Hotel Grand Habib Srinagar

... I passed and kids asking for their picture to be taken. I could also hear the word 'Angrej' (English) said a lot as I passed.
A lot of buildings in the old town were expectedly old and walking around I definitely did stick out. There were no other tourists around either which made it worse.
We visited another couple of mosques including the Jamia Masjid and then Bashir mentioned we'd stop for tea at his friends place. I thought he meant his ...

... was just enough to take me to that village, the moment I passed it the scooter started to choke. ANd it became clear to me that I should be searching for lodging in Khardung. 
One of the shops had a homestay, and at least this part of the puzzle was solved. As for the original problem, it still looked irresolvable. The people around were very positive and tried to help me all the time. One of the folks talked to a truck driver that stopped on the way from Leh to Diskit, and he ...

... The serpentine started to become more casual and less asphalted from one hand and more perilous from the other. Needless to mention that it was all remarkably beautiful around. The mountains I was approaching, the valley I was leaving, the perspective that was opening. There were road-stones every kilometer - there were some 10 left, but the progress was very sluggish. I also was fighting all the time with the klatch of the Vespa - the gear wasn't really in perfect condition.
Nubra Valley, Jammu and Kashmir, India maxint

... per person. What a great deal right!! Just when I thought we where getting away from all the hustling, we were now trapped in this mans home pressuring us to book his tours. With his talks of how the next four days were going to be a lifetime experience with him for such a small cost, made me sick. The cost of this trip was a stretch to begin with and the agent from Delhi totally booked us a trapped tour, where leaving on our own didn't seem to be an ...

... ei ole minu abikaasa ega ka poiss-sõbraga. Ladaki keele oskus ei ole olukorra selgitamiseks paraku piisav. Norrakas on muidu ok, ei räägi palju. Teeme nalja prantsuse filmiperekonna üle. Viieliikmeline pere, kõik filmivad ja pildistavad meeleheitlikult. A family obsessed with recording.
Rahvast koguneb rohkem, vanemad naised pidulikes tikanditega riietes ja kõrgete mütsidega, mehed paksudes ürpides. Riietus on selgelt generatsioonide kaupa erinev. Vanematel ...

... on your horn as you enter a turn. There is only room for one car on these dirt trails, and god forbid you meet another car coming the other way. Death again was imminent.
As we barrel through crowds of walking gypsies and muslims, we meet an oncoming car and trade some paint on the pass.
There was some sort of Islamic festival going on in a small village as we drove up into the mountains, which brought thousands of villagers out to crowd this primitive road, so ...

... soort dikke warme jurk die mannen en vrouwen dragen. En we werden door alle buren, die ook meteen familieleden waren, uitgenodigd voor thee of voor eten. We konden er pas weg nadat we beloofden dat we na onze tien-daagse trip terug zouden komen. Deze belofte legden we graag af! Het was een heel fijn verblijf in het stille, schone dorp. Nu zitten we al twee nachten op een woonboot in de hoofdstad van Kashmir, Srinagar ...

... snow was still on the mountains the next day but Kamal had Ackmal prepare two ponies whilst we were having breakfast and after food we packed some provisions and set off into the mountains. The trek usually takes two days spending a day higher up but at this ...

... After breakfast of chapatis and jam we waited for the bus (that comes sometime between 8 and 9:30. It picked us up at 9:20 and we drove safely and slowly back to Leh. We made it! After returning it was Lisa's turn to feel ill, so she is presently resting at the Indus guesthouse. Tomorrow we leave for Delhi (business class!) and then we start HOME ON MONDAY!!! UPDATED DIRECTIONS FROM LIKER TO YANGTANG (coming soon...)

The two d*y bus from Sri****r to Leh stopped here for * night - 10pm to 5*m. The bus ride is incredible. I *m sitting on the b*ck se*t of the bus, but don't re*lly mind the big bounces since the views of out the windows *re so *m*zing. At*f is riding next to me - *n Isre*li who w*s st*ying in the s*me bo*t *s the ...