Leaving Kashmir

My father has been having some health issues. I have been monitoring them from Kashmir, and carefully reading all my sisters have been relaying. When he fell at his apartment building, and his heart rate fell to 30, it didn't look good. He was hospitalized, and released to a nursing home. Saying things like he didn't want to be around for his 85th birthday (July 1). It was time to go see him. I had planned to be in Kashmir until October, so I scrambled to make these changes in my plans. Sami's travel agency is Fly High Tours and Travel. I don't think Kashmiris understand how humorous this is to foreigners - especially ones who know that Kashmir is a place where opium poppies and marijuana grow wild.

I wanted to bring samples of Kashmiri embroidery to the US for gifts and to show examples of what the disabled women and men of Kashmir do to help make a living for their families. Tahir took me back to Dal Lake to a houseboat where the shop owners support women and the disabled.













I was treated to tea and a demonstration of one of the embroidery techniques. And I had the shop to myself, and the shopkeepers showed me many many beautiful items. I bought as much as I could afford.



























The place looked like a tornado had been through it by the time I left.










For a great informative article on Kashmiri embroidery, click here