Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary (BWLS)— Traipsing Around the Mountains

 

Sunrise over Trishul and other mountains in the range
as seen from the ridge

Puffing and panting, I climbed up the slope in the dark with my guide Santhosh to see the sunrise over Trishul, it was a short but nearly vertical climb and I was not yet used to this sort of climbing.  It was dark…. But let me start at the beginning.

A glorious Sunset from Joshi Cottage

Deciding where to go in the mountains, I chanced upon Joshi Cottage, a quaint and quiet getaway from the bustle of life at home. A two kilometre walk from the Sanctuary Road is why, unless one is an ardent nature lover, one does not want to come to the village Dalar. It is off the beaten track for party goers, though there are many hotels within the park premises where party animals can go. 

A rhododendron strewn path, a welcome from the forest,
while walking the 2 km to the cottage

Joshi Cottage

The Sanctuary is exactly that, a heaven for birds and haven for animals (the four-legged kind).  BWLS became a Sanctuary in 1988 as per my guide Santhosh (and one of the owners of Joshi Cottage). I could still see the legacy of pre-park days like tapping pine for resin and terraced fields.

Terraced field, does not look like it is disused

There are plenty of rhododendron in the park and this 
year they are blooming early

Though this was stopped when the place became a Sanctuary, it is really the animals which have stopped these activities.  Wild boar, Barking Deer and Ghural (Blue sheep), amongst the many herbivores, treated the terraced fields as dining tables.  The Leopard made a tasty meal of these herbivores and of course came into conflict with man (and woman) and did not mind picking up the odd grass cutter.  I saw and heard Barking Deer often, but only once saw the shy Ghural.

Indian White-eye looks for more succulent flowers

This is a birders paradise and birds mainly inhabit the areas near and around the villages where titbits are to be had. Not to say that one does not find a mixed hunting party of birds in the forest also.  There are many types of birds here, I saw three types of Woodpeckers (Himalayan, Brown-fronted and Lesser Yellow-nape), Great Barbet, Blue-fronted Barbet and lots of other birds.  In fact on a morning out with Santhosh, a wonderful guide and excellent spotter, I saw about 25 species of birds in a little over an hour, all near the village Dalar.

I could see the sun rising over Trishul from my room at the cottage,
natures light show, nothing man-made can compare

Joshi Cottage is in a rural setting and a working household

I could see Trishul and other peaks from my hut, but only at that place on the ridge could I see the entire snow-clad mountain range, Nanda Ghunti, Trishul, Nanda Devi, Nanda Kot (the locals call it Ban Kutia as it is in the shape of a sickle's edge). So I huffed and puffed in the dark while Santhosh went up like a mountain goat, all so that I could see the sun rise over Trishul and other peaks. But it was worth it as that day was clear and the rays of the sun were truly awe-inspiring, better than any man-made light show.

Stopping for a breather, grass cutting ladies use the wall of the abandoned 
school for their loads

...another walk, along the path in the forest

There were many pleasant walks around, after I got used to the climbing and descent, Zero Point, the school circuit of about three kilometres included an abandoned school, the path from the village to the road, and along the road, and of course this climb up the ridge.

the Jageshwar group of temples

One day I hired a car and spent the whole day doing touristy sight-seeing, first I went to the carpark of Zero Point and walked (2km) up along a well defined path. Then I went to Jageshwar, a group of temples and a museum, all of which is worth a look. On the way back I went to Kasar Devi which has a temple, one of the three under the Van Allen belt and where Swami Vivekananda did meditation.

Each evening I would have a fire
lit by my caring hosts

A pity about the hotels inside the park though, but a memorable sojourn in the BWLS and not too many Sanctuaries have a village in the midst itself. 

 

I Have Arrived - Traditional and New Construction

 

By dint of building well, you get to be a good architect" - Aristotle

The homestay at Binsar where I was staying,
perforce it was a bit traditional and a bit modern
as everything came from the road which was
a two kilometre walk away. Though another homestay
nearby was being built completely the modern way
and everything for construction was carried
 by hand or on the back of mules.

Construction of houses in the Himalayas has traditionally been from locally sourced materials.  Stone, wood, and slate for roofing was all got from nearby.  Traditional methods of building had many advantages, that of insulation from extremes of temperature in this area, the vagaries of nature and from sound.

Slate-roofed and mud or mud-brick or stone walls...

...traditional houses were once the norm.
In very cold places, animals were kept in the basement,
the family lived on the first-floor so that the 
 warmth of the animal's would rise and keep them warm;
and the kitchen was the upper most floor.

It is remarkable how sound is attenuated by these materials.  There was an electric carpentry device running very close to me, outside I could hear it loud and clear, but inside my room I could barely hear it. Besides, these materials are at harmony with nature and stand for many years with minor maintenance. Mostly a lick of whitewash does the job.

