Trekking in Kashmir

On the 17th of December our India trip took a bootleg turn. We met a pushy sales man named Haroon in Delhi who managed to convince us that going to Kashmir to stay on a house boat on Lake Nigeen would be a good idea.....he was absolutely right!!!

To see the pictures of our trip to Kashmir please click here.

Upon arriving at our house boat we were presently surprised by the much cooler climate of Kashmir (given its elevation) and the amazing scenery. I think when we all left for India we did not believe we would be trekking in the Indian Himalaya, not a million miles from the Pakistani border! Had we not come to Kashmir then this would never have happened.

From our house boat we set out on a 4 day trek up into the Himalayas. We drove by jeep to the foothills before taking to our heels to climb up Mt Harnuck (not sure of the name ;). I would say that anyone wishing to trek in India should first get themselves to Srinagar or the lakes. From here it will not be difficult to find a guide and porters to take you trekking. Most of the staff on the houseboat can put you in touch with the right person if you have not already met them.

The trekking we did was of average difficulty. Please note we had a donkey called “Nilly” who took our bags…so we were walking light! On our first day we walked to a camp spot at the top of a huge plateaux. We shared this plateaux with the native Gypsies who were incredibly friendly to use. They even invited us to their home where the women of the village sang for us. It is still one of the best memories of the whole year away for me.

From here we went up to a lake high up on the mountain before descending back into the Gypsy village below.