Srinagar - Naranag

Thursday, 3 September 2015

Today we had an all-day trip up a narrow valley to the small village of Naranag.

The day started with a brief thunderstorm.

After the weather cleared, we started our trip.

The way to the houseboats by road takes us through a maze of narrow streets and alleys. It gets even more interesting when a cow or herd of sheep need to share the road with vehicles.

The landscape was stunning.

Much of the valley is terraced with rice paddies.

Naranag is literally the end of the road, and the start of several trekking routes. There are ruins of an 8th Century Shiva temple complex, that while officially "protected", is a major footpath up the valley and has a variety of livestock (horses, goats, sheep) grazing among the ruins.

At the end of the temple complex is a spring-fed tank.

Further up the valley are traditional huts and gardens.

Inside, the huts are utilitarian, but spotless and welcoming.

Women bringing firewood from the forest.

The women use their axes as walking sticks.

A two-room school serves 1st through 8th Standards. A secondary school is about 10 km down the valley.

A calf with henna highlights.

We watched as sheep were loaded into this tempo (small truck). The front seat held the driver, two helpers, and a lamb.

After a fabulous feast of traditional Kashmiri foods (definitely "non-veg"!), we had an exhibition of Sufi music in the houseboat parlor.

The "concert" lasted about an hour. A "real" Sufi evening of music would have continued for many hours!