Last Day in Srinagar

It is already difficult for me to continue my writings in this blog after not writing anything for couple of months. I do realize I have more responsibilities than before so might as well I do what I have to do. Well, without having to write a superfluous introduction, I think it is prudent to just restart where I have left.

Our last day in Srinagar seemed to disturb our mind. I just could not believe we have to leave Srinagar today. We started the day very early, as early as 5 am where it was still dark and quiet. We were picked up by a shikara heading to Dal Lake morning market. I thought it would be something like floating market in Thailand but it was not. This morning market was more like an exchange of goods from one wholesaler to another wholesaler. Most of the goods were local products especially Kasmiri vegetables (radishes, cabbages, onions etc). Few shikaras were loaded with other groceries such as tea, saffron, sweet stuff and even flowers. 

The air was very interesting as more and more shikaras appeared out of nowhere and the haggling and bargaining are getting more intense and fun. While enjoying their way of making a living, we came a cross a shikara with chests full of chocolates and cookies. I thought it would be a good idea to buy some as we have not had our breakfast yet. The chocolates were reasonably tasty, considering that they are all home made and the cookies were my favourite.

The youngsters and the seniors.

Kashmiri radish. Nice to have it raw.

The 'sweets' seller.

 Before sunrise, we left the trading area back to our houseboat. We packed our staffs and did nothing much. We had breakfast and around 8.30 am, we left the houseboat to spend the remaining time around Srinagar city, before heading to the airport. We bid good bye to Mr. Firdous and her sweet daughter.

As usual, our young driver, Adil waited us at Gate 7. We were brought to Srinagar mosque and spent less than 30 minutes here. The internal was under construction but I guess it should have completed by now.

Next stop was Shah e-Hamdan shrine. This is a beautiful shrine which was constructed without a single nail being used. This shrine was built to commemorate one of the Sufis who have played important role in spreading Islam in Kashmir. The Sufi was Mir Syed Ali Hamdan. Although this is a Muslim shrine, the wooden architecture is based on Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu architecture.
Women are not allowed to enter the shrine, which I totally don't understand why. As a Muslim, I do not see why women are not allowed into the shrine as I can't think of any logical reason about it. I can sense gender discrimination exists but since this is not my country, I think it is best just to abide.  It was good enough that every visitor has the chance to appreciate the beautiful architecture from the outside..

Shah e-Hamdan shrine.

Lots of pigeons

Flying pigeons but I was worried with the bird-drops.

Lovely and colourful paintings.

 Next, we headed to Lal Chowk. Actually, we have insisted to visit Lol Chowk on our 2nd day in Srinagar. But we were not brought here as something fishy business happened. We were glad that we had time to spend in Lal Chowk because eventually we knew why the trip organizer was so reluctant to bring us here. He didn't want us to find out that everything sold in Lal Chowk was far much cheaper after he assured us the sellers came to our houseboat in the last 2 days sold much cheaper items. He claimed that manufacturer/producer sold much cheaper item and much better quality. That was not true.

For God sake, can't you just stop the whole scamming thing? You have oppressed us with an in-exorbitant trip package, and now you wanted to squeeze us by making money from our shopping?!! Seriously, if anyone plans to go to Srinagar, look no further than Lal Chowk if you want to get the best value for your money. I would have bought more papier mache and embroideries if I didn't spend it on the stuffs sold by his friends and relatives. Geezzz.....but lesson well learnt.

Lal Chowk is such a big shopping area but one needs to know where to head to. Normally, visitors would want to buy local Kashmiri product especially papier mache and embroideries so you can try asking around. Sometimes there would be someone who has already knew what you were up to and he would lead you to the right shop. But I was not so sure if he was given a commission when bringing in customers. All I knew was the goods sold were extremely cheap.

The shop owner in Lal Chowk. He has nice items sold in his shop but I bought on papier mache.

Finally, after the bargaining and purchasing, we went off to the airport for our flight to New Delhi.
Most people said that the security in Kashmir airport is really tough. It was really and I didn't like the experience. I had to dig out every single thing from my knapsack and I felt just like an idiot. Do I look like as if I'm a relative of Osama bin Laden? Or do I look like a cousin of a Pakistani terrorist? Screw you people!! But nevermind, other than being scammed and scrutinized, I just flooded my mind with the beautiful memories in Kashmir. I would come again, and perhaps the next time, no more shopping but merely enjoying the wonderful sceneries. Srinagar to Leh to Ladakh, that's where I will go.

Next stop, New Delhi.