Mcleod Ganj and Kashmir

My last few days in Dharamsala were very interesting. I got chatting to a few monks and ex political prisoners who had spent some time in jail, then escaped Tibet to make their way here. They had some pretty insane stories.


On the 26th of March, a young Tibetan self-immolated in Delhi as a protest to Hu Jintao visiting India. He died the next day and his body was taken here. Subsequently there was a lot of activity and protests around town in solidarity for the free tibet cause.

On a lighter note, this is what paragliding was like:

I'm now in Srinagar, Kashmir. It's been pretty unstable ever since partition in 1947 (Pakistan occupy another part of Kashmir called Azad (free) Kashmir) and there are troops on every street corner, even along the mountain roads in the middle of nowhere, on the way here. The valley is beautiful, and the mountains tower over Dal Lake. When the British were here, they weren't allowed to own land, so the lakes and rivers are full of houseboats. I stayed in one for my first 3 nights, really nice. Non Kashmiris also can't buy land here, so the population is still very Kashmiri, and about 90% Muslim. Although a small percentage of the population believe Kashmir should be part of Pakistan (cheers are heard when Pakistan win at cricket), and a larger amount are happy being a part of India, it seems that most people support a free, independent Kashmir. They claim that though Pakistan and India are both fighting over their territory, they are actually more similar to each other than Kashmiris, who look different, have their own language, culture, history, food... Everything seems quite peaceful here these days, even though it was less than two years since about 100 people were killed in violent pro-independent protests.

Houses here are made of wood and brick, and the old city looks very much like parts of the UK, especially because the weather is equally cloudy/rainy.

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face...

Only Amritsar left then Delhi, and a long train back to Mumbai to catch my flight!

Here's a little cartoon of something that happened ages ago: