Day 1
Arrival
Today marked 1 week since my arrival at Srinagar Airport. It felt like yesterday.
I was excited and thrilled cause finally here i am in Kashmir. Kashmir has always been must visit place for students who study in India, yours truly is no exception.
At the same time, i was a bit intimidated by the rumors and hearsays about Kashmir right now. But then, I heard from the grapevine that my friends were safe and sound after spending a week holidaying in Kashmir. I was excited, it can only mean one thing, that the place is safe for tourists. Yes!
Well, i began my journey all alone boarding 4 flights from Belgaum to Srinagar. I thought I would be tired from the journey but alas it was an exciting experience all the way.
Here are my flight details
Belagavi (Karnataka) > Hyderabad (Telangana) > Delhi
5 hours transit in Delhi. Got to change terminal in the middle of night.
if it was daylight, i would have explored the city or maybe visit the embassy there.
Delhi > Amritsar (Punjab) > Srinagar (Kahsmir)
What a relief. My flights were all on time. I touched down Srinagar at 8.30am
Thank god, my languages were intact.
And suddenly one man approached me. "Are you a foreigner? "
"You have to register your arrival at the counter. "
I nodded and replied “Okay sir, but i am waiting for my other friends, they will arrive from Jammu”
“Okay, you may sit there” pointing towards the waiting area with a few benches.
So i went there with my luggage(s)
#notalightweighttraveller haha
While waiting, what else to do? See & be seen, I enjoyed the time observing all the people inside the arrival hall.
It was not a big hall, Srinagar airport is just like Subang Airport perhaps. Except it was full with people in military uniforms guarding, observing and gawking with their firearms. and not to forget the birds flew freely inside the airport.
But that was not what caught my attention.
Inside the airport, theres were only 2 or 3 militaries but lots of Kashmiri Policemen.
Wearing dark brown uniform with metal plate written “JKP” on their shoulder.
Pointed noses, beardy men with serious looks on thier faces.
"Okay, this spot looks comfortable for me." it was 4 or 5 degree maybe inside the airport.
my body needed to acclamatize this weather even when i was already wearing 2 layers of clothes with a jacket. For the first time I saw snow, it was along the rumway and outside the airport. I got more & more excited.
Then, one man approached me. "where are you from?" "China, Japan?"
I chuckeled and said "No, I'm from Malaysia"
"So you are a Muslim",
"Yes, i am, my name is Muhamad Ridzuan
"
"My name is Irfan Khan" he was probably a porter maybe in the arrival hall kooking for customers amongst guests like me, who would want his service.
"you cold?", "Yes, i am!"
i looked at my phone, Oh No! there's no internet connection. my prepaid got no service at all, while my postpaid has got service but no internet connection.
Ill be dammed if something happened to my other friends.
The last time we contacted was 7:00 am before my departure to Srinagar.
While waiting, i observed one thing or maybe i should call it as culture.
Everytime the groud staffs and the policemen meet each other, they would say "Assalam alaikum Sab", they shake hands and then they hug.
Somehow i felt safe already.
I can say most of them do that. which i said Oh God, this is one of the good thing in Kashmir.
Even i dont pratice that attitude considering it as a sunnah to do so.
so, i started to be anxious cause the last thing they said, their flight was delayed. i just prayed that they would manage to catch up their next flight from Jammu to Srinagar.
which was supposed to arrived at 11;20 am.
It was 12pm already. the porter came to me again, the immigration officer and few policemen kept asking me what im doing here. Why i was still there inside the arrival hall.
So, literally. my "case" was well noted by the ground staffs.
The "Lonely chinese-looking guy but declared as Malaysian who's been waiting for 4 hours" became thier concern. everytime Spicejet aircraft landef, they would asked me if that was my friends' flight or not.
Around 1:45 pm, the ground staff approached me and said my friends' flight just landed.
One of the inspector sab (oberserving the others called him janab) literally accompanied me while the porter waited at the escalator looking for my friends.
There I saw them exiting from the arrival hall.
i saw my friends were surprised caused one guy literally approached them and asked few questions.
i laughed and said, "janab, they are my friends. they have just arrived!"
"bahut Syukriya janab"
All baggages were settled and immigration was cleared.
So we went out of the airport & embarked on our journey.
....
to be continued!
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