Swiss Hotel Kashmir Srinagar

... under a cart load of wood fter it slipped so the rickshaw driver pulled over and we helped lift the cart up so the horse could stand up. It was a damn sorry site. Poor horse...
Anyway, the museum's not a large place and seemed fairly run down. The guy at reception tries to do me out of 40Rs after I'd given him a 100 note for 60Rs entry fee, saying he'll be my tour guide but I say no thanks. We walk around the first main room of the museum ...

... young monks, of course) serve hot drinks and some food in the intermissions. The young monks are released after the first part of the pray. It seems like they are the only working force in the monastery - later I saw them cleaning the yard - it looked like child labor, actually. 
Well, the pray is over and I can continue my journey in Nubra valley. That's what I thought, but first thing (after I got fueled up at the Tibetan Food) I wanted to fill up the Vespa. Getting to the ...

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 ...

... No mina küll kedagi ei näinud.
Ülesäratatu osutub peretütreks, kes räägib mõne sõna inglise keelt. Kuivõrd mu geniaalne kell on mingist hetkest taas alustanud ajaarvamist esimesest jaanuarist, saan ladaki keeles kella küsimist praktiseerida. Kell on pool viis. Päritakse, mis kell tahan õhtusööki ja mida tahan süüa. Üritan küll öelda, et söön sama, mida nemad ja siis kui nemad, aga neiu ei anna järgi. Pean valima seinalt menüüst. Valin momod, sest vahepeal on saanud jälle ...

... this torture on your own. Unfortunately, my concious got the best of me.....I was miserable, and could only imagine having to go it alone for the next cpl of weeks, so I decided that there was strength in numbers, so I couldn't leave my boy hanging.
I did however have a brilliant revelation at Armpit Airport in Delhi. We don't need Guantanamo Bay as a detainee center for interrogation of suspected terrorists etc... All President Obama needs to do is buy these ...

... with verandas leaning over the water with carved walnut panels. The dining room had a chandelier and lovely carpets. It all happened so quick and at one point it was quite surreal sitting there with all these, what I would of called 'bikers dudes' as a kid in their leather jackets and big beards sitting here around the huge wooden table in this posh floating house. It was also great to be on the boat, away from the town because as we rode through it ...

... got the best room in town with two walls of windows and views of the village and mountains. The best part (we thought) was the floor, covered in mattresses with sheets and pillows, all for us. We were served tea in our room, dinner in the kitchen (a stew of tsampa (barley flour) dumplings with chard, peas and potatoes in a slightly spicy broth--Krista scarfed hers down, Lisa gagged down half). We tried ...

... an unearthly 2 a.m. departure, and by the time dawn stole up on us we were high on a mountainside, shivering as we looked across the narrow valley to the huge ice patches across from us: beautiful in the cold morning light. A few jolting hours later, heads and ***** bruised from being thrown around in the back of the jeep, we were driving along the shore of the fabled Dal Lake.

... budda statue. So that's it for my first 2 weeks here, tomorrow (July 5th) I set out on an 8 day trek of the Markha Valley. This will quite challenging for me as I've never done a trek this long before and it goes well above altitude I've done before, with one pass been over 5000m. I've told the guide to have the rescue pony on stand by at all times. The trek will give me a chance to try out the GPS system that was given to me as a ...