ASIANOVERLAND.NET KATHMANDU TO LONDON  DAY 114/26: SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA

13 October, 1980

Each morning Nazir would serve an English cooked breakfast on the houseboats, and traders would come and go on their shikaras to our houseboats.

The Pheran  is the traditional outfit for both males and females in Kashmir.  The pheran consist of two gowns, one over the other, and one cover can be lined into the other. The traditional pheran extends to the feet, but a relatively modern variation of the pheran extends to below the knees, and was popular with Top Deck crew (pictured).

The pheran was introduced by Mughal emperor Akbar when he conquered the Kashmir Valley in 1586.

In winter, the pheran is made of wool, covering and protecting the body from the cold especially during snow, and you’d keep a hot pot full of hot coals under your pheran as you squatted over the hot pot to keep you warm.

There have been a few queries about the place and date of the photo (taken by Corrie), which highlighted Kashmiri pherans worn by Top Deck crew (who look like Raui and Eric, and confirm their innocence in every respect).

On Top Deck overlands, we usually cross paths with other Deckers at major destinations like Kathmandu, Delhi. Kashmir, Aqaba, Amman, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Venice, and we share stories and party with our fellow Top Deck crew like blood brothers and sisters. On such occasions, there are usually huge parties. The next day, we are lucky remember our own name, let alone the names our newly found Top Deck brothers, and/or where and/or when. And we might not actually meet that fellow Decker again for decades, if at all. When we do meet again, usually at a Top Deck reunion, we are often wondering where and when we met, even though the hangover has worn off by then.

I’ve been reliably informed that Raui and Eric weren’t yet working with Top Deck in 1980, so the photo probably come from 1985, after Corrie and I had travelled through Tibet and over the Himalayas from the China, side, and we met up with our fellow Deckers after that trek. The pherans are unmistakably Kashmiri, but we we met in Kathmandu in 1985.

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