EXPERIENCING LIFE
I was talking to someone about travelling last night. Not just a holiday, you understand, but an immersive experience in another country. The type of trip where you've been away from your every day environment for enough time, where you can feel like you've always lived this other life - one of new horizons, adventure and possibilities. A place full of life-enriching experiences. It feels like such an age ago when I travelled to a place like that where I could experience adventure for a decent length of time...
The last time
It was 2007 when my girlfriend and I took a month travelling through Rajasthan & around southern India. We hired the Indian version of Ryan Gosling, our trusty driver in an Austin Cambridge, to take us on a journey of discovery through the northern delights of India through Rajistan. We embarked on a magical trip to catch the Taj Mahal at sunrise, engage in some diamond dealing in Jaipur, camel racing in Pushkar and Tiger hunting in Rantambore. Travelling on the trains down to Goa and riding an Enfield Bullet down through Varkala in Kerala, we really covered some ground in those 4 weeks and complete with bindis, pashminas and the pair of us adorned with Hindu kalava bracelets and other Indian trinkets and jewellery, we found ourselves on a beach at the southern most part of India, Kanyakumari - where the Bay of Bengal, The Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea all meet. A place of spiritual significance and somewhere to watch both the sunrise and sunset over the sea in the same day while contemplating life and the fruits of travel.
Danger travel
After spending four enjoyable weeks with my other half, I then found myself between jobs. I was now getting into the travel mindset, and definitely not wanting to go home at that point. So I decided to extend my trip for another three weeks and travel north to meet a friend in Delhi - where we would then head off to Gulmag in Kashmir for some snowboarding. It was during these last 3 weeks that the real adventure kicked in. Kashmir has been at the centre of struggles between Pakistan and India for many years. There has been much conflict and it's on the FCO (Foreign Commonwealth Office) list of unsafe areas to visit. My friend was held up at gunpoint on a bus when he visited previously in 2000 and likely, only just avoided a hostage attempt by refusing to get off the bus. So, it was a risk going back - and hats off to my friend for taking the second pilgrimage knowing what possibly laid in store again. Kashmir is now more geared up for winter tourism. They have a French-made gondola, which is the highest in the world but it's only recently that they've been making the area safer for more tourism. I hope they haven't taken too much risk away as it's the thrill of surviving a danger trip that fuels the soul and has kept me in good stead since 2007.
I like to use this saying when there's a risk of losing. I normally use it when playing cards with friends, but it's the same feeling you get when you undertake a risky task that could result in serious injury or even death. Making the decision to come through a war-torn nation to get in some of the best snowboarding in the world at the risk of being hijacked or killed in an avalanche was not really a tough decision for that reason. The attacks in Kashmir have largely been indiscriminate - like lobbing hand grenades on to a crowded bus. The chances of having this happen in London are probably just as high, plus you can get run over crossing the road outside your house. So, it was a decision to take a measured risk of being somewhere remote and therefore tricky to get help if you really needed it. I actually found the people from the region to be extra tolerant, considerate and accommodating. Even the army guys, who were a bit ominous and serious with their Kalashnikovs ready to hand, were helpful when it came to buying beer - selling to us from their own reserves. War is generally not good for business (unless you sell weapons, of course) or conducive to happiness, so things had calmed down considerably since the most recent fighting from 1999 it seemed.
Raja's Tea Hut
The first place we stayed at was a small and hospitable hotel run by a great guy called Raja (pictured below), who is the friendliest and most hospitable ex-mujahideen in Gulmarg (you'd definitely want him as your friend though...). It was in here one night where we were sampling some of the local delicacies with an eclectic mix of people from different religions and backgrounds including a Sikh, a Jew, a Christian, a Hindu two Muslims, and Agnostic, a couple of Atheists - all from different backgrounds - that we collectively put the world to rights. That night, in the cold hut, sitting huddled round the Bukhari heater, with my new worldly friends, I truly felt the magic of being a traveller.
Kashmir did feel however, like there were many opportunities to get caught out and come to a grizzly end. On the first day of arriving, we learned that someone had gone out for a hike the previous day and hadn't made it back. A group of us went up the gondola the first day and one guy put a hole in his hip and twisted his knee so bad, he would need surgery. But he wasn't immediately able to get down the mountain again and back to Srinagar for a flight home, because the roads were snowed. So, considering there were only about 30 people in the resort - that's a 1 in 15 chance of serious injury or death just there in the first day!
Riding the deep and fluffy snow, through the trees - all unmarked runs and with no avalanche prevention, all the thoughts of death were outweighed by the sheer exhilaration of being in the mountains. Being amongst just a select group of adventure travellers, I really felt part of a kindred rag-tag bunch and now feel very privileged to have met some of the craziest and greatest guys - those that are willing to go that extra mile, to discover the special places in pursuit of that live-enriching feeling. The thrill of being alive.
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