Bryan Crosby Dot Ca » kashmir

Jamia Masjid Mosque, Srinagar – August 2009

Bryan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:08:11 +0000

I placed this into a separate entry because I’ve never been inside a Mosque before and the mosque that I choose happens to be the largest in Asia and in the Kashmir (I visited the day before I helped polish off a bottle of whisky…I don’t know what that means).

I was hesitant about entering at first given that it is Ramadan, but this one fellow saw me looking at the door and asked me and my friends if I wanted to enter. He also said it was ok to take photos if I wished. I took off my shoes and in I went. I’m sure that while inside I probably engaged in some taboos, but hopefully nothing too extreme.

Around 4pm…just before afternoon or evening prayer…I’m not too sure…really, I probably had no business being inside if I didn’t even know that.

Individual prayer mats.

There are 324 wood pillars in this mosque…each made from one tree.

Huge – one easily feels the spirituality while inside something this magnificent. I quite like Mosque architecture of this Kashmiri wooden variety. It is very simple, yet elegant and spares no heed to the grandiose. Aside from the pronounced gender segregation, everyone appeared equal while inside the Mosque.

There are separate places for men and women to pray.

Inside the open-air courtyard. My friends and I were the only visible westerners around at the time and created somewhat of a stir with the kids.

East entrance to the Mosque, looking from inside the courtyard.

Washing before praying. I didn’t stay around for the prayer.

Probably the highlight of the Kashmir.

I don’t have any photos of the journey from Srinigar to Dharmasala. There was a big heavily fortified 2.5km long tunnel. A 6 hour stop-over in a filthy bus-station in Jammu in which I discussed money for several hour with the ticket agent and a 3am solo deposit along the highway near Dharmasala.

It rains a lot in Dharmasala.

Technorati Tags: asia, drinking, india, islam, Jamia Masjid, kashmir, mosque, photography, photos, religion, travel, traveling

Leh to Srinagar – August 2009

Bryan — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:24:50 +0000

India is a very godly country with equally ungodly transportation schedules. While it doesn’t have the crazy early morning departure times of it’s Manali-Leh contemporary, the road through the Kashmir along the Line of Control with Pakistan is about as long and includes it’s very own set of peculiar oddities. Leaving at a more sane hour of around 3:30pm, I was lucky enough to take in some of the Ladakh valley scenery along the Indus river. Like most shared jeep/SUV packages, people are crammed into every available space with luggage attached to the roof. In my particular “scorpio” (some kind of Indian Land Cruiser knock-off) there was one traveler in the front, three in the back and four slammed into the extreme back, facing one another, two on each side. If the rear hatch opened, people would pop out like a jack-in-the-box. The cheaper the ticket, the less comfortable the ride. I foolishly opted for cheap. Being that this was not the first jeep trip I’ve taken through these kind of landscapes (high-altitude, single lane, twisty switch-back, crumbling asphalt/gravel roadbed) I should have known better.

Either way, the first few hours were quite scenic, albeit heavily militarized. This road probably has to be the most fortified public road in the world. Every second kilometre for about 100km outside of Leh found some kind of military installation, mostly logistic and infantry, but I noticed a few light mechanized units thrown into the mix

The road skirts the Indus for quite awhile. When I arrived in Srinagar, I found out that three Malaysian travelers had been killed that day when their SUV plunged into the Indus…two others were still missing. Drunk driving was suspected.

Traffic was mostly a mixture of heavy transport (fuel, goods) and assorted military vehicles. Tata attack.

Road conditions were mixed.

Dinner was a typical truck stop. Driver making sure everything is ship-shape. Indian jeeps, despite the passenger densities are quite comfortable from a suspension point of view…but this guys tires were balder than Patrick Stewart.

Pardon the light, as it was getting dark, but this is probably the best example of Indian single lane driving in the Himalayas.

Unlike the the Manali-Leh route, the military check points along this section were substantially different. Where that road the checks were simple and unobtrusive, this route the check points were actually stop-points where sections of the highway were closed. Security being the reason, possibly because they didn’t want anyone doing anything suspicious in the dark along this stretch of road. We spent several hours as two of these check points. One, called Drass (not much more than a tent) is apparently the coldest place on the planet after Antarctica and some place in Siberia.

