De-familiarizing a paradise in Srinagar (beginning part)

Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Going for a stroll around traditional Hazratbal market, admiring the undiscovered Kashmiri architecture in the secluded old quarter and romancing Dal Lake's beauty from the water through shikara ride were some charming experiences I sincerely treasured in my life about Srinagar this winter. And I was grateful to finally be able to appreciate the lake view from my houseboat's deodar wood-crafted veranda in my brief serenity, albeit the long morning. Undeniably, among all things I had been through, nice or awful, during my five-day stay in Kashmir, those were only my carefully selected fine stories to store in my memory during my short week trip to Kashmir.

Hazratbal traditional wet market's entrance gate in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

A small bouquet of Narcissus flowers on the shikara in Dal Lake, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Honestly, it wasn't because of François Bernier's "Voyage au Cachemire" that triggered me to go there rather because Kashmir left me such impression of getting self-satisfaction after conquering a dangerous area full of military presence in midst of prolonged bloody conflict. Funnily as a traveler, I'm somewhere in between the risk-seeker and risk-avoider types when travelling to destinations deemed "dangerous." Stanley Plog labels me as having a mid-centric personality subtype, the mixture of allo-centric and psycho-centric sub-types. Again, there was no doubt, my decision that time was because of an adrenaline-triggered fascination offered by Kashmir.

Still, no matter how cool I felt to be there, travelling solo to an alerted tourism area was not my option. Therefore, I joined Blueransel's Kashmir-India open tour when it welcomed prospect participants through social media's announcement.

From Hazratbal traditional wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

I would've discovered more of interesting sites in Srinagar and would've been happily satisfied with those days I'd spent alone if I hadn't joined a backpacking group tour, so I thought after loosing temper while enduring such annoying experiences like so many money-tipping-demanded local people and persisting boat vendors barging into the houseboat's living room selling their fake goods with high price. However, to be honest, as a single female backpacker, I was totally worried if travelling alone in that Indian-governed state, Kashmir, for the very first time. Their demanding-tip-towards-tourist culture and selling fake goods by tripling the price to me who was suck in bargaining were unbelievably shocking for the innocent poor traveler like me. Sigh, those bad memories I wish I wouldn't bother.

Boys playing at Dal Lake near Hazratbal traditional wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Welcome to Srinagar

I finally set my feet in Kashmir, dubbed as a quintessential jewel in India's crown, after heart pumping drama at Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. It was cold foggy weather and drizzling as I peeked from the airport's wide glassy wall while completing a foreign tourist arrival form at the booth near the exit door. A rather quite deserted airport, in my opinion, more likely seen as a dry military base.

Srinagar International Airport, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

As a girl who grew up in a country of just dry and wet seasons, I had a serious difficulty dealing with cold winter for the first time in my life. My hands were almost frozen without gloves to warm them.

Being concerned travelling solo to Kashmir, this became my first time travelling with a group, though considered as backpacking, after I registered myself to Blueransel tour operator. A travel operator offering anti mainstream travel routes and helping a prospect traveler to get a cheap two-way promo airplane ticket as their best selling points. They even give the prospect traveler a choice to pay their tour package through installment whose reminding outstanding should be cleared the latest two months before the departure date. Blueransel tour operator engaged with a local tour who greeted him at the airport and from the way they interacted to each other, they were closer in terms of friendship rather than business. 

Kashmiri treat of hot chai and small crispy bread at Srinagar International Airport's kiosk, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Kashmiri treat of hot chai and small crispy bread at Srinagar International Airport's kiosk, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

The local guide then asked me to follow him to a nearby kiosk, an only small one at the airport area, where he welcomed me and the rest of participants with authentic Kashmiri's treat of hot milk-tea chai and small bread with crispy lower crust. The rarity of other similar kiosks at the area made it extremely popular with people at the airport, including the military personnel.

After my hot chai's last drip from my second glass I was then escorted to a van to transport me around the city which suffered, to my eyes, random spatial planning wrapped in a foggy scene, marred by many Indian soldiers ready with their riffles.

Means of transportation at Srinagar's main road snapped behind dusty car's window in Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Civilians gathered at Srinagar's road side in Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

First day tour's rundown began with a visit to a shopping block. There wasn't any particular design at the block that interested me, not even the interior nor the displayed goods. The trip was designed by the tour operator to match Indonesian women's taste to shop, keep buying either for themselves or to find souvenirs to bring home for relatives, friends and many neighbors. Shop till drop is never my preference when travelling but I just had to feel okay for my wasted time because I was the only participant lacking of money and interest to buy among those Indonesian female shopaholics.

