Jammu City

Thank god Mum booked a sick hotel for the night. If you're ever in Katra, Jammu Kashmir, I highly recommend staying at the White Orchid - although don't book it through a third party booking site, cos they put a 20% mark up on the price - phone them direct. To be honest, do this for all your travel arrangements, cos agency websites are a rip off...

I booked an Ayurvedic session for her legs, seeing as we're doing another Darshan - Shabarimala - in a couple of days. She returned well happy. After a hearty masala dosa and Idly Vada breakfast, we set off for Jammu, with the help of our trusty Driver, Tamal Singh whose big heart was only matched by the size of his turban and moustache-beard combo.

On the way we stopped in at an out of the way Dhabba, and sampled the local speciality - Paneer Pakora - made with milk from the local goats. Twas pretty awesome, but I can see why us Indians suffer the highest cholesterol of any ethnic group. Next stop was the museum/castle of Karan Singh, and the Singh dynasty - the Royal Family of Kashmir. Gulab Singh, the first monarch of the region, was gifted the land for the princely sum of 2 lakhs (around $100,000 now) by the British Raj, with the promise he would help subdue the tribal  difficulties (both Hindu and Muslim) in the region. The Singh Family has little power, but are still an economic force to be reckoned with, in the form of Karan Singh.

After that, and a couple more temple stops, we arrived in dusty Jammu City. First stop was the silks and saree shop, where I planned to get a couple of prezzies for my female friends, i.e. a couple of pashminas. Ended up spending a bit more than I planned, but mates are worth it. I also got a glimpse of a 4 lakh pure pashmina - which looked pretty ordinary - they takle up to a year to complete, as the wool all comes from the chins of Kashmiri goats, which are notoriously hard to rear. However, these babies can keep you warm in minus 50 degrees centigrade conditions - no shit...

Unfortunately, the last minute booking doesn't always work and we ended up in some kind of crap hole in the middle of the city for the night. The food in the restaurant was good, but I screamed like a girl at the sight of a roach on my pillow and didn't sleep particularly well. The streets are crawling with police and military types. I get the feeling that it would be damn near impossible for any insurgents to even get a shot off without getting completely raped - and last time i checked, the tribal folks don't have enough bodies to waste in mindless suicide attacks anymore. At least not around here...