When it got light again, I was officially in the Kashmir, which bears a striking resemblance to the Rockies. Trees, green rivers and pasture.

Truck stop for breakfast.

That was about the last image I shot of this stretch of the highway. The altitude dropped significantly after this picture as the military presence increase substantially. Unlike the Ladakh side, which was mostly installations, the Kashmir side saw full battle-rattle section-sized foot patrols along the road with heavily armed infantry posted almost every second kilometre. Despite being somewhat ‘safe’ for travelers, one glance at any local newspaper will confirm that there is still quite a bit of violence in the area. Trekking would is apparently awesome here, but I didn’t have the cash for another supported trek, especially something in the 7-10 day ranges…and solo might not have been the best option. I might have chanced it if I had a partner…one of the curses of traveling solo.

Technorati Tags: crazy roads, india, kargil, kashmir, ladakh, leh, line of control, pakistan, photography, photos, travel

Stok Kangri III

Bryan — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:03:27 +0000

Obvioulsy, no photos exist of the first 5 or six hours of the climb, but this one was taken at around 6:30am. Base Camp is behind the low cloud formation in the center of the photo. Our route took us over the glacier in the bottom of the photo and straight up a bowl on to a very rocky and steep ridge from which this photo was taken. I’ve climbed at strange hours before (Mt. Fuji) but this one was a particularly odd feeling because unlike Fuji, I didn’t have a clear image of the approach prior to sunrise. When the sun came out…whoa…I actually climbed up that?

Nearing the summit and looking back along the ridge.

Ladakh Valley below. The weather wasn’t perfect, but the clouds and mist provided an eerie atmosphere. While I wouldn’t get to see K2, I was lucky to have summited given that every group the previous day had been turned back by high winds.

From the summit. K2 would be in the background on a clear day.

Made the summit at around 7:30am

It is a 90 degree drop down about 1500m just over that edge…

Heading back down.

Glacier crossing.

About 11am looking back toward the cloud encrusted summit.

Base camp in the morning.

Too tired to stand.

A quick lunch and then a long sleep.

Technorati Tags: himalayas, india, kashmir, ladakh, leh, mountaineering, photography, photos, stok kangri, travel, traveling

Stok Kangri II

Bryan — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:52:42 +0000

Breakfast on day two.

Looking south toward Stok Kangri (top right) from camp one. Base camp is actually to the left of the ridge in the centre of the photos. The approach was somewhat different than I initially expected.

Camp one – looking north toward Stok Village.

Marmot boxing on the way to base camp.

About 4800m. The approach toward base camp is actually steeper than it appears in the photo. I acclimatize quite well, but I begin to feel the effects when I push 4000m. I’m not tired, but I slow down, begin to lose appetite and get crazy dreams.

Our Nepali guide chatting with the donkey wrangler.

Base camp at 5100m. We arrived at around 3pm and had dinner a few hours later, followed by a quick nap given that we would be up at 1am.

Technorati Tags: himalayans, india, kashmir, ladakh, leh, mountaineering, photography, photos, stok kangri, travel, traveling

Stok Kangri I – August 2009

Bryan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:19:04 +0000

6121m above and behind the picturesque village of Stok is Stok Kangri and the main reason I ventured into this part of the world. I like culture, but I prefer views. On a good day the summit offers vies of Mt. Kailash in the TAR and K2 in Pakistan.

Initially, I was going to attempt this solo (and in retrospect, I am completely confident that I would have had no problem) but given the lack of information regarding the ascent and uncertainties regarding routes/food I opted to go with a 4-day supported expedition through one of the agencies. I like carrying my stuff myself, but given the height of this bad boy, I felt that having donkeys pack the stuff wouldn’t be that bad of an idea…real expeditions never carry their own stuff anyways :-p

For about $225 myself and a British fellow received two guides, donkeys, food and cooking services for 4 days. I received a discount given I had my own equipment.

Two days to base camp, followed by an epic 10 hour summit attempt beginning at 1am, and then one day down to Stok. The following photos are from the first day.

Stok Village and the Indus Valley can be seen in the extreme distance.

Another group returning to Stok. Could be either from Stok Kangri or one of several other treks that conclude in at Stok.

Some kind of shelter.

The Stok Kangri approach is extremely dry and rocky with little vegetation.

