Travel, Photography, Nature, Yoga

Wild Saffron Above the Snow Line in Kashmir, India

The most valuable spice in the world is harvested from the tiny purple crocus

Kashmir, India, high up in the Himalayans, captured my imagination years ago and just wouldn’t let go. Visions of floating houseboats, snow-capped peaks that touched the very heavens, the whisper of silken saris, and fields of wild purple crocus (grown for their nearly-as-valauble-as-gold saffron stigma) had peaked a deep desire in me to journey to this exotic land.

But, ever since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, Kashmir has been a place of unrest. Intense conflict between India and Pakistan erupts here with frequency. Both countries view this as their sacred land. And the Kashmiris see it as a place all their own.

As a yoga teacher, and an intrepid traveler, for many years I used to lead groups of adventurous students all over India to see such hidden wonders as the Ajanta and Ellora Caves (which hold Buddhist, Hindu and Jain carvings dating back as far as 200 B.C.), the cool waters of the Ganges where it flows through Rishikesh, and the steamy ancient streets of Varanasi. I’ve floated through the backwater canals of Alleppey, in Kerala. And I’ve seen a tiger in Ranthambore National Park. And I’ve watched the Taj Mahal glowing in a pinkened sunset sky as well as at the first light of day.

I spent a lot of time getting to know the land where yoga came from. And I always kept my eye on Kashmir, waiting, waiting for the right time.

Finally, in 2014, the area settled down and my husband and I made our way to the lakeside town of Srinagar, known as “Venice of the East.” We stayed two nights in a teak and marble-adorned houseboat, with our own butler and cook. We went north to the mountain town of Pahalgam, shrouded in clouds and loud with the pattering of monkeys on the roof and the roar of the mighty river racing through the valley.

And — one of the highlights of the trip for me — we finally saw those famous crocus flowers, which bloom for just two weeks a year, from high atop a craggy peak in Gulmarg.

Saffron, the world’s most precious spice, is laboriously farmed by hand here, near Srinagar, by local farmers. Each flower produces three delicate stigma, which are then dried in the sun. A kilogram requires the stigmas of about 150,000 flowers and can easily sell for $3,000-$4,000.

In Kashmir, the spice is often used in Kahwa tea, a slow-brewed sugary green tea infused with spices like cinnamon and cardamom and garnished with almonds.

The flowers in these photos were wild, not cultivated. And to see them against the backdrop of the twenty-thousand foot tall Himalayans was a highlight of my lifetime of travels.

To see them, we took a mountain tram up to the top of the Gulmarg Ski Resort, which tops out at 14,000 feet above sea level.

All around us, fog drifted in and out, obscuring the peaks in one breath and then revealing a “take-your-breath-away” vista in the next.

Halfway up, the tram stopped in a meadow, where you could either get out and hike, or you could continue on up the mountain.

We met a couple of fellow yoga teachers on the tram and couldn’t resist snapping a quick “tree pose” photo.

Once at the top, we found ourselves in the snow. It was July, and we had not anticipated it being quite so cold.

It was really fun to talk to the other travelers, most of whom were Indian and who had dreamed all of their lives of one day seeing the beauty of the legendary Kashmir. Snowball fights broke out all around us and matrons in saris were screeching as they made their way down a snow bank in a sled. Most of these visitors had never seen snow before.

I took the opportunity to do a little “yoga photo shoot” amidst the snow, crocuses and fog. And, yes, it was cold without my shoes!

One minute, the sun would be out. And the very next instant, we would be swirling in the fog.

After a bit of exploring, we took the gondola back down the mountain, knowing that the memory of wandering amongst the wild saffron in Kashmir would stay with us forever.

Thank you to the editors at Globetrotters (JoAnn Ryan, Anne Bonfert, Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages, Adrienne Beaumont, Michele Maize) for this month’s challenge on “floral beauty around the world:”

I have quite enjoyed reading some of the other stories from this challenge.

Anne Bonfert writes about flowers around the world:

I also really liked reading Michael Rhodes story about the Carlsbad ranunculus fields because it reminded me of going there with my great-aunt, Sally:

And I loved Carol Labuzzetta’s story about flowers in Maui, which is one of my favorite places in the world:

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

You might also enjoy a poem about getting lost in the wildness of nature:

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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.