Frontier Treks & Tours India

As a tourism company focusing on the Kashmir region, figuring out what to say or not say regarding the protests happening this summer in Kashmir is difficult. Protests in a tourist destination are never good publicity, especially for Kashmir which already struggles with travel warnings from some Western countries.

The current protests that began in June 2010 have greatly affected the whole tourism industry for Kashmir. We have had to make changes to our plans, including revising the Lumen Dei photo workshop/tour that had a portion of its itinerary in Kashmir.

At the present time tourism isn’t impossible for Kashmir, but the situation is far from normal. Certain activities are not advisable, such as touring cultural heritage sites in the old city area of Srinagar (where most of the protests are happening). Others, like visiting the Mughal Gardens or exploring Dal Lake on a shikara boat ride, are possible.

At FT&T India we know Kashmir can be a riskier place for tourists, yet we take the safety of our customers seriously. We don’t rely only upon news reports to evaluate the situation. We spend most of our time in Kashmir, so we know firsthand what’s going on and have built a reliable network of local partners that helps us assess potential risk. While the current situation in Kashmir is far from ideal, we hope for things to improve and remain committed to benefiting Kashmir through responsible tourism.

If you have questions about the latest developments in Kashmir and what’s possible or not for tourism, let us know by email or in the comments below.

Update 3 November 2010: The protests that began this summer in Kashmir are still continuing, however they have lessened in intensity from where things were in August and September. It’s still not “normal”, but tourism is certainly possible provided you stay aware of the situation in case things change. We’ve seen Indian and foreign tourists begin returning to Kashmir in October without any problems. I’m going to close the comments for this post, but please feel free to still email us if you have questions about the situation.

At the end of July the New Delhi airport opened up the brand new Terminal 3 for international flights. Here are my initial thoughts regarding the new terminal after flying out and back in on a recent trip.

• High ceilings: There’s a wonderful spaciousness about the new terminal and the much higher ceilings, especially in the check-in and baggage claim areas, greatly help this.
• Lots of carpet: The spacious departure and arrival piers have a curious flooring choice – carpet. Not just any carpet, but patterned wall to wall carpet that seems thicker than carpet I’ve seen in airports. A rolling bag didn’t roll as easily on it due to the extra friction from the thickness. I wonder how well the carpet will hold up over time with all the traffic walking on it.
• Long, wide walkways: Departure gates in the previous terminal were all mostly in the same small area. In Terminal 3 the gates are spread out across the super long walkways making up the departure pier. It can be a long walk from the food court in the departure hall to your gate.
• No post office: Unlike the old terminal, Terminal 3 has no post office in the main departure hall before you go through immigration and security. Perhaps there will be one if the future, but for now get your final post cards mailed off before you show up at the airport. (Update: according to the airport’s interactive map a post office is now listed in the T3 Departure Main Hall.)
• Less free wi-fi: Previously the international terminal offered 60 minutes of free wi-fi provided by Airtel. Terminal 3 now offers free wi-fi for up to 20 minutes through Aircel. After 20 minutes it’s available for a fee, but I couldn’t determine how much as the wi-fi wasn’t working the day I flew out.
• Different currency exchange: In the international baggage claim area of Terminal 3 there are two choices for exchanging foreign currency into Indian Rupees – Thomas Cook and Central Bank of India. The latter option is new and seems to replace the State Bank of India which was the recommended place in the previous terminal since it didn’t charge the commission which Thomas Cook did. I wasn’t able to confirm it, but I think the Central Bank of India doesn’t charge a commission either.
• Outside pickup: If you have a taxi waiting to pick you up on arrival, the driver will now be waiting just outside the arrival hall rather than inside the hall like before. That’s no fun for the driver if the weather is hot.
• Rough around the edges: Terminal 3 is a great upgrade over the previous terminal, but there’s still some work needed to complete everything. Not all of the restaurants and shops were open when I flew out, and I couldn’t find any ATMs in the international arrival hall even though they are on the map. I’m assuming all of this plus other little details will be complete by the time the Commonwealth Games come to New Delhi in early October.

Check out the official Delhi airport website for more information on Terminal 3.

Tourists in a foreign destination like Kashmir naturally have lots of questions. Where is this, what is that, how much is this, and why do they do it that way?!