Bricks, cement and an old wooden window,
sometimes old wood is too precious to throw away

It is understandable that traditional building materials are now difficult to obtain and are banned in some cases. 

Flourescent green walls and a white window,
the wood for the window is still wet,
and often it cracks or are ill-fitted

But unbridled construction demands an insatiable supply of “modern” construction material, trucks oblige and huge monsters can now be seen on narrow roads in the mountains.

...bright yellows...

...multi-patterned tiles

 These modern houses are in different colours, each more stridently brighter than the neighbour. Nay, in the same house one sees fluorescent greens, mauves, yellows, oranges and also tiles of many hues. What is it that makes these houses so colourful?

... a yellow house in the woods

I think it is because these colours scream “I have arrived”

Binsar WLS-Scrumptious Meals at a Village Homestay- Joshi's Cottage

 If food be the satiation for the soul, then bring it on. (Quote mine!) I am up in the mountains of the Himalayas and staying for about two and a half weeks in a village at Joshi's Cottage homestay amid Binsar WLS.  I am trying to get away from the crowd, and I have succeeded, it is a two kilometer walk to the village Dalar in Uttarakhand. Here too there is noisy construction work, but that is another story.

That's the dining room behind my host and guide at Joshi's Cottage

Coming to food, this is not a blog on culinary arts and “how to…”, it is simply what I experience here.  I have requested the homestay owner to serve me what the family eats, which they do, but with a bit of garnishing on the top. “Atithi Devo Bhava”, I guess.  I eat in the dining hall, which is another room in the main family house. 

The view from the dining hall

Breakfast is stuffed parathas and the stuffing varies each day.  The parathas could have radish, potato, cauliflower.  Then there is curd and at my request jaggery.

Dinner is sans rice, otherwise the menu remains identical to lunch...

The main meals being lunch or dinner are accompanied with a generous helping of salad consisting of tomatoes, carrots, onions and radish, with a slice of lime and all topped off with a bit of noon. This noon is Himalayan rock salt with bits of mint and other herbs ground together till it is a dry powder. 

That's noon

Then there is a vegetable, could be cauliflower, potatoes, yam or a home-grown staple of mustard stalks and leaves. This last is grown in the home garden and served at every alternate meal. Sarso ki sabzi could be cooked in mustard oil or in water, it could be with peas, with potatoes, or be served plain, any way it is delicious.

...and that is lunch, rice in addition to the chappati's 

The dal is also of different types, but deliciously different is the Kuthi (I think), it looks (a bit longer) and tastes (almost) like masoor dal. When uncooked it is rock hard, and the old lady (Santhosh's mother) of the house took great pleasure in showing me the raw grain. This dal apparently only grows in Uttarakhand and Himachal. Then there is black soya dal, a delicious mix of dal and sabzi.

Chilly pickle and peanuts drying on the roof, almost everything is homegrown or home-made

The soup has a tomato base, but is spiced up with juliennes of ginger and other spices. Each day it is served punctually at 6.30 pm a whole steel glassful, in very cold weather, it is yum.

Breakfast out in the sun, stuffed parathas, curd, and jaggery.  The  noon  was there at every meal and tasted delicious with the salad.

The food has the taste of spice, freshly ground, but it is not chilly hot. Freshly made for each meal, it is served piping hot, especially the chapattis, which are made as I eat them. The family is pure vegetarian, not even eggs, they get their protein from the soya and dals, I guess. 

A sign of the times, I guess

Joshi's Cottage is wonderful in that the whole family pitches in to make me feel welcome, there is of course Santhosh, my friend, philosopher, guide and host; then there is Kewal , Santhosh's elder brother cook of a very high order, and the mother, sister-in-law and nephew all contribute. 

So here I am, pure shakahari for two and a half weeks, but enjoying it.

Gurez Valley and the legend of Habba Khatoon

 

 

Gurez Valley is enigmatic. the Valley  doesn't know whether it wants to be stark and stony like Leh, or lush and green as in the rest of Kaskmir, so I guess it is a bit of both. Bare and rocky on one side and verdant pines on the other. But then I am getting ahead of myself...

About six hours from Srinagar, via Wular Lake (arguably one of the largest sweet-water lakes in the country) lies the Gurez Valley.  After about an hour's drive along flat country we stated climbing after Bandipore till we came to the shrine of Peer Baba, where we stopped to matha teko, literally bow our heads to the ground in deference to the Peer.

A liitle further we came to the Razdan Pass, which at 11,672 feet (about 3558 metres) was the highest point on our journey. Then a descent of about two hours brought us to the Kishenganga river and the dam across it.  The police and military were now apparent and numerous check-posts later we reached Dawar Village. At these check-posts, no one was rude or peremptory considering the pressure on those manning them, they simply told us what we could or could not do - fair enough.

