Far from the action until tomorrow!

This is the first time I have had the transport to get to an internet cafe. I didn't bring my computer up here so will post pictures later of Budda land. One thing about it is that it is peaceful here.

We go back to Kashmir tomorrow morning and yes, there are a lot of problems there. They started the day before we left for Leh and have escalated since then. I don't want to put much on the internet but you can be certain that we will take all precautions to remain safe. We go to Delhi July 6 so we will stay in our friends house until then. They have many guards and people that go out for them if anything needs doing. Their house is near the lake and just above it is the shrine that the big land dispute is all about. I don't want to give anymore specific info because we never know who is reading this blog.

As far as our time here in Leh is concerned, We've had a great time and found more steps than anyone should ever have to climb. Bob developed a latent case of altitude sickness and is staying in the room today. He saw a doctor yesterday and is feeling much better today. I am going to take some more pictures of the market then pack for tomorrow's trip. Don't worry about us.

This is Tuesday June 24

We are back in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. We have been in Gulmarg for the last five days. It is a beautiful valley where our hosts have a cabin with a fab view and large maountains all around. There is skiing here in the winter and plenty of tourists in the summer. Most are gone by sundown when the place is left to people who have had places here for a long time. It is very close to the Pakastan border so there are soldiers everywhere. I have included some pictures from there. It was the strangest thing because there were monkeys who also come for the summer. The elevation is 7,000 feet above see level and at the top of the ski lift it is 13,500 feet. I took a lot of pics also of places we visited before we went to Gulmarg. The day before we went we drove up into the mountains toward Leh and took horses to a glacier. We saw lots of tribal people and shepherds who are basically nomads. The day before that we went to a ruin called Avantipur which is an anciet ruin that has Buddhist, Greek, and Hindu influence. Bob will tell you more about the ruins later.

Gulmarg: You don't see it all at once. It's more like a series of unfolding light strips, overlays. First the blue and yellow fields of flowers, then the long green of the valley with horses grazing, then the rising forests of fir and pine, above the tree line gray-greeen cliffs, the glacier fields, the cloud-filled crests, only then the sky.

Kolohoi Glacier: It's the kind of day Carrie loves and I really, really love--narrow, twisting roads, steep dropoffs, no guardrails. The rivers rushing off the glacier, huge, gray-green rapids, the roar that you can hear for miles. We finally get to the end of the road and have to go the rest of the way on horseback. I haven't been on a horse for about a thousand years. More on this adventure later.

All in all it has been a very interesting trip. We leave for Leh tomorrow moring where we'll visit Buddhist stuff. I'm really looking forward to it. I wish I could remember the monastery where the monks who performed for Banners are from. We'd look them up. I have warm clothes packed for the trip. We return to Srinagar on June 30. There wasn't an internet cafe in Gulmarg and I'm not sure about Leh. The power has been on and off here so this is our first time to get to a computer. I miss my mother, so everyone who knows her, will you please give her a kiss for me. Thanks to everyone who is taking good care of all our stuff at home.

Today we climbed a million steps

Today has been a good day. I'll be posting pictures of crowds and lots of people soon. We visited the Shiva Shrine and received the blessing of the Guru there. It was very impressive. We also visit another mosque and received a warm welcome. And, if any of you have read or heard of the book that says Jesus' tomb is here, we saw and photographed it today. I am going to turn this over to Bob because the guards at our house lock everything up and out in thirty minutes. We got our clothes and I'm going on a trek by horseback when we get back from Leh. We will go to the cabin Thursday so I hope to have more time on the computer.

Here's Bob!!!!! Thank you Jessica for walking Chester.
Driving here is a game of inches. Most of the streets are medieval lanes that require surviver skills and profound Patience, an exestential indifference to spending 45 minutes getting one block--because someone decides to park and two cars coming from different directions decide to confront one another and four more pile up behind them and someone else decides to unload his truck, a world of blasting horns, pot holes, piles of garbage, dust, street dogs, ravens, here and there a cow.

Bob has his say!

