Kashmir! 9Dec2009 to 12 Dec 2009.



It was 5deg Celcius when we first touched down at Srinagar. We were kindof ready for it, preparing beforehand at Jaipur's hotel, wearing longjohns for Hyder and jackets and hats and sweaters, and I had my boots on. Even though it was only like around 13deg Celcius at Jaipur and there was no need for boots. My feet were kindof sweating, especially with the socks and all, but had to admit I LOVE feeling-feeling matsalleh pakai boot for seminit. Hahaha.



It wasn't really enough to keep the cold away for Hyder. Once we went off the plane, he hugged me and was VERY cuddly suddenly, he just wanted to hide his face into my body. We had smoke coming out of our mouths when we talked, that was SUPER cool ah seriously. Hahahaha. Super jakon tau semua. Hahah.





Stayed at a houseboat at Dal Lake for the entire 4 days there. It was damn cool, a total new experience. We had a butler and his helper who made the boat warm for us, served us food, stocked up the fridge with Pepsi nonstop (coz on the first day I asked for it, and he kept stocking up after that) We had the BEST chicken dish ever, some grilled chicken thing, and also banana fritters, which had milk added to it, damn nice ah. (See FB for pictures of these food stuff)





We had to use the shikara to go from the houseboat to land. It's basically a sampan, and our boat-rower (shikara-man?) was Mohamad Ismail, who was the cutest old man and I think Aisyah fell in love with him. We gave away some of our winterwear to him at the end of the Kashmir trip, and Aisyah was crying when we left Kashmir because of him. Haha. But no seriously, he's the sweetest old man ever.



We went to Gulmarg on our 2nd day at Kashmir. SKI MOUNTAIN! Super jakon tau all of us. I was worried about Hyder honestly, I don't know if he can take the cold. The night before was 0deg, and it was so freaking cold. On Gulmarg would be around -10.



He was ok with it. It was cold and he kept wanting us to hug him tight, but once we reached the base of Gulmarg, and all of us were playing with snow, he joined in. "THO SNOW! (throw snow!)






MAH GORD, this whole snow thing was amazing!!! I wish I live in some snowy place, seriously.

Ok, not really ah because after we went down from Gulmarg, I puked like as if my face was going to burst open, it hurts THAT bad, and I had the worst headache. Not sure because of the journey or because of the oxygen thing, but I felt so sick after that.

Hyder was ok at first with all that snow. Then we went further up the mountain to the ski area, and Hyder fell plop into the snow, and that made him WAIL like mad, and it almost made us not ski.. til my mom offered to take care of him and bring him to the nearby cafe while we ski.

So ski we did, and here are pictures of us looking super professional. HAHAHHA.





However it was only for 30 minutes, and then after that we threw some snow into the air while my dad took pictures, and then we went back down.







After Gulmarg, we were supposed to go to the market but there were some protests and stone-throwing going on, so we had to head back to our houseboat.

Day 3 - we went to the markets, and also to Masjid Hazratbal, which has one strand of hair of our beloved Nabi Muhamad saw.

Bought a carpet at a carpet factory. Original price was SGD1750, but we bargained down to SGD700. Haha. Good deal huh. Hahahah.



The thing I like about being in Kashmir was that we piled on clothes to keep us warm, clothes that didn't really go, but somehow it all looks nice there? Hahahahha. Or maybe it's just my imagination. Hahaha. But I tell you, I love wearing boots, makes your feet feels SO warm and snug and loved. I wish I can wear them in SG ah. Haha.



Kashmir was lovely. Our butler, who we named Mamu (uncle), was damn strict but very nice too. One night he came to our room to add more charcoal to the fire, and Husband was just done bathing so he came out wearing a towel. Mamu started grinning, and shook our hands, and then said "I shall not disturb you further" while grinning away. It was so funky. Hahaha.



I miss the food in Kashmir, and the weather too, and Hyder misses Mamu a lot. Haha. Insha'Allah if finances permit, I want to bring my family there again in the future ah. 4 days was not enough.

For more pictures, visit my FB.

Labels: Family, Holidays