Day 3

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So waking up in the mountains was nice, if you could call it waking up as we barely slept. The bus was better than expected but still not a bed, and the constant beeping of car horns all night long didn't help. Still, we were happy to be somewhere a bit cooler and quieter. We somehow survived eating (with our hands) at some of the dirtiest little places I've ever seen when we stopped off on the way.

Before we knew it we were pulling into Srinagar bus station in the afternoon. There was a man with a piece of paper with "Ms. Nikki" written on, who rushed us into a taxi which took us down to the Dal lake, where we had booked 3 nights on a houseboat. We were shuffled out of the taxi and into a shikara (a little boat) with lovely comfy seats and a cover over the top to keep the sun off us.

The place was absolutely beautiful, the lake filled with shikaras and the mountains surrounding it and the houseboats all along the edge. We started getting excited looking at some of the houseboats on the front, they looked lovely. When we got off the boat we were taken to our room, which was at the back and so the view wasn't quite as nice. Still, the room was better than we'd expected considering we'd had no control in booking it and it even had a flushing toilet!

That evening we were taken on a nice little boat ride around the lake by a man who worked at our houseboat, Javi. Javi's boat wasn't quite as luxurious as the shikaras but he was so friendly and kind. He even made Nikki a nice necklace out of a waterlily. We found out he was also the houseboat's cook and he went out of his way to ensure we would like what he was cooking. The boat ride was lovely and relaxing after a couple of tiring days and Javi's dinner was lovely too.

We went to bed happy and looking forward to exploring Srinagar the next morning...

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Comments

[mummycarol]

hi
oh the scenery is lovely. the little boats are so romantic, relax while you are there as next stop might not be as nice, take care love mam xxxx