Anyone Been to India?

[emmy75]

wow mriko great pictures of pakistan. ive only been to india but how i do love going there. the only shitty thing is the flying time which is ridiculous from cali. my mom used take me and my siblings every four years to see family and i always hated it. but as i got older i learned to appreciate it. i havnet been in a while but i cant wait to go again and this time im going to punjab and then on to pakistan.

again great pics and stories. keep em coming.

 

[rangers]

My hearty thanks for all your deatiled information.
I am on my way to search the connection of SOMA RASA( a typical weed herbie paste drink) from this tantrik land to the hights of himalaya and central asian mountains.
The religious freedom colors the life here as a celebration.
I wish to spread the formaula of soma from this land..to all the locations where PPL need to know.
I have applied for a Visa to Pak authorities..and bom Bhole..I wait with a lots of smile...

miles of smiles

 

[rangers]

triangle

triangle

Kamasutra..kundalini..Kanabis..
and the ancient touch.

 

[ngakpa]

Himalaya - Annapurnas (Nepal)


Himalaya - Kumaon (India)

 

[ngakpa]

By the way, early January this year, Half of the Malana village has gone in smoke due to some big fire. Even Jamlu temple (the local deity who told the Malana people to make charas) is gone ! Go there while there's still something guys, this tragedy added to that of the road (some say the fire is punishment from Jamlu because of this road to Malana), I don't know for how long more the Oldest Democracy in the World will last...

Fire damage in Malana - several temples (many hundreds of years old with priceless woodwork etc.) were destroyed in the Malana fire... that is morning mist btw, not smoke of course


it is difficult not to suspect the jealousy and rivalry between local villages was not a factor... the money pouring into the Malana village due its reputation with backpacker stoners who are willing to pay inflated prices has had a very destabilising and corrupting effect on the local communities

 

[limey]

Respect, Mriko

I was in Pakistan in 1994: what an amazing place. didn't make it as far as Chitral but spent some time in Swat, Gilgit, Hunza and Peshawar. For smokables, Peshawar was amazing. Some of the hash there absolutely blew my mind. It didn't taste as good as charas from the indian himalaya but was way, way stronger. One of my buddies wiped himself out for a full 24 hours eating a couple of grams that we'd crumbled and "melted" into butter. Oooh happy times.

 

[limey]

Oh, er, yes, this thread was about india wasn't it? ahem! sorry.

Found it very easy to get hold of really excellent weed in Varkala in Kerala: just ask waiters in the cafes or some hippy looking travellers. I regret now not keeping some seeds. Very "high" sativa it was too.

Otherwise I can endorse others' recommendations of Varanasi for bhang

Himachal looks now to be rather hot on the police front and I was horrified to hear that westerners have been introducing dutch genetics to the native strains up in Manali/Malana areas. Nothing wrong with dutch genetics, of course, but the local landrace strains wont now be unique.

Going back to Pushkar a few years ago I was also disappointed to see that it had gentrified alot. There was once a time when seemingly every shop on the main drag was selling chillums - last time I had to actually hunt for a decent one. The hippies have moved on - is full of respectable backpackers on their round the world jaunt now. shame.

Haven't been to nepal for years but I can thoroughly recommend it to any of you. Is more relaxed than india. I scored some hash (very good stuff too) within 5 minutes of crossing the border ; had my first hash making experience in the hills above Pokhara (producing a 50 gram ball of golden nepali hash...mmm).

 

[levant]

I was horrified to hear that westerners have been introducing dutch genetics to the native strains up in Manali/Malana areas. Nothing wrong with dutch genetics, of course, but the local landrace strains wont now be unique.

.

Hey limey, sounds like you've had some good times in the east, I've enjoyed reading your posts - all of you with stories.

About Dutch genetics spreading to the native areas,
I also find this very worrying, and would take it further in saying that the dutch strains (or any "western" bred strains) are especially bad to be introduced (worse than other landraces)
because as ngakpa and sam have pointed out in some of their posts - they mostly contain no CBD - and so would alter the native strains cannabinoid profile more so than other strains.



Preservation people!

 

[stonedstoner]

i went to india last summer and smoked a lot of herb with my cousins. the first stuff that we got was from the village near bangalore, karnataka...i can't remember the name, but we bought it from this ex-indian military dude who was selling it in the back of his convenient shop. he called it mango...my cousin bought a bunch of it...but i got 10 grams at cost...which came out to about 2 us dollars or something. it got me fucking blazed as shit when i smoked a joint of it. it was just as good as a lot of outdoor norcal bud...it was seedless, i think it was more sativa than indica. then i also had some really shwaggy weed that was bought in the city...the village stuff was way better. this stuff from the city was seeded...and just looked like shit.

but does anyone know if there are any more pure sativas left in southern india? like in kerala?...i would love to someday try a pure landrace kerala sativa when i go back to india.

 

[stonedstoner]

i've also heard that north india is mostly indica weed...and south india is mostly sativa dominant...is that true?

 

[stonedstoner]

damn...all of these pics i just saw on this thread makes me really miss india.

 

[limey]

i've also heard that north india is mostly indica weed...and south india is mostly sativa dominant...is that true?

