The following is an excerpt from the full article which can be found at:
http://aalfirearms.is/20180723-kashmir-and-ladakh-india/
I had a great opportunity to travel with a group to India for two-weeks. I took quite a few pictures and kept a daily journal. The first half of our trip was near Srinagar, Kashmir. The second half of the trip we drove over NH-1, the Leh-Srinagar road, to Leh, Ladakh.
I have adventured through a lot of North and South America but this was my first time experiencing Middle East and oriental culture. Kashmir is along the border of Pakistan and though it is under the rule of India, it is culturally and ethnically independent and more similar to Pakistan. Driving to Ladakh, I saw an interesting transition to people that more closely resemble Chinese. Over the last few years, Brandon has been to Osaka, Japan and Malaysia so he was able to prepare me somewhat for the changes from a Western lifestyle to an area heavily influenced by Islam.
Flying out from Bozeman, I spent a few hours in Newark, New Jersey before flying to Delhi.
From my journal:
“When approaching Newark, the smog was seen for a hundred miles around. It was still light when we reached the east coast city. It was incredible. I have never seen so much concrete.
“The airport was not as busy or packed as I expected, but afternoon Wednesday is probably a low-traffic time of the week.
“I quickly oriented myself to the proper gate. United was large enough that it had its own terminal. I came in on United, I was going to leave on United. I just walked the expanse of carpet until my number approached.
“For the three hours I waited, I walked around the terminal. I was confident I could re-find my gate quickly and I never strayed too far to not hear the announcements as my time approached.
“I realised the plane was going to be mostly Indian. Once on the plane, it was 99% Indian. Probably 300 people on this 777-200, and I only spotted one other white guy and one old black woman.
“The stewardess [flying to Delhi] did not like her job. None of them did. I don’t think it was this flight, specifically. They all had a look of exhaustion. They didn’t look tired, they looked tired of being there. The team of six women looked like they probably once enjoyed their jobs but now loathed it. They appeared rushed, bothered, depressed.
“Very little English was spoken on the plane. It was all the same to me because it eventually was late and people went to sleep. I kept my earplugs in the entire trip bar a short podcast for a change of activities.
“The flight [to Delhi] was mostly in darkness but there was a little light at the end of the flight when we awoke for breakfast over northern Europe. Unfortunately, even though it was still light as we approached Delhi, I could not see the land because the smog was so terrible. There was a haze covering most of India.”
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