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Who has not dreamed of finding the lost Garden of Eden? Or the so called ‘paradise on Earth’? It is true there are many charming spots in the world, but, in fact, few merit this title. Among those, there is Kashmir Valley, located in the ‘Line of Control’ of Pakistan. As I knew it was a conflict area, I asked my local friend about the matter. He said it was alright for me to go so we started our journey towards what locals called ‘paradise on Earth’. To get to Kashmir we had an arduous journey of 10 hours to get to Islamabad and then 8 hours to Amritsar, in Punjab area. We made it until Amritsar and from there we hired a taxi to take us to Kashmir Valley. At this point I did not have energy to keep myself awaken so I fell deeply slept for 3 hours. Suddenly, I woke up as I desperately needed a toilet. For my surprise, as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw my companion being asked for their national cards in front of a check point. ‘For sure they must have toilets here’ I thought to myself, so I went to ask for one. What a mistake! The policeman indicated me the place talking in Urdu and asked me for my ID card, things that I understood due to my knowledge of Farsi. Well, at this point I had to say I was not Pakistani, so I took my passport and gave it to him without hesitation. After some minutes, two policemen called me to their office and asked me how I got there. What could I say? “My friend said it was OK for me to come here so we just took a taxi”, I assured. “But how is it possible that you reached until this check point?” inquired the officer. ‘I don’t know; I was sleeping the whole time’, I replied. ‘Well, lady, this is a restricted area and you need a special permission from the government to enter here’, claimed the official. Apparently my costume made me look like a local so as to go unnoticed until there. After some minutes of self-defense, the officers decided not to apply any punishment and requested me to leave the area immediately. But this was far the end of my trouble. Remember how many hours I travelled to get there? Well, now I had to do the same without stop! I could not bear it anymore, my legs were swollen so we stopped in one of the cities to have a rest and find a hotel. To our surprise, as soon as we got off the taxi, we noticed the presence of two well-dressed men who apparently worked for the government. In fact, they were two members of the Bureau of Intelligence of Pakistan who were following us the whole time to ensure we would leave the area. As soon as we saw them, they approached us and asked us to come inside a nearby hotel. ‘You must leave Kashmir now’, they insisted, and continue the inquisition to ensure I was not a spy. ´What do you do? ‘I am a linguist, sir’. ‘Why have you been in Afghanistan and North Korea?’. ‘I am just a globetrotter, sir. I think every country deserves to be visited’. ‘Hmm, how many languages do you speak?’ ‘Nine languages’. ‘How is it so?’ ‘I am a linguist. This is my field’. Now that I reflect on that, I definitely have the profile of a spy or so! Thanks God, after two hours, the intelligence did not find any reason to retain us more so they accompanied us to take a bus to the nearest city out of Kashmir area and finally left us free. Gosh! This was indeed an adventure totally unexpected. Although now I feel somehow proud of having passed almost all the checkpoints, I regret the fact that I could not get to my so desired paradise for only one more checkpoint! Anyway, one lesson I have learned well, l should always consult Mr. Google to verify even locals’ advice, lol.