of them! Loved this ski suit a little too much!! |
Many of the people who end up here seem to be in search of something more. Perhaps it comes from the many years most of us have spent living the hedonistic ski-town life. Everyone seems to be an adrenaline junky, nearly everyone is well educated, and most of us, to a certain extent, need to justify our freedom. Sometimes I wish we could all just be happy in the moment. However, I guess when each moment is as intense as those here we feel the need to actually earn those turns over and above walking up the mountain. I'm not entirely sure anyone can earn these kinds of experiences. How can I deserve to do what I love every moment? It feels especially indulgent in the face of the poverty and unhappiness that is the life of many Kashmiri people. I guess what I hope, and many of my Gulmarg friends seem to dream about, is using the happiness we experience to improve the lot of others."
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| Big group skiing the lower part of the mountain for my last day. |
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| Saying good bye to many new friends! |
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| It's good to feel wanted... |
We will have to wait and see though, because, for the moment I'm at a desk in a suit trying out life as a lawyer! I'm trying not to worry too much as to what the future holds. Jack Kerouac eloquently sums it up in an excerpt from On the Road I happened to read after a particularly stressful time near the end of my trip:
"They have their worries, they're counting the miles, they're thinking about where to sleep tonight, how much money for gas, the weather, how they'll get there - and all the time they'll get there anyway, you see. But they need to worry and betraying time with urgencies false and otherwise, purely anxious and whiny, their souls won't be at peace unless they can latch on to an established and proven worry and having once found it they assume facial expressions to fit and go with it, which is, you see, unhappiness, and all the time it all flies by them and they know it and that too worries them no end..."
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| Being the turtle rather than the hare on the way down the mountain going home... |