Shopping time took more than half of that day. Close to the end of the afternoon, greeted by the pouring rain at the city, I ended my first day doing nothing.

Rain drops splashed on car window at Srinagar's main road along Dal Lake in Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Old City's forgotten architecture

After so many compromises I gave, finally the day I had been waiting for has come: strolling around the undiscovered site full of decent local architecture and authentic Kashmiri traditional Hazratbal market.

Bread seller lady at Hazratbal traditional wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Hazratbal traditional wet market's entrance gate windows in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

The traditional wet market lies beside the Hazratbal Shrine and so how it gets its name. The market offered Srinagar's authentic vibe from its local people's daily life. I considered this blending with local people in the market, stripping of my "tourist" label, as a nice experience.

A butcher waiting for buyers at Hazratbal traditional wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

A vegetable seller passing the Hazratbal traditional wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

After I passed rolls of barbed wire placed at the sides of almost worn out Kashmiri gateway, there were these vendors selling local food I wouldn't find in my country. The parathas, Srinagar's popular huge fried bread, caught my attention because it was unique in my eyes. I also liked some of these ordinary scenes: an old butcher sat casually while waiting for people who'd buy his chicken, a group of men who were spending their time to bond brotherhood through playing card and kindergarten students who were cutely obedient to their teachers queuing to get inside their school bus. Such a humble daily life I witnessed to add my knowledge of other people's life and story to share.

Parathas at Hazratbal traditional wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Traditional pastries sold at Hazratbal traditional wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Pastries at Hazratbal traditional wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

However, I couldn't understand the reason why it was impossible to wander around further by myself. Both of local guide and my tour operator representative insisted that I shouldn't freely walk around the market. I wonder if it wasn't safe enough for a girl to separate alone, even for a short time, to quench her thirst of snapping Srinagar's daily life through her old digital camera lens. I calmed my upset self and obeyed the group tour's command.

Hazratbal Shrine entrance gate in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Hazratbal Shrine among dried tress of winter in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

After I had lunch at one of the market's restaurants, the local guide proceeded with his appointed site, the Hazratbal Shrine, the white-painted mosque which I found uninteresting enough. It is situated on the western bank of the Dal Lake and was originally built by Shahjahan. The mosque embraces a mixture of Mughal and Kashmiri architecture.

Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

The local guide asked all tour participants to look around and inside the shrine but I opted not to participate. Instead, I kept pleading them to free myself and allow me take snaps of some architecture delights beside the shrine.

Kashmiri traditional houses utilize local stone, wood and brick to adapt its genuine geography, explained an architecture article. The elements sound very ordinary to me and to witness their special characteristic, I needed to witness it with my own eyes. It is said, typical Kashmiri vernacular architecture mostly is visible along Jhelum riverbank. Unfortunately, I wasn't confident enough to wander alone, not even brave to commute from where I stood, realizing the group tour didn't include my wishful heritage walk into their schedule. I had to let this wish go.

Unattended window from a house near Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Unattended window from a house near Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

An abandoned house near Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

For the very least, let me be a little bit content with the exterior the houses beside Hazratbal Shrine, storing a sacred relic namely the Prophet's beard until it disappeared in 1963,showed.  

"I’ll go with Aunty Dewi and be around 15 minutes, okay?" I hopelessly begged the local guide and explained him how I was so into architecture. Seeing those heritage houses, said their form and ornaments gain influences from Central Asian, Iranian, Greek, Afghan, and Chinese but structure adapts with Kashmiri's climate, in Srinagar was one main reason I traveled from Jakarta. I had to witness those unique houses that have survived from previous political unrest during their testing times. My effort was almost in vain.

An abandoned house near Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

But after my many persisting pleads, the local guide finally gave his permission with one condition. "No problem. Wait, I go with you," in an Indian-accent English, he said shaking his head, a body language that means an approval, while speaking like all Indian actors do as seen on their long-hours movies.

We then began our private architecture tour. He took both of us to explore the small town's undiscovered old quarter. I wished to have the sight of colonial and Kashmiri vernacular house I spotted at the small part of that undiscovered old quarter of Srinagar.

