Hotel Madhuban Srinagar

... side of Dal lake so took a good 40mins to get to. The garden itself was smaller than Nishat being only 3 'steps' but it had the advantage of a better view over Srinagar as it was on a hill (though not as good as Shankaracharya).
I once again heard lots of Guji tourists while walking around the gardens and taking pictures. After about an hour I left and asked the driver to take me to the lake. I decided on another shikara ride on this side of the lake as it seemed very ...

... some four pillars holding the cellar, these are decorated colorfully with some sort of banners. One of the walls is a kind of alter, I guess. It is covered with all different images of Buddha (i think:). A big portrait of Dalai Lama is hung there as well. Some blinking lights are attached all around - honestly these look pathetic. The monks are sitting in symmetric rows, facing the center of the room. There is a principal who sits closer to the alter and conducts the process. There are ...

Taking a ride to Diskit. Initially wanted to take off at 7, but of course with all the fueling, etc I was on the road only at 10. On the way I made a small accident - hit a female donkey which was running away like there is no tomorrow from a mating male. Of course I have also mistaken with the road, and had to take a shortcut to the proper way. At the beginning it all looked very nice - the road was in a very good condition, the riding was pleasant. 
But as I went higher and ...

... stuupaga, mis on esimeseks teetähiseks. 3710 m. See läheb lihtsalt. Tagasi vaadates näen hulka inimesi endale järele sammumas.
Lähen kurult alla ja tagant kostva hõiklemise tõttu jään poolel teel kivile istuma, lastes endast mööda prantsuse filmiperekonna, ameerika-hindu segaperekonna ja kamba ameerika noori. Kõik on giidiga. Hindu naine on ainus, kes tundub saavat aru kivil istumise mõttest.
Ees on pikk tõus Mepteki kurule, mille käigus möödun ...

... templit. Lähen majani, värav on kinni, selle taga lehmad. Ootan natuke, kuniks saabub naine, seljas korvitäis kollaseid lilli. Lilled on lehmadele. Söömiseks, mitte kaunistuseks.
Tuba on, maas kolm madratsit. Ühel magab keegi, kes üles ja ära aetakse. Saan termosetäie kuuma teed ja küpsiseid. Mõnus. Laual on lugemist küla ja Ladakhi kohta. Äsjaläbitud piirkond olevat hea lumeleopardi, ilvese, miskise metsiku koera, hundi, rebase ja kõiksugu sarviliste sõraliste ...

... how was he supposed to do it. Long gone.
All these jackasses just chuckled, and I made a decision to go back to the airport and either fly directly to Kathmandu or back to Thailand.
One problem. I had absolutely no money. Next problem. No friggin' ATMs work in India. Next problem, the India brotherhood is so strong that no taxi driver would stop for me, ensuring the scams could continue uninterupted!! So sweet.
Here I was in the middle of the street, soaked ...

... We were all dressed up in Kashmiri clothes! Left aligned photo tag: Right aligned photo tag: It was Ramadan while I was there so I got woken up every morning by the prayers which seemed to be a lot longer than usual. They went on for 2 hours in the morning and at night. It was quite surreal to hear the voices coming from 4 directions while on the lake and waiting for my boat at 5h30am! Men here wear a kind of ...

... 20 years): we were stared at as if we were aliens by the locals,especially the children, though when we spoke to people they were very friendly. We were asked to pose in various photos with individuals and families and felt like a freak show! (Which, no doubt, is how the locals feel when the tourists ask them to do the same...). The last time I walked around formal landscaped gardens was when ...

... few hundred metres to load yet more people with their bags of produce, car tyres and other paraphernalia. We passed a few small villages and several army posts - clusters of corrugated iron huts with roofs painted in patches of bright greens and yellows: perfect jungle camouflage. Considering we were in the middle of a desert, they might just as well have been painted with a large, red bulls-eye. It's a 160km journey to Dha, and after four hours we'd only reach the halfway-point. We ...