Hotel Grand Mumtaz Spinagar Srinagar

... it's a good thing I'm indoors!
Read my book for a few hours. Discovered they had a washing machine out back and were washing my clothes now...
Went to the Internet cafe... said goodbye to the owner when I finished (I know he was sad to see me go), came back for dinner. Reminded Ashraf about getting me a lift to the airport tomorrow and eventually got my clothes just before falling asleep! FINALLY!

... ges *re spoken. Cold *nd hunger m*rk the life of the simple people but their dre*ms *re *s high *s the pe*ks they see e*ch d*y when they look up. It is the dre*m of independence which keeps them w*rm *t night not the congdis, the *sh filled cl*y pots in tiny wicker b*skets, they c*rry under their woolen ponchos. The people I meet shine with hope. Their dre*ms *re colourful *nd bright. Colourful *nd bright like the fr*gile kites the Srin*g*r children fly when * sp*n of sun kneels the *ir.

... seats or tray tables in the upright position, ringing the call bell must happen at least six times every minute by every passenger and every single one of them had week old masala take-out that made the plane smell like a curry factory mixed with repulsive body odor. Awesome.
This was only the beginning. The plane, looking back, seemed like a tranquil and peaceful place compared to the shithole they call Delhi. Worst city I have ever been in, in my entire life. Dirty ...

... you could hear weddings being celebrated on the mainland with fireworks, an integral part of the celebrations, being set off throughout the night. For my first day I hired a shikara to explore around the lake. We started by entering the main expanse of the ...

... Teď je dobré světlo na focení." Neúnavně pokračuje pádlař a nevadí mu, ze obloha je poněkud tmavá. To se pak zastvíme, otočíme se na něj oba dva a jednohlasně a zřetelně (bez toho ze bychom se předem domluvili) vyslovíme: "My nechceme projízďku sikarou!" "Ok, tak mozná přístě," mele stále dál pádlař, "na hodinu, na dvě...." O tom, ze na turisty se tu místní přímo lepí (a já se jim vůbec ...

... essere italiano. Erano tutti regolarmente a libro paga. Quella giornata gli sarebbe fruttata circa 30 euro in tre. Ecco che cosa erano le altre spese, "il resto" al quale avevamo partecipato. A fine giornata avevamo pescato circa 25 trote, mentre sul referto (firmato) c'era scritto sei. Ci siamo fatti le foto tutti assieme. Quando abbiamo accompagnato Sotto-Capo a casa, questi si era seduto accanto a Karim e lo abbracciava. C'č un accordo per tutto, basta che ognuno reciti il suo ...

... lift ticket to mid station, it was 500 rupees...so, so cheap. As Stage 2 wasn't open, I would only be able to ski the bottom half of the mountain...which was probably a good thing as this was my first run of the season. The gondola is actually pretty nice...just as good as gondolas I've used in the West. Once you got off at mid station you realized that this isn't like any other ski mountain. There are no marked trails, no groomed trails ...

The family living on the neighbouring houseboat were celebrating their son's marriage all weekend - from our roof terrace we had seen them deck the boat with fairy lights, erect a large Kashmiri tent on shore, and sit for hours preparing food. We had heard the women practising their religious songs, raw and rousing. We did not, however, expect an invitation! But the family who own our ...

... hints th*t tell * story *nd Muslims, Hindus, *nd Buddhists *ll find common ground in Jesus. T*lk *nd song from tongues of lilting gr*ce Whose sounds c*ress my e*r But not * word I he*rd could I rel*te The story w*s quite cle*r Ooh, b*by, I been blind Oh, ye*h, m*m*, there *in't no denyin' Oh, ooh yes, I been blind M*m*, m*m*, *in't no denyin', no denyin' ~K*shmir, Led Zeppelin For hours, I w*lked through the streets of Srin*g*r, p*st e ...

... little more than their sledge. They pull people along the snow to the lifts or hotels. Mostly Indian tourists hired the sledgers to pull them and their families across the meadow or down the street. I personally didn't understand how cramming myself on a child-sized sledge to be dragged along at a slower pace than my own was a service. Radi didn't talk to me about sledges though. He wanted me to go and stay with him and his parents in ...