A house with typical Kashmiri accentuated window and balcony at Hazratbal wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

A house with typical Kashmiri accentuated window and balcony at Hazratbal wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

From my common traveler's point of view, I tried to understand Srinagar's architectural beauty though in the end I found myself unsatisfied. Rather than finding myself agree with an article's boast of architectural marvel the town had, I honestly admitted that appreciating bricks and woods was more cultured when spending time there. Of course, this thought came after I knew the other choice was to shop goods I might not need. The look of those houses just didn’t fit to a definition of beauty all people agreed. It took me another level of beauty comprehension towards a complex suffering neglect after repeated destruction.

A house with typical Kashmiri accentuated window and balcony at Hazratbal wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

A house with typical Kashmiri accentuated window and balcony at Hazratbal wet market in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

An article once I read after my return to Jakarta said that the beauty of traditional Kashmiri architecture was particularly on its cantilevered balcony, the Zoon Dub, designed to view the moon and beautifully fretted eaves. Fret details locally known as pinjarakari showed how Kashmiri craftsmen proved their historical skill about aesthetic details. Architecture lovers should enjoy visible pendants of wooden chimes like jhumkas too.  

A typical dwelling architecture behind Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

A typical dwelling architecture behind Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Letting go the chance to discover old quarter, I had to feel okay with what I had at that moment from a location at not even a meter away from the crowded Hazratbal Shrine. As I proceeded with my short hasty walk, there I found an abandoned off-colored house with a grey dead tree beside it. Both of the objects stood almost with a struggle. At my first glance, I thought I saw a half-timbered house that gave me an impression of a medieval European vibe with a mixture of a Kashmiri's vernacular identity touch. My high imagination took over my rationality that time. 

An abandoned house accentuated with dead tree near Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Row of windows of an abandoned house near Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

A woman peeking out from the window out of curiosity at a quarter near Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

I wondered if that was because of my disappointment to force myself redefining "the beautiful paradise" in Kashmir after reading too many scripts pointing out the charm of Srinagar's architecture but what I got so far was quite unsatisfactory enough.

During my walk in that area, I couldn't even find what one article said as burze pash, rooftops made of birch-bark layered outwardly with an insulation of fertile clay and turf where lily and tulip bulbs were thickly studded there. The burze pash was told to pamper everyone's eyes in the spring because it gave colorful fully-bloomed flowers.

A dried fruit in winter at Mughal Garden in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

An end of winter scene at Mughal Garden in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

An ice cream  in the winter at Mughal Garden in Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Somehow, I felt that I had been travelling to a stranded land. Like the Mughal Garden I visited first that morning, beautified by colorful flowers only in April. The garden was still struggling in wintry climate thus it offered me nothing except dried branches.

I had to end that impulsive private architecture tour immediately because there was another destination participants should reach,  one market which was located within less than an hour drive from Hazratbal Shrine. Another shopping spot offering cheap goods for price bargaining experts but a ripped-off for the innocents.

Small orange plants at Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

As I reached there, my van was parked nearby rows of shops selling household goods from apparels to electronics, street fruit sellers were also common in sight. "We'll give you another free time here," said the tour operator, "You can shop whatever you want". Another shopping? I thought we'd have a heritage walk, my ears must have heard the morning briefing wrong. Sigh. 

Luckily, I wasn't too far away from the oldest mosque in Kashmir, Jamia Masjid. I approached the mosque not because of a praying call it made coincidentally at the same time I entered its entrance gate.

Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

This Islamic followers' sacred shrine seen as a fine archaeological form to my eyes. Something I felt worth it to explore while in the old city. Academic papers describe it as the developed form of wooden construction in Kashmir valley whose architecture, complexity and design perfection to be one of the most extraordinary achievements of early Islamic art in the valley.

The mosque's principal features, said architectural papers, are the four minars, one in the middle of each side. They are covered by a series of pyramidal roofs, which terminate in an open turret crowned by a high pinnacle. The roof of each minar is supported on eight plain and not ornamented wooden columns. The main entrance consists of a recessed portico leading across the colonnade into the interior courtyard. Jamia Masjid has a fountain that also serves as an ablution purpose, what a splendid art to see.

Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Kashmir (2018) private photo by Nilufar

Even until my last day in Srinagar, I didn't get my solitude "heritage walk in fine afternoon" as I hoped. Discovering heritage houses and old city's landmarks along Jhelum river was not in the tour package tour either. The tour group prioritized shopaholic participants rather than accommodated me who enjoyed history and culture in an elegant manner.