My 2nd trip to India this year....
This time a holiday planned in the beginning of the year. Six of us, K-A & mom, Han & Lean, Akka & I, are visiting North India.
 |
| Irfan on the shikara |
First stop Srinagar Kashmir. When I was planning the trip, I communicated with a number of travel agents. A couple of the agents were recommended by friends and a few I found online. I was narrowing down my options when I met Irfan. I booked an accommodation through Airbnb and Irfan responded immediately. He asked if I need any transportation etc. His emails' & Whatsapp messages were polite and not pushy. I liked him then.
At the exit gate at the airport, he caught my eye. Nothing was said, he just took my bag and the rest followed us. The drive to the boathouse was nice. He showed us the old town and the new town. Boathouse was amazing! We had our very own butler who was sweet and very helpful and just pleasant.
Our chauffeur was a funny chap. I asked his name and he replied Delicious! He thought I asked for the name of the apples we saw! Well, I told him I'm going to call him Delicious as that name just stuck in my memory and everyone started calling him the same too, including Irfan.
 |
| Pahalgam |
On the 2nd day we went to Pahalgam. It was an adventure riding on a horse to go to the hilltop. Lean and I got the most mischievous horses, they stop all the time to nibble on grass/roots. Our handler didn't know a word of English and I don't know a word of Kashmiri. Somehow we managed to communicate. He sang songs from movies when we pass by certain spots indicating the spots movies were shot.
 |
| Beautiful landscapes |
The trip up the hill was fantastic. We reached the top to be welcomed by a field of yellow grass. It was just beautiful. The air was super cold. As we descended down hill, Lean and I were laughing and when my horse took a turn, he slipped on the mud and threw me off to the ground. I fell but didn't panic. Nothing felt broken. No bleeding but a bit of sting on my right leg. I did complete the journey all in one piece. When we reached at the finished line, tears started rolling. It finally sank in that I survived being thrown off a horse and I'm ok! My Krishna saved me.
 |
| Dal lake....just mesmerizing |
That night at the boathouse Irfan said we could not continue our journey to Ladakh. It snowed the night and roads are not accessible. Snow came early this year. Well, I had my plan B. So we decided to cancel the flight from Leh to Delhi and buy new tickets from Srinagar to Delhi. And we decided next day to visit Sonamarg. We saw white blanket of snow. It was so beautiful. While we were heading down it started snowing.... Purely an experience to everyone, we loved every second of our time in Kashmir.
 |
| With Delicious and Irfan |
That night, Irfan took us to his house. That was the moment I was so touched. His family welcomed us into their home, his is an extended family. The kids were entertaining, his mom was sweet, his grandmother adorable. I felt something in me of which I couldn't understand. I felt loved and humbled. Why I don't know... The following morning it was time to say goodbye. Everyone gave Khaliq a hug, he was a gem. He pampered us with tea and coffee and pakora and the incredible home cooked breakfast and dinner. It was time to say good bye to our home for the past 3 days..
We crossed Dal lake. Irfan went earlier to print the tickets. The rest were already in the car, I was out in the cold sorting out our tickets. Irfan went into the car to say bye to everyone. He gave his hand but we ended with a good hug. We both knew that was not right. The guys at the jetty saw us and we heard a sudden burst of excitement. Han noticed that too. I had to thank Irfan for taking care of us, for making sure we were safe. For welcoming us into his life. We told him earlier that we are going to adopt him as our son/nephew. He is just 27, a really good, sweet, responsible and well mannered chap.
He asked me to come back. I said Inshallah I will be back in September. He said keep in touch even if you are not coming back so soon. I said I will. He has added me on Facebook...yes, I feel I have a family that I can go to in Kashmir.
K-A and I were talking about Irfan. She said she noticed the connection. She mentioned that Irfan and I bonded very well, she was waiting to see if I would hug him knowing that he is so pious and we were surrounded with so many of the local guys. I told K-A, it just felt right when we hugged. We all liked him and we are all missing our sweet boy.
 |
| Me waiting at Ajmeer Fort |
We flew to Delhi, met Kapil, our guide/driver for the rest of our India trip. From Delhi, we went straight to Jaipur. It was late night when we reached our BnB. A really nice house with a great host. She's an internal designer whilst her hubby an architect. They designed their house. Every piece of furniture felt like they own the house. The lovely host made a wonderful and sumptuous breakfast for us. First stop was Ajmeer fort. I have been to this place 18 years back, nothing changed! I sat out waiting for others finish touring the fort. I looked at people, it was nice. No one disturbed me, the guides were not harassing anyone, not me too. Saw a bunch of Japanese students with 4 bodyguards, the bodyguards looked hunky! An old uncle asked if I wanted to share his prasad, I did take a bit from him. He was happy chatting in Hindi with me and my little knowledge of Hindi helped in communicating with him. I sat there for a good hour plus and was not bored even for a while.
 |
| Han and me |
We went to a few other places and did shopping too. I came across a lovely lovely Krishna....He was under the tree with Radha and the tree was full of peacocks....it was just amazing but alas too expensive for me. I was telling Krishna, why are you so expensive to bring home and told Him to find me as I wanted to bring Him home. I almost completed my shopping when I saw Him, my heart melted, I was completely in love with Him....yes, he is back with me...When I was paying my bill, a young chap gave me ladhoo....a very sweet moment as I received my Krishna in one hand and ladhoo in the other hand. The uncle asked if I can come over to the next shop as they just did the prayers for the opening of the new shop for his grandson. I said yes, we were their first customer. I bought a beautiful red saree, everyone bought something and it was sweet to see everyone encouraging and blessing the boy, he is just 20 years old, cute and polite!
 |
| Fatehpurshikri |
From there we headed to Agra, stopped at Fatehpursikri. A lovely palace built by Akhbar the Great.I went along with the others eventhough I have been here. We were harassed as we were walking towards the palace by so many guides. Once we entered, a guide came to us, asked if I am from Malaysia, I asked how did he guess, he said he was 90% sure about me being Malaysian and another 10% African. I liked him, he was not pushy, he waited as I asked the others if it is ok we take him as our guide. Saleem, our guide, was very entertaining and a good photographer. He knew the tricks of taking photos at the right angle. Saleem was also very sweet, gives his hand out to me whenever I have to cross a stone, unfortunately, he just does not extend his hand for the others! 😊😉😉
 |
| Our guide Saleem |
Next we went to Taj Mahal, 3 of us ended up in MacD while the other 3 who has not been to Taj Mahal went in. In MacD, we were greeted with lots and lots of school kids...really tiny fellas. K-A told me later that when I walked to find a seat, the kids started turning their heads one after another to look at my back@tattoo....I was wearing a punjabi suit, so my back was visible and I completely forgot to cover my back! Kids were amused and amazed I guess. We left Agra to Delhi thereafter.
 |
| Dipping |
 |
| Waiting for aarthi |
We started our journey early in the morning to Haridwar/Rishikesh. Beautiful drive again. We were in Haridwar about 3pm. Took a dip in the river Gangga....it was so cold but after a while we got used to the temperature. Only 3 of us went in. A gentleman who was in the middle of the river was happily chanting his mantra when I wanted to go in. He extended his hands as he saw me fearing of slipping on the steps. I jolly took his hands and dipped blissfully in the river. We waited for the aarthi, it was beautiful. Everyone waited patiently with me, as this Haridwar/Rishikesh journey was for me. Tears rolled as I sang the aarthi song, the heart was happy, I made it!
 |
| One of the things I always wanted to see |
 |
| The Magnificent Shiva |
Next day, we were off to Delhi and more sightseeing.
I had a lovely trip. Good friends,good food, lots of laughter and simply a memorable trip. Han said I did some good karma to have found Irfan. He made our Kashmir trip truly memorable and heart warming.
Next trip to India in January, Trichy. Someone said, the way you go to India is like India is just next door!!
No one's life is perfect but I do love my imperfect life, it is rich and colourful, it is what made me who I am today.
