Northbound

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Waking up with a mild hangover in near volcanic heat was not the best introduction to the day but there was no time to dwell on this as I had to be on my way. It was first back to Saja's office to get my documents for my trip. As with all Indian establishments I had seen, Saja's office seemed to also be a local hang-out for a large group of friends and colleagues of sorts. Today was no different and I was quickly introduced to an enthusiastic and chatty driver who made me my first business proposition and introduced me to what India seems to work on entirely, commission. The brief was simple. He drives me to two shops where I have a good look around for which he gets a little bonus for, regardless of me actually buying anything, meanwhile he meets with some connections to score a certain type of consumable loot. The job was a total success. I browsed convincingly through the maze-like department stores while managing to avoid the aggressive selling techniques of the salesmen and driver-man picked up a decent score which we enjoyed on our way to the bus station.

It's amazing how calm all the drivers remain in the midst of the constant battle of the roads. Driver-man would be telling me of his two wives, one in Plymouth and one in Delhi, while passing millimeters between a lorry and a rickshaw on the wrong side of the road then calmly having another toke while without a flinch holding the horn for about 10 seconds to usher along the scooter in our path. Before long I was on the semi-deluxe sleeper coach bound for my houseboat, The Star of Kashmir.

I learnt a few things on this journey. Firstly that the driving attitudes remain the same even for coach drivers with full loads and they push their vehicle to the absolute limit, executing moves down to a few centimeters. Secondly, no matter what time of night or day, it's never a bad time for a Kashmiry to pump out some classic hindi music on his phone and sing along. And lastly, there were in fact some other foreigners in Delhi and they were on their way north with me.

My time with them was short lived as on our arrival in Srinagar we were all frantically ushered to our separate boats of which mine was the grand 'Star of Kashmir'. After some intense negotiations with the ships captain I got to take in the surroundings. The clinging heat and inescapable din of the city had been replaced by cool mountain air and total peace in comparison and the pace of the lake was only as fast as the shikara long-boats as they rowed around the lake kept there by the surrounding snow-capped mountains. The day finished perfectly with a late night gathering in the middle of the lake over a few beers and kebabs with some locals. One of whom was a shikara policeman by day and has dealer at night. I could tell I would get on well with these people.

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