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across beautiful, green rolling countryside. About evening, we reached Pahalgam, Kashmir, which means first city of the hills, over 7,000 feet high. In Pahalgam, we stayed in a religious center, and at night, it became very cold and the stars had a mystical clearness in a totally black sky. By morning, we were all nearly frozen to death since our building was not heated and we had so little warm clothing.
When I arose, I was told that it had snowed and since I had never seen snow, it looked very strange to see roads, fields, houses and the hills all looking the same, with no boundaries anywhere. I felt like a child must feel when he first sees snow.
Later that morning, the mailman came for a delivery and we asked him directions to get to our destination, Sheshnag, Kashmir. While we were walking along the road, I became aware of the unusual herbs growing everywhere. In fact, I became so absorbed in my studying the herbs that I became separated from the others in my party. I wondered what kind of herbs would grow in such a harsh habitat--almost two miles above sea level and what purpose they would serve. So I tasted a few things to see what effect they would have.
Suddenly, the two boys in my group appeared and they were very upset. They said, "Guruji, you must come at once and tell us what to do. There is a snowbridge ahead and it is melting. If you try to cross it you may fall
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