First camp at about 4200m asl.

Technorati Tags: climbing, india, kashmir, ladakh, mountaineering, photography, stok kangri, trekking

Manali to Leh, India – August 2009

Bryan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:47:05 +0000

Into the Ladakh.

Only on the highest highway in the world does ones jeep depart at the silly hour of 2am. Actually, that is when I arrived at the local bus station. The ride didn’t actually begin until around 4:30am.

Unfortunately, the early morning start meant that I would miss the opportunity to shoot Rohtang Pass, which is an unbelievable ascent from the coniferous forests of the vanguard of the Himalayans into the high altitude deserts of the plateau. Night ascents have their own advantages. Once above the clouds one is able to look down on the ascending vehicles fog lights dancing through the mists underneath a pure starry sky.

I woke up to breakfast here, about 100km and 6 hours into the 23 hour journey.

The view from the breakfast table.

Given the proximity to the monsoons (gentle this year), the landscape was quite green. This is in start contrast to what we would soon be driving into.

Moving up into the plateaus. It was once switch-back intensive ascent after the another. I lost count.

Tata trucks were not the only users of the highway. The single lane road created some interesting, if not downright freaky encounters with oncoming traffic.

Apparently, despite a jeep full of travelers, we were on some kind of timetable, so opportunities for photo stops were very limited. Most of these photos I shot from the window. My poor Pentax camera needs a serious professional cleaning after this trip.

Road conditions were mixed with some sections receiving a new asphalt make-over, with some being pure dusty gravel, and others a combination of decaying 30 year old asphalt/concrete and gravel. I used to think that the UAZ jeep from Mongolia represented the toughest jeep I’d would ever travel in…that was until I met the Tata “Mini-Deluxe”. The killer suspension system more than made up for the skinny and balding tires. That thing navigated the road ruins like BMW tank. We picked up a couple of Brits who have been trekking in the surrounding hills – our driver was loading their gear on to the top. My poor, trusty North Face pack got dusted like it had never been dusted before.

Blasting through a glacial mess.

Reaching a high point…and then…

…tearing through a desert at 90 km/hr.

We went through about five police check points along the highway. Nothing major. There is a substantial military presence in the area though, mostly engineering units delegated to road maintenance and repair.

The majority of traffic was the venerable and colourful Tata transport/utility vehicle…and the occasional crazy 4-cylinder Suzuki hatchback.

Making the final descent down into Leh. Ah…Himalayan blue :-)

Road slicing and dicing.

Taking a short cut down into the valley to avoid some serious road-construction.

Final ‘pit-stop’ before Leh.

Upon entering Leh, we were all promptly checked for H1N1. The fourth time for me in 4 months.

Technorati Tags: himachal pradesh, india, jeep, kashmir, leh, manali, photo, photography, travel

Gallery Down

Bryan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:10:22 +0000

I have just noticed some serious errors in my gallery page. Thus, that part of the site might be down for awhile as I figure it out. Sorry to disappoint as I know that that particular page is one of the most popular hits on internet and you are just dying to get back in there to see what is new :-p

My report/thesis proposal continues at a snails pace, as does my “3rd term requirement project”. For lack of a better term, I am completely finished with school. I really don’t want to go back for another year of abstraction, theory and useless papers. I want to work more than anything. I am seriously the worst grad student – I don’t like research and I definetly don’t like writing papers, and have coldly realized (maybe I’ve know this for awhile) that I don’t belong in the academic world at all.

Oddly enough, I love urban planning, reading about it and I can’t wait to start to practice it.

So how am I solving this? The only way I know how. Run off to the Indian Himalayas…and totally forget about it. To use a cliche…there is so much more out there than school and I have never before felt like I’m missing out on the world like I do now.

I’m relegated myself to the fact that I probably wont’ graduate for another 3 years anyways. Master’s smasters….

This weekend I made a trip down to Decathalon (a very, very good French outdoor company) and outfitted myself with all the necessities that augment my additional gear for a month in the Kashmir.

I should open my own trekking company.

*the gallery is now working, with photos from Sarajevo and Mostar (Bosnia) added. Images from Belgrade and Kotor are still not functioning for some reason.

Technorati Tags: gallery, gra school, india, kashmir, life, photos, traveling