I am here in Srinigar, the capital of Kashmir, without a doubt the most beautiful part of India that I have seen to date. I am staying on a houseboat with Maya and Amit who have travelled with me on and off since meeting them in Kashmir in March and why they are prepared to travel around with an old fart like me is beyond my comprehension but be that as it may they are with me and I am very grateful for that because they are wonderful travelling companions.
Our houseboat is huge and delapidated and oh so almost English that it makes you want to puke and laugh and roll around on the carpet. We have 2 huge bedrooms, a dining room, a lounge and a veranda over the water (Nagin Lake). Our host, aptly named Ayub (Iyov, Job) is a dour gentleman who does his best to fulfill our every wish but does not quite make it, ah well. He serves us breakfast - eggs and toast, and dinner, lamb or chicken and rice and some other veg - today was an excellent liver. Each day we wake up. smoke and then at about 1 pm we ride off to do the tourist bit and see the sights and eat a snack (yesterday it was kebabs at a sidewalk BBQ and Amit and I have had the trots since! - But it was worth it, they were delicious).
Tomorrow we are getting up at 4 to take a tour of the lakes, veg market, floating market, floating garden and who knows what else, should be fun.
If there is one place in India that I would wish to bring my loved ones, it is here. The locals are so friendly, even when they know youre an Israeli and despite the huge numbers of heavily armed soldiers and police, you can
believe that you are in a town under occupation, not protection. But you really do feel awfully safe and while there are not a great many foreign tourists (there is no shortage of Indian tourists), there are quite a few
and probably half of them are Israelis (Surprise, surprise)
I wrote a beautiful, long, interesting mail but it got erased in a power out and I'm pissed as hell but I will rewrite it and send it later.
Our houseboat is huge and delapidated and oh so almost English that it makes you want to puke and laugh and roll around on the carpet. We have 2 huge bedrooms, a dining room, a lounge and a veranda over the water (Nagin Lake). Our host, aptly named Ayub (Iyov, Job) is a dour gentleman who does his best to fulfill our every wish but does not quite make it, ah well. He serves us breakfast - eggs and toast, and dinner, lamb or chicken and rice and some other veg - today was an excellent liver. Each day we wake up. smoke and then at about 1 pm we ride off to do the tourist bit and see the sights and eat a snack (yesterday it was kebabs at a sidewalk BBQ and Amit and I have had the trots since! - But it was worth it, they were delicious).
Tomorrow we are getting up at 4 to take a tour of the lakes, veg market, floating market, floating garden and who knows what else, should be fun.
If there is one place in India that I would wish to bring my loved ones, it is here. The locals are so friendly, even when they know youre an Israeli and despite the huge numbers of heavily armed soldiers and police, you can
believe that you are in a town under occupation, not protection. But you really do feel awfully safe and while there are not a great many foreign tourists (there is no shortage of Indian tourists), there are quite a few
and probably half of them are Israelis (Surprise, surprise)
I wrote a beautiful, long, interesting mail but it got erased in a power out and I'm pissed as hell but I will rewrite it and send it later.
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