As a very crude generalisation, yes, that's true but it doesn't stand up to much examination

It is unusual to find indicas in the south. Guessing that they don't cope well with the heavy rainfall and high humidity during the growing season. The growing season in the south is also very long (perhaps arguably infinitely long as there are no frosts in the south and the photoperiod is stable at near 12/12 as the south is relatively close to the equator)

You will find some indica/mostly indica in the mountains in the north but you will also find alot of sativa in the north as well (just not so much at the highest altitudes as there is snow November to April in the mountains ; sometimes frosts in December and January on the plains).

The true heartland of indica is in Pakistan (Chitral, Hindu Kush etc strains all from there and Afghan borders). They have the heaviest brain smashing hash to prove it!



Have a look in Clark's book "Hashish!" for maps on indica/sativa distribution

 

[stonedstoner]

cool...thanks man, i'll definitely check that book out...do you know if there are any pure sativas in south india?

 

[limey]

cool...thanks man, i'll definitely check that book out...do you know if there are any pure sativas in south india?

Yes, indeed, Kerala is well supplied with pure sativas and they are electric!!

Depends on how adventurous you are feeling. You can pick up buds with relative ease in places like Varkala (there will be plenty of seeds in the bud, there is very little sensi in India).. if you are prepared to go off the beaten track (and that doesn't come without some risks), then the majority of the weed in Kerala and many other places in India is grown in forest reserves, guerilla stylee. PM me if you go to Varkala and I can let you know from whom I bought excellent weed there (a while back, mind you, can't guarantee he's still there)

If you are a bit further north, many dealers and much weed in Hampi - again, most of it will be pure sativa

Goa is an entrepot for dope in India, so you can get anything there, but the best stuff is hard to find unless you are well connected, it is pricey (as is everything in goa) and there is a significant police hassle factor there.

 

[mriko]

Respect, Mriko

I was in Pakistan in 1994: what an amazing place. didn't make it as far as Chitral but spent some time in Swat, Gilgit, Hunza and Peshawar. For smokables, Peshawar was amazing. Some of the hash there absolutely blew my mind. It didn't taste as good as charas from the indian himalaya but was way, way stronger. One of my buddies wiped himself out for a full 24 hours eating a couple of grams that we'd crumbled and "melted" into butter. Oooh happy times.

Greetings Limey !
Wow, 1994 ? Must have been great in these times ! Alas Swat is now under Taleban control...
eheh, 2 grams must have been pretty strong indeed. LAst time I was there I met a French guy who gobbled a joint-worth for the bus trip between Gilgit and Peshawar, he eventually went mad on the way, going full paranoia. The day after when I met him in PEshawar, he was still schocked about what he went through, haha !

i've also heard that north india is mostly indica weed...and south india is mostly sativa dominant...is that true?

Can't say anything about the South, but the North sure is packed with sativas. I haven't seen any indica, be it in Himachal, Jammu or KAshmir. All sativa. Only some roadside weed in Kashmir valley seemed to have SOME indica influence. For indicas, one must go PAkistan (also packed with sativa, all over !) or Afghanistan, or central asia.

Irie !

 

[love?]

Alas Swat is now under Taleban control...

Yeah I read about that in the paper today. I think there's some full-on war going on there now between the government and the Taleban. Thousands of civilians leaving their homes, or trying but they can't because the Taleban have blocked the roads with trees and rocks etc. Crazy stuff.

 

[buddymate]

Respect, Mriko

I was in Pakistan in 1994: what an amazing place. didn't make it as far as Chitral but spent some time in Swat, Gilgit, Hunza and Peshawar. For smokables, Peshawar was amazing. Some of the hash there absolutely blew my mind. It didn't taste as good as charas from the indian himalaya but was way, way stronger. One of my buddies wiped himself out for a full 24 hours eating a couple of grams that we'd crumbled and "melted" into butter. Oooh happy times.

I was based in Peshawar 1990,great place,I was once stopped in Peshawar train station with some weapons in a bag,didnt realise that westerners used to station after buying brown in NWFP and jumping on the train back to 'Pindi and Islamabad,happy days around the Khyber and NWFP areas in general,did you get to skardu or cross into Xinjiang over the Karakorams?

 

[yardclippings]

Yeah I read about that in the paper today. I think there's some full-on war going on there now between the government and the Taleban. Thousands of civilians leaving their homes, or trying but they can't because the Taleban have blocked the roads with trees and rocks etc. Crazy stuff.

crazy

 

[mriko]

Yeah I read about that in the paper today. I think there's some full-on war going on there now between the government and the Taleban. Thousands of civilians leaving their homes, or trying but they can't because the Taleban have blocked the roads with trees and rocks etc. Crazy stuff.

awfully crazy. It's not thousands but close to two millions people who have been displaced. Those are quite dark days for Pakistan.
If anyones going there, please be extremely carefull. There have been two blind suicide bombings recently in PEshawar and this is something new. Formerly Taleban were aiming at Pak institutions, police & army, no blind strike among civilians. The best is head as quickly as possible to the mountains. Fly to Chitral, Gilgit or Skardu areas were things are safe.

Irie !

 

[buddymate]

NWFP has always been a little hot,a caucasian face in the general vicinity of peshawar nowadays would attract unwelcome attention methinks