Srinagar, July 2011

Hi all,

I'm supposed to be traveling to Srinagar in a week. I read in today's paper that there is currently a total curfew. Should I redo my itinerary, or is this likely to have cleared up within the week?

Thanks,
frances

Well Good Evening
Here was Curfew and It's only for one day!
It's safe to travel To kashmir..No worries!

Well Good Evening
Here was Curfew and It's only for one day!
It's safe to travel To kashmir..No worries!

don't miss srinagar is a wonderful place!!!!! It stills remanins in my mind .... dal lake and the houseboat ... lake early morning market ...the streets of old town .. the masjids ... deliciuos garden just around .... and roga josh !!!! I ve been there in summer 2008 with my wife and we too were a little afraid .... I looked upevery day kashmir times on internet ..... at that time there was a problem ... but we have not problem in srinagar ... you will see a lot soldiers probably in every corner of the town ... patrols running up and down ... but people is very friendly and they are waiting so long for tourists and foreigners .... You have not to miss tje road between srinagar and leh. probably is the safest road in the world considering all the troops standing there !
don't be afraid ... don't read european governement advices ...
check on indiamike or lonely planet thorn free ....
massimo ballerini
florence
italy

pardon
it was summer 2009.
I am not a young adventurer .... I am a mid age italian medical doctor ....

Just keep an ear to the ground and be aware as you travel. Avoid police stations, checkpoints, and gun emplacements as common sense would indicate..

on 13th july its called martyrs Days in the memory of martyrs

Dear Francesb,

Its fine and peaceful here I was at bouleward yesterday to finalize a trek with some friends and was very happy to see bouleward thronged by foreigners, so go ahead and enjoy Kashmir and Ladakh.

Regards

Sunny

Foreign Offices have memories that last over a few years , and to be frank : a lot of the local info posted on forums canīt be explained in any other way than itīs being driven by commercial interests. At best you will get accurate descriptions of calm days and weeks , and a resounding silence when something bad happens.

Case in point : in July you can see the same sunny assurances here that everything is calm "in Kashmir" , omitting the detail that a police station was targeted with grenades the day before - and that this was the second time the same station was targeted in less than two weeks. This is immediately riposted with that this is not in Srinagar , it is more than an hours drive from srinagar - okay , so now we are down to safe in a fifty kilometer radius . Next you will hear that "tourist locations " never have been targeted (untrue) and that tourists never been hurt (also untrue). The four kilo bomb that was defused near a hotel by Dal Lake this month happily never got the chance to deconstruct statements like this.

Fabrications like this tend to misfire when they are challenged , hiding the progress that actually has been made over the last decade. So there is a point to the FO long term perspective : there have been major upheavals , with long periods of curfew etc in 2006 , 2008 and 2010 : itīs hardly the time yet to stop reading the news from Kashmir. The medium term perspective shows a number of things that havenīt happened lately : the one year mark of last years riots passed with only minor confrontations , so did the memorial service for bin Laden (....) ,and now ( coming in to short term perspective ) Martyrs Day , the reason for the last curfew.

2008 was bad . 2009 had problems as well.

Hello franceb, its great place. Don't miss kashmir. The curfew was only for one day.

Hello Frances,

Where will you be leaving from and are you by any chance looking for travel-company?
I am in Bagsu (Dharamsala) now (July 24th), probably will be visiting Amritsar before heading towards Srinagar. So probably also in about a week.

Greetz,
Paulien

To the people who reacted on Frances mail:
Thank you for the info! I was also checking if it would be safe to travel in this province and you made me decide to go!

We (6 persons + 5yrs kid) are planning to travel to Jammu - Katra - Srinagar on 23rd October 2011. Please guide us in suggesting whether we travel as of own or should engaged tours from jammu. If we go for tour, Can anyone please suggest me the name & contact number of tourism.

JK Tourism - www.jktdc.co.in

Hey
Nice You Make Plan To Come Beautiful Valley You Will Have Good Time Here In The Valley.But Be Safe From Travel Offices.You Will See Good Things Around Kashmir Like You Can Visit Old City And Visit "ROS BAL" That Is Near Khaniyar Chock..And Don't Miss To Go There..
If You Need Any Kind Of Help From Me I'm Always Here..
Have A Good Time.

Thanks, everyone! Am leaving tomorrow after 6 days in Srinagar. I heard of minor disturbances in Old City (and seemed tense when I was there), but all peaceful in gardens, lakes, boulevard.