Transformer blowout and other problems have slowed this down by a day.
I'm told I was on local television yesterday. It was supposed to show how western tourists are coming back to Kashmir. At 6'3" and wearing the first white straw hat seen here in 50 years, I suppose I looked the part. In truth, you don't see western tourists here at all--for all meaningful purposes, none.

We went to the Mogul Gardens. The old guy must have had quite a show. From his tent he could look down a half-mile long vista of carefully crafted gardens, fountains, and water cascades that end in a huge lake. I imgine him in his tent, looking out at it all, listening to music, perhaps saying, "A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou," or maybe whispering some ancient version of "Go, lovely rose."

We've been getting around!!!

The following pictures are of Mogul Gardens, Mosques, busy streets, Shrines, and various other places we visited today. It's Sunday evening here and we're going to Elfie's parent's house for dinner at eight. I tried to post a movie and will try later. The connection is so slow here that I may grow old waiting for it to upload. Tomorrow I will upload the calander with new dates for Leh, Goa, and other places whose plans are in the works as we write. Bob is going to write something and I'll be back tomorrow.

These are pictures from yesterday and today

First Day in India and Kashmir

Finally made it.

We had a twelve hour layover in Newark because of a huge storm. We stayed at a hotel there and arrived in Delhi yesterday at 8:20 in the morning when we proceeded to get to the other side of the airport and get our flight to Kashmir. Elfie was waiting at the airport here. We are staying in her mother-in-law's house and I have included a pisture of her mother-in-law and her sister who is a retired Dean of a woman's college here and worked in the women's rights movement in India while being a companion of Indii Ghandi for ten years. She is a story to herself. We are staying in a beautiful house just below the Shiva Shrine. There is some type of festival at the shrine so we have to sleep with ear plugs. I have also included a photo of the boat that give tours on this beautiful Lake. There are great houseboats here and a town that is on the lake. The end of the movie "Passage To India" where Dr. Aziz left Delhi to spend his time in northern India was filmed here on the houseboats we saw today. Bob and I also got fitted for Indian clothes (cotton) that the tailor will have ready by this Friday. I'll take a picture of us in our new clothes and let you have a look.

Bob Has His Say:

I'm tired. We got sniffed by the drug dog at the Dehli airport. He gave up and exercised by running around on the luggage trolly. There's a lot of military here--serious looking guys with serious looking machine guns. We have a guard at our gate. He says Americans "are nice people" and puts out rice for the birds.

We arrived in New Jersey at Liberty airport about two hours ago. We've eaten and looked at some Saprano shirts and finally settled in the Continental Club. It's very nice here with comfortable chairs as you can see. We will stay around here until our plane leaves at 8:15p.m.

I forgot to bring the cheese which I had gotten for our host in Kashmir so I've sent Bob out to try to buy some from a deli. He'll check back later, after his nap. I'm ging to take a stroll around myself (which is impossible to do according to an English Professor I know) to the bookstore and then rest. I hope my dog Chester was walked today. I hated to leave him this morning but India calls. It's going to be great so hang in with me until I get to some great culture/nature and all that stuff. My friends tell me that Snow Leopards are seen often at the home where we will visit that is in the mountains. I can hardly wait. Meanwhile, it's airports and not so great scenery.

In Newark

Lotus Fest is today

It's almost time to leave!!!!!

Time is growing shorter by the day. I've been getting cameras ready and will post my first video to the blog tonight. I went to the Buddhist Temple Wednesday evening for a mediation class which I go to each week. There is a Lotus Festival going on there this weekend. I shot some of the flowers and a couple of the monks talking about the festival. I hope to go myself Sunday. It is in Port Aurther, Texas, a forty-five minute drive from my home.

Getting ready!!!!!

It has been very hot in Lake Charles today. I have accomplished getting appropriate luggage so I can bring all my cameras aboard the plane in one container. Now I will spend the next couple of days making sure they all fit. Our visas are back from Houston. We have our shots up-to-date, and have upgraded to first class for the trip from Liberty airport in New York to Delhi. So far all is looking well. I will keep you posted as the departure date gets closer.

Getting ready for the trip!

I have been planning this trip for six months.