Twilight Vacations

In the 19th century, British started going to Gulmarg or the “meadow of flowers” to escape hot and humid summers of India. Gul is actually a farsi word which means Flower! Marg also probably taken from the word"Marghzar" which means meadow! Many wildflowers such as daisies blooming here during summer which forms a colorful carpet on the ground! British who loved to play Golf,made at least three big golf courses in Gulmarg and one of them being at 2650 meters, is  the world's highest golf course and still remains! In 1927, British established a ski club in Gulmarg and nowadays,Gulmarg has transformed to a world class Ski resort and a paradise for skiers!  Gulmarg is just 56 km from Srinagar and I think it took us around 2 or 3 hours to get there because of their roads! There was some checkpoints on our way to reassure the security of the area for the tourists which made me get shocked. The war with Pakistan had ended long before in 1949,I don't know wha...

In 16th century, when Mughal emperors came to Kashmir , they brought Persian carpet weavers with them as well as many other Persian craftsmen. That's why you could see the traditional Persian designs of Kerman, Kashan, and lsfahan in Kashmir carpets as well as their own beautiful local variations. Nowadays,Kashmir carpet weavers make some of the finest silk carpets in the world.  A high quality Kashmir carpet should be handmade from pure wool or pure silk. A lower quality Kashmir carpet may be made out of a combination of wool, rayon, and silk .It's really hard to distinguish which carpet is made up of pure silk and which one is made up of artificial one! They told me that you can tell real silk from artificial silk by  rubbing the pile with your palm. The real silk rug feels warm, while the artificial silk one still stays cold! They also pulled a rayon knot and burnt it ,and it smelled like burnt paper while the real silk smelled like burnt hair as pure silk has...

In my last post I explained about   How to create Papier Mâché within some informative clear photos as they do it traditionally in Kashmir.Though I liked what the two masters were doing but still couldn't understand why this art was a Heritage of Kashmir until our guide Ejaz opened a simple door and suddenly I found myself in another world! You could find loads of different shapes with diversity of colors and designs and they were all made of waste papers! Amazing!  The most important characteristic of these Handicrafts is, they are not only outstandingly beautiful but also so light and even resistant to water! you can see how I'm holding some big items which they weighed not more than 200 grams ! At last I bought one piece for myself which I really love it and whenever I look at it,it reminds me of beautiful Kashmir and its simple but kind and hardworking craftsmen! Give this to me and I will be super happy You can see all the Kashmiri st...