20.09.09
This morning we decided to walk to Dal Lake. A very helpful lady had drawn us a map of all the places of interest we could walk to. So we headed out of town and began walking up a very steep path past the Mountaineering Institute of Mcleod. All the way up we were entertained by scores of monkeys chasing each other up and down trees, rooting through large open collection
bins, which seem to provide food to most of the animals we have seen wandering wild, including the sacred cow and wild dogs. It's a little disconcerting to see a monkey munching on a condom or a goat chewing on tin foil plates. They are not fussy! There were lots tiny young monkeys clinging to their mother or being preened. They were not concerned at all by our presence. Anyway so after about 45 minutes walking we got to a private residence and had to turn back!
So we returned to the main square and decided to follow another road that went in roughly the same direction through the taxi rank. As we walked 300m or so up the road there must of been about 100+ taxis, just sat waiting. More taxis than I've ever seen, for such a small community! This time we had chosen the correct path. The lady who drew us a map said that the lake was about 2km away. The signs said it was 4 km, but I would say it was nearer 6! It was an interesting walk through army land up in to the mountains. I can imagine it's quite a busy route in peak season as there were small shops in little communities along the way. I have to say I was a little underwhelmed when we got there! But it was quite pleasant, not as large as I expected or as yellow in colour, but it was surrouded by Himachal cedar trees and the mountains.
We had planned to be back in town to volunteer in the English language course that LIT were running, but we were late so we had tea at a small cafe and waited to the end of the session because we had agreed to meet an Israeli girl, Diddi who thought that she may want to travel with us to Amritsar in a shared taxi, along with her friends. It turned out she didn't
but we had an interesting talk walking in to town. She told me about the system of national service in Israel. Every young person must go in to the army after high school, women for 2 years and men 3 years. She told me that she thought national service was a good idea and she had really enjoyed her time in the army. She explained that there was a large range of
jobs available in the army and that after basic training she worked for the Education section, as a counsellor for troubled youths and loved it. She thought National Service taught young people a lot of skills that you otherwise wouldn't learn, some discipline. It sounds like the Israeli army looks after it's recruits, paying recruits from poorer families more money to help their families. It also takes the emphasis away from leaving school and trying to decide on your profession and
future so young. People can perhaps make more educated choices and have a chance to learn more about themselves before they decide.
My male second cousins who are Cypriot have all had to so national service, I think for a year and at least one of them had a terrible experience and hated every minute of it. But I think the emphasis is very much on being able to protect the country and fight, so there may be a different ethos. I don't think national service would be such a bad idea in the UK, although very unpopular, or maybe you should have to do some kind of community service, on behalf of the army, in return for benefits. It may be a way of teaching people more respect for others, create more of a community spirit and pride for our countries future. Just a thought.........obviously it doesn't have all the answers but it may be a way of changing peoples attitudes and allowing people to meet others from different communities and establish more cohesion, bridge some gaps between classes?
I would like to have the opportunity to talk to more people from Israel!
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