Sometimes you can find answers to your questions in a guidebook or online forum. However, searching for information and answers by asking the local community offers a more rewarding and interactive experience even if it might draw you out of your comfort zone a little.

Asking a Kashmiri about something you don’t know can be a fun experience that provides you with more than just the answer you were looking for. One of our tour participants once asked a Kashmiri man to explain how a traditional samovar was used and he ended up going to that man’s home to see a samovar and drink chai!

With this in mind, here are a few suggestions to help you get the most out of asking questions when visiting North India and Kashmir.

Ask the same question to more than one person. I think this is a common mistake made by tourists. The problem with asking only one person is you can’t be sure of the answer given to you. From my experience in Kashmir people would rather give you some type of answer than tell you they don’t know. That can lead to some pretty inaccurate answers! Also, some people give more descriptive answers than others so by asking the same thing to a variety of people you can get a more complete picture of the information you’re seeking.

Try rewording the question. If you don’t seem to be getting what you’re looking for then maybe the way you are phrasing the question isn’t being understood. We encourage our groups to ask locals how to say some basic phrases and greetings in Kashmiri. Several groups would ask people, “How do you greet someone in Kashmiri?” Almost all of them were given the answer of “As-Salamu Alaykum” which is the traditional Arabic greeting that Kashmiri Muslims use. They were rarely given the Kashmiri expressions that typically follow the Arabic greeting. So we changed the way they asked the question to how do you ask someone in Kashmiri, “How are you?” Now they almost always get the desired answer.

There may not be a “right” answer. A friend recently asked a group of about ten Kashmiri guys how much he should pay for something. He got ten different answers followed by a debate among the ten guys regarding whose answer was more correct! This might seem like a downside to asking multiple people the same question, but discovering that there are differing views regarding the answer to your question can help you learn more about a place than simply trying to find the one “right” answer. Listening to a group of Kashmiri men debate with each other is also far more entertaining than any guidebook!

Of the many highlights offered to tourists visiting Kashmir, a relaxing ride in a shikara boat on Dal Lake is one of my favorites. These little gondola like boats can be seen all over the lake, but one of the best times to watch and join in with the shikara traffic is in the early evenings during the summer. The majority of tourists and even locals will be out enjoying the last couple hours of sunlight while the temperature gradually cools down for the evening.

Here’s a scene from last month taken near one of the shikara ghats along the boulevard.

Last year I wrote a gear review about how well the Black Diamond Apollo Lantern worked for our trekking groups. One year later, and I still like these well designed little lanterns so much I just ordered some more.

One of the ways our groups like using the lanterns is to light our dining tent at night for hanging out and playing cards. I tried taking some photos of a recent group doing this and realized I’m not really sure how to take photos in dark tent lit by small lanterns with people moving a lot during fast paced card games! But they hopefully give you some idea of what it’s like using these lanterns at night.

Left to right: Klean Kanteen, generic plastic bottle, Nalgene, Innate, & Camelbak

After going on several treks and using several different kinds of water bottles, here are my pros and cons for 5 different options of trekking water bottles.

It used to be pretty simple. I used the standard Nalgene wide mouth plastic bottle for years. Then the whole controversy over BPA came out. Suddenly a whole rush of new BPA-free bottles started being advertised. I decided to switch to some BPA-free bottles. At the time Nalgene wasn’t selling any, so I went with a Camelbak plastic bottle and a Klean Kanteen stainless steel one.

Later I picked up a BPA-free Nalgene bottle and then another stainless steel one by Bilt (which is now Innate). Now that I’ve used all 4 of these I’ve developed the following opinions for each of them.

