Warm days and cold nights; today my sister and I have arrived in Jammu. I welcome the mountainous and rough landscape with a certain excitement. What could there be behind that top? Have you heard how quiet it is and smelled the fresh air? The crowded rickshaw ridden and stinking cities are behind me.” This is what I had hoped to write. The reality however is grim; I’m at the hotel with a sore throat from all the smog; we have no cell phone coverage due to imposed restrictions; more people than usual look unkind — The Dutch ministry of foreign affairs advices not to travel to Jammu and Kashmir.
Basically, we’ve been wondering whether to turn back or not. It might not seem like a difficult choice to make, I mean, with the ministry’s advice and all. The fact remains that we’re here now. We’re here and our instinct tells us we can be here. However, we continuously consider all options and, more importantly, have established two codes of conduct. One about preventing the unimaginable from happening and another one concerning what to do if, god forbid, the unimaginable does happen.
With this out of the way I would like to tell you a little more about Jammu. Expectations had definitely been devastated, but time hadn’t been wasted. When we were looking for an internet café, two local girls told us about a garden that was a must-see. The park was build underneath a fort overseeing a barren valley. The entire area turned out to be a couple’s retreat. Many can be found lingering on the grass or the benches, holding hands or just sitting close to one another. In between a few bushes was more privacy and those spots were therefore reserved for more intimate moments.
Next to the park, a poster claimed, was India’s largest underground aquarium. The place practically begged to be visited and off we went: descending into a giant fish’s mouth. It turned out to be a collection of aquaria with many beautiful small fish. More macabre though were the posters on the walls. First they promoted the practice of having a “domestic fish”, they continued to explain about evolution, tanks, feeding and different kinds of fish. I was left to wonder from what perspective their teachings should be perceived, after seeing the final three placards. Those contained tips and tricks on how to prepare, cook and eat various sea creatures.
It wasn’t with eating fish, but with lamb — on a rotating rooftop restaurant — that my first day in Jammu came to a spectacular end. My sister and I went to the most exclusive place in the town: The Falak restaurant at the KC Residency. We were placed at a window table and as the time passed a counter-clockwise 360 view of the city was presented to us. It’s needless to say that the evening together was wonderful, with nice food and a splendid view.
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| Site for a yearly five day prayer. |
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| Site for a yearly five day prayer. |
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| Cave inside a temple. |
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