First journey to India, my first journey of the heart
In the middle 1960s I embarked on my first trip beyond Europe. While at that point I had visited good deal of Europe and certainly enjoyed its cultural diversity, it was not until I ventured to North Africa, to Morocco and Canary Islands, that I got truly captivated by the local arts and crafts. My first journey of the heart followed soon thereafter.
I loved the Mediterranean and my travels brought me from Spain to Greece, from Athens to Crete, from there to Kassos, Karpathos and finally to Rodos, and I was on the doorstep of Asia. Catching rides on small fishing boats I ended up in Marmaris, Turkey and I decided to set the course – India.
There were handful of tourists in Turkey and basically none as I continued East. I hitchhiked down to Antalya, on to Side, up north to Konya, on to Ankara, from there to Erzurum, past Lake Van to Iran. I traversed Iran in about a month, from Tabriz to Teheran, past the Caspian to Mashhad and beyond entered Afghanistan.
By now I traveled slowly, taking my time to learn about the cultures and peoples around me. And I also started to acquire a few local items that caught my eye. In Heart I picked up a shoulder bag, a handmade pocket knife bag, coin pouch, a sash, couple silver bracelets and a scarf. Once in Kabul I went north to Bamyan, then on to Balkh and Mazar-i-Sharif. I admired the rugs, Uzbek textiles and Turkoman jewelry. There was so much to see. At that time Afghanistan was simply amazing, and the feeling as if traveling in time of Marco Polo was not that far-fetched.
I crossed Pakistan fairly quickly as now I was anxious to reach India. From Peshawar to Lahore I traveled by train, 3rd class. At that time the windows were without bars and in each stop large packs were heaved in by local travelers who climbed after them eager to secure any available space to sit.
At the Wagha border India and Pakistan were exchanging prisoners and I had to wait a week for the border to open. Once in the first night in India I spent with pilgrims at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The ambiance mesmerized me and I stayed a week sleeping in pilgrims’ dharamsala.
Welcome to India was astounding. The profusion of color, sounds and shapes, the ambiance was every bit what I imagined. Be it textiles, wooden or bronze artifacts, ceramics, jewelry or apparel, furniture or decorative accessories, I became quickly addicted to handling the exotic arts and crafts.