• Nalgene: Pros – fits perfectly with the bottle adapter on the Katadyn Hiker Pro water filter we use, cap is connected to the bottle so doesn’t drop accidentally into the stream you’re filtering water from. Cons – can’t think of any other than it still is plastic and some people might not want whatever chemicals are still used even in a BPA-free verson.
• Camelbak: Pros – like the Nalgene it also fits perfectly with our water filters. Cons – unlike the Nalgene the cap doesn’t have any strap keeping it connected to the bottle. Might seem like no big deal, but if it falls into unclean water while you’re filtering you’ll wish it had been connected.
• Klean Kanteen: Pros – I just like the feel and quality of stainless steel compared to plastic, the sport cap on mine keeps the cap connected to the bottle. Cons – bottle opening doesn’t fit the bottle adapter on our water filters, water inside heats up faster than the plastic bottles if exposed while trekking in bright sunlight, current cap options don’t offer any that keep the cap connected to the bottle. Yes, I know you can buy an insulated sleeve for stainless bottles that would prevent the sun/heat issue, but I like not needing to buy accessories for a water bottle.
• Innate: Pros – quality stainless steel but with a BPA-free plastic rim which is nice for your lips in case your bottle is either really cold or hot. Cons – older version that I have doesn’t fit the Katadyn water filter bottle adapter (this might be different now according to their website), the cap isn’t connected to the bottle, same problem of water heating up in sunlight as the Klean Kanteen.
• Generic bottled water plastic bottle: had to include this one as we’ve had participants forget or lose their more sturdy water bottles and just buy a couple of these from a shop before trekking. The only pro I can think of for these are they can bail you out if you lose your other bottle, but they’re less reusable (= more trash), don’t fit the water filter adapter, and have small caps that can easily be dropped.

As you can see the big thing for me in evaluating water bottles for trekking is how easy are they to use when filtering water. Apart that one thing, all I’m doing with a water bottle the rest of a trek is drinking from it or carrying it and there aren’t much differences there in quality or features.

I like a bottle that one person can easily filter water with by themselves. In my experience, the best way for that is one with a connected cap and an opening that snugly fits our filter’s bottle adapter.

If I were buying new gear for an upcoming trek and didn’t already have any bottles, my choice would be 2 Nalgene wide mouth bottles and then possibly a Klean Kanteen or Innate if I wanted a 3rd bottle just because there is something about the stainless steel that I like better than plastic.

Some photos from a recent trek we did on the Aru-Lidderwat route in Kashmir.

A unique event happens every year in Srinagar around May just before summer arrives. No, not the annual migration of the nomadic Gujjar shepherds bringing their flocks north through the city. I’m referring to the annual painting of curbs, light poles, and traffic lines on the roads of Srinagar.

I’m always impressed by the guys painting these lines on the roads while traffic zooms past them. No orange traffic cones to protect them or alert drivers to their presence before you come around a corner. One of the world’s most dangerous jobs? Maybe.

Last week I noticed a group of men painting lines on the busy road around Dal Lake near the Royal Springs Golf Course. This area of road was under construction on one side, so that made their job even tougher with less space to work with as traffic zoomed by them.

Today when I drove by the same area there was some new construction happening. The side of the road that had just been painted last week now was being paved over with new blacktop! This is the third year in a row I’ve seen traffic lanes being painted only to be paved over a short while later. I’m not sure if the painters mind, unless they don’t get any more pay for the extra work to repaint, but it certainly cracks me up every time I see it.

Ice cream and art lovers have a new place to check out in Srinagar, Kashmir. Creambell Ice Cream Parlour recently opened featuring a variety of ice cream plus an art gallery in the back section of the restaurant called Mahatta Art Café. This new parlour is located on Residency Road under Mahatta Photo Studio near the General Post Office (letter A on map below).

While the ice cream is good, the thing I was most excited about is the space for the art gallery. Currently the gallery is showing photographs taken by the late Mr. Ram Chand Mehta. Mr. Mehta founded the original Mahatta Studio in Srinagar way back in 1918. The photos on display range from 1934-1965 and are a fascinating look back in time at the Valley of Kashmir.

I had seen a larger exhibition of Mr. Mehta’s photos in Delhi a few years ago when my friend Matt Brandon first made me aware of these classic photos. While not much of a photographer myself, I certainly appreciate the history captured through Mr. Mehta’s lens.

There is a flyer inside the parlour indicating that the art gallery is open to any artist who would want to display her/her works. Hopefully this new space will help local artists display and promote their various works. If you’re in Srinagar, come check it out to enjoy some ice cream and local art.

There’s a big construction project going one right now in Srinagar where they’re digging up the main road around Dal Lake to put in new water pipes. It’s causing plenty of traffic trouble right at the start of the peak tourist season.

I was able to capture this shot from my phone while sitting for a while a traffic jam caused by this construction. The image quality from my phone isn’t great, but if you look closely you should be able to see the traffic backing up on the other side of the road. In the midst of all the honking, at least the view was nice to look at.