Dawar Village is one of the few places with expert wooden joinery that we saw, the wood keeps houses cool in summer and warm in winter.  As it is across the Razdan Pass which closes in winter due to the heavy snowfall, it is also one of the difficult villages to access and far off from the regular tourist track. Trekking tourism is just arriving. 

There is a lot of wood used in construction here, till recently locals were permitted to use trees, now most houses are made of brick and mortar, with GI sheets on the roof. I was mesmerised by this wooden architecture and took many photographs.

Houses, anywhere in India, but more so in inaccessible places, use a lot of local material, but as connectivity has improved, modern materials are more evident. We saw heavy earth-moving equipment being used in construction. Most people near a road or suitable location, is making the ubiquitous homestay, a convenience of debatable  value.

As the sun got lower a single conical feature was illuminated, Habba Khatoon.  She was a lady who was brought up here and is the subject of much legend and lore. The banks of the Kishenganga are now very littered with the detritus of 'modern' life which the village is not equipped to remove. It is a matter of time that this beautiful place goes the way of so many hill-stations.

Basav and I took a walk along the banks and bed of the Kishenganga, and a lot of fauna was evident can be seen from these recent pugmarks of a Red Fox.

The Himalayan Black Bear population has also increased and no fence can hold them back from a feast young, tender millet, getting aggressive if prevented  The farmers here uproot the millet before it ripens and use it as cattle fodder to avoid the bears.

A stream (chashma) flows from the Habba Khatoon mountain to the the Kishenganga River, a few metres away.  This chashma has many mythical meanings, but the thing that I experienced is that its very, very cold and pure.

That we had gone when it was still raining meant moss everywhere. The weather here is fickle (as it is everywhere in the mountains), from bright sunshine one moment to thunder, lightning and pouring rain the next. But the beauty of the mountains lies in this, the play or the lack of light on a wild hillside.

A valley that offers true solitude can provide an exhilarating experience for the soul. Just don't go there alone...

  
 

Srignagar - Houseboat on Nigeen Lake and watching the world go by

 

As the philospher Lao Tzu said "Make your heart like a lake with calm, still surface and great depths of kindness"

So Basav, my friend, and I, having not booked a place to stay in Srinagar on our last night there, decided to stay on a houseboat on Nigeen Lake. This Lake had been recommended by Basav's friend, and what a recommendation it was, serene, calm and relatively off the beaten track of Dal Lake which is much more commercial.

Having reached after lunch, we watched the world go by from the verandah of the houseboat in the remaining part of the day. There was so much to see, men fishing from a boat in the placid waters of the lake, Common Moorhen scurrying about, daintily stepping on lotus leaves and ......

...the ubiquitous boats in the reflection of the trees by the water's edge. Local people going about their business.

There was a mountain range opposite the lake, watching the clouds against these mountains and house boats in the foreground was a delight. 

These houseboats are made of pine and the part underwater resists getting soggy, these floating houses last for decades, finally (and sadly) being moored in a little backwater to house migrant labour. Each houseboat is exquisitely but differently carved, this carving was on ours. 

The next morning we were on a boat by 0430 am, first we went to the floating vegetable market where locals buy vegetables, this market was over in an hour....

...our next stop was interestingly a bakery in which bakers (kandur) make the local bread  (Tschott).  This is eaten, amongst other delicacies, with the very popular tea and spices, kahwa, of which we must have had about ten cups a day.  The bread is baked in a kind of tandoor, and bought while it is still hot, it was  absolutely delicious. 

Then we went to the floating flower market, a veritable tourist trap where there were more photographers than boats selling flowers. A pretty sight but very touristy and crowded and soon we were away.

The lotus stem, called Nadru, is a staple food here, though expensive, it used in many Kashmiri dishes.  This plant grows on most lakes in Srinagar and the flower is a delicate pink and blooms in profusion.

The marshy land has many wooden foot-bridges and boatmen use the canals and waterways in simple uncovered boats...

...Unlike the opulent and covered shikara,, waiting for tourists later in the day.  It is too early in the morning yet and they are apparently forlorn and empty at this early hour.

The Rainawari Backwaters are interesting with some old houses with verandahs and balconies overlooking the canal.  But now the water is very littered with the detritus of 'modern' living, mainly plastic of various shapes and sizes.  Sadly as we rowed past more garbage was being thrown into the waterway.

Our boatman passed his house and so stopped a bit, Basav and I sat in the boat and watched the world go by. There were pigeons meant for racing or homing, flying around frames meant for them: people going about their daily life using the water as a thoroughfare, perched precariously (or so it seemed) at the end of their boats. Four hours later we tied up at our houseboat., and we don't know whether we were saddened or learned by the experience, maybe a bit of both.

It takes lakes and mountains to see the serenity of your own soul