TRAVERSE 149
" sometimes the valley feels like it only survives because people love it too much... "
But there were also stories of resilience. In Srinagar, Naeem, the guesthouse owner, reopened his veranda for tea long before foreign tourists returned. Domestic travellers, young Indians from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, slowly repopulated his rooms.
“ They told me,‘ We want to support you,’” he said.“ They took the same treks the foreigners used to take. They photographed the same mountains. Sometimes the valley feels like it only survives because people love it too much to let it slip away.”
A similar sentiment echoed by Buddhi,“ this region, both sides of the border is too beautiful to ignore, people will come and we [ the operators ] need to prove that it is safe for international travellers.”
The founder of Motorcycle Expeditions was quick to say that the people of either side of the border are not the problem, but rather the lack of understanding by the media who drive a narrative into fever pitch raising tensions that should never be there.
In Islamabad, Shehryar’ s hotel began offering“ late arrival flexibility,” allowing guests to change plans without penalty if security conditions shifted. In Delhi, Himanshu started modifying his walking tours to include quieter routes, avoiding bottlenecks where crowds might be dense.
Local tourism boards across both countries ran socialmedia campaigns showcasing peaceful landscapes, resilient communities and heartfelt appeals from small operators. Some videos featured porters telling their stories in their own languages; others showed the serene calm of morning prayers at quiet mosques and temples.
Still, the structural damage remained profound. Insurance premiums rose sharply. Some policies inserted new exclusions that specifically cited“ armed conflict in or near disputed territories.” This meant higher costs not only for travellers but for tour operators themselves, many of whom had to renegotiate contracts or change their entire business models. One trekking agency in Himachal Pradesh reported a 50 % increase in insurance costs for
TRAVERSE 149