Greens Retreat Hotel Nathia Gali

Not much of an update. Decided to relax in the house today. Had a quick chat to Catherine who was about to leave. They couldn't get a flight yesterday. Laundry still isn't here... Ashraf hasn't been the same since I declined going on any of the treks he tried to sell... whereas Sohail is still cool with me.<br>Apparently there's riots and a strike going on about the Indian forces coming in to the State ...

Set my alarm for 7am... got out of bed at 8.15 after postponing it several times. Some things don't change!<br>Mentioned to Sohail during breakfast that I has going to try and go to Gulmarg for 1300Rs and he seemed genuinely shocked at the price and assumed it must be sharing. We'll find out soon enough...<br>Caught a tuk-tuk to the taxi rank and within 5 minutes I was in a Toyota Qualis (on my own) after negotiating a price of 1300Rs through a crowd of shouting and arguing ...

Woke up late again, this time to the commotion going on downstairs. Got ready, had breakfast then headed to the garden.<br>There ere already quite a few people that I could see so I just pulled up a chair and said hello to the guys that were sitting outside. Spoke to a couple of them that spoke English well but ended up spending most of my time with a 12 yr old called Zahn who enjoyed talking about football and loved playing with my ...

Very late start today (you know how it is when you're warm in bed and it's cold in the room...). Got ready having to wear the same clothes (eugh!). Decided to brave Srinagar on my own today so headed out and thought about catching a local bus but the destinations they were shouting out meant nothing to me so instead flagged down a tuk-tuk (rickshaw). I managed to negotiate a price for having him as my driver until 7pm and then headed to Chashmashahi Moghul gardens. It was on the ...

Woke up a bit late today (10am). My laundry was still not done after giving it to Ashraf on the day I came.<br>Had breakfast in the garden then went with Bashir on a long journey to the Shankaracharya Mandir. <br>The second bus we caught took us to the foot of the Shankaracharya hill which also contains a reserved forest. The area we were in seemed to be the real tourist place. I could now see the Dal lake I imagined along with house boats... I ...

Got ready and went through the trekking options with Ashraf in the garden...they sounded great but are waaay out of my budget so I declined even after he tried to sell me them a bit more. Hope this doesn't change the way I'm treated here. I have a feeling it's part of the deal that Delhi tours have. They send you to Srinagar for a week knowing that you only need to spend 2-3 days in Srinagar itself. You're then sold a trekking tour which makes the hotel you ...

After a few hours sleep after a late night, I woke early with the knock on the door for breakfast. I said thank you and goodbye to MA and met A, who whisked me straight off into a rickshaw and then bus to Abbotabad. He said he really wanted to show me some more of Pakistan before I left and this was a beautiful place. To be honest, after all the travel the day before I was pretty tired and the last thing I wanted to do was to sit on another bus for 6 hours or so but it ...

... bazaar and spoke to the locals, who all seemed to be Afghans. Unfortunately, whilst in the bazaar, nature called. (I warn you that the description that follows is revolting so if your eating lunch maybe read this later.) The toilets appeared to be down a lane, but rather than a toilet it was just on the ground. Men were scattered along the lane squatting. The sight and smell of **** was disgusting. I realised that there was indeed toilets but with a 5 pence levy I could understand ...

... particular country, but to particular children. My luck has been fairly good, and only three previous occasions spring to mind: in England, Egypt and India. But in Indus Kohistan, according to conventional wisdom, the parents join in. And stand above the road so rocks too big to throw can be utilised. A scene from Lord Of The Flies springs to mind... The ride itself was no joke either. The road climbed inconsistently, undulating so that for every 100m ...