we looked around a few more places of interest and i got mohammad to drop me in the centre of town. the previous day i noticed that there was a UN compound in town. historically, kashmir has long been unsettled and was considered dangerous. bill clinton, when he was prez in 2000, visited india and declared kashmir to be the most dangerous place on earth. so the UN compound is still there as a reminder of kashmir’s history. i walked up to the compound and took a few photos outside. then i walked back through town. i also noticd that there were much fewer soldiers around since the strike.
on the way back to the houseboat i tried to check my email, but the internet was down. i got talking to a local hotel owner and he invited me for some tea. we drank tea and talked, then he gave me a tour of his small hotel. the place was really nice and quite cheap. it would be a good place to stay off the lake. he also had a garden out the back which had a lot of potential.
when i returned to the houseboat, victoria let me use her internet connection so i could mail the poem to christina. it was my last day in srinigar, so i packed for an early start and got some sleep.
day 352 – i checked out and, avoiding the wife’s demands of baksheesh, made my way to the jeep stand. the destination was jammu, which took 10 hours due to the constant stopping, “security” checks, road blocks, shitty indian driving and other bullshit.
as a result, i arrived in jammu late and all the hotels that i tried were full. i was tired and frustrated and stomped back to the bus stand to look for a late bus to dharamsala. there were none until morning. damn! i sat down, cursing and swearing, to give myself time to think.
i sat and packed my jacket away (jammu was much warmer than srinigar) and had calmed down quite a bit. i got some samosas at a nearby shop and got into a conversation with a local guy who told me that the shop also had a few rooms. the rooms were very basic and a little grotty, but it was a bed for the night and they were very cheap. i settled in for the night, tired as hell, and went straight to sleep … glad that the shitty day was finally over.
day 353 – i woke up and left quickly, keen to get to dharamsala as early as possible.i found the right bus and made the short trip (but slow ride) back up the mountain. after arriving, i had to take another bus up to mcleod ganj and, with everyone already on the bus, the driver decided that the bus needed repairs. so we all had to disembark and get on another bus. idiots! i got to mcleod ganj, finally, and walked around town with a chinese girl i’d met on the bus. i checked into a nice, cheap hotel and she headed off to another place.
it was early evening and getting cold, but i wandered around mcleod ganj (which is very small). i had the idea to find another pair of trekking pants but the stores i tried had jacked up prices. i bought a pair of socks, checked email and had some great tibetan food for dinner. i bumped into the chinese girl again and we talked for a little while before i headed back to my hotel to sleep.
day 354 – in the morning i bumped into the chinese girl again (like i said, mcleod ganj is very small) and we decided to have breakfast together. then i walked all the way down the hill to dharamsala. it as a nice walk and was quite hot when the day had warmed up. i looked around the stores, still with the idea of buying pants, but couldn’t find anything i liked.
i got the bus back to mcleod ganj, checked email and found a shop which had the pants i wanted. i negotiated hard and got a good price. while i was still in the store, some wandering hindu clerics started talking to me and for a small donation they prophesised that i would have a fantastic sex life. gee, thanks!
i put in some laundry, walked around the main streets a little more, had dinner and got some sleep.
day 355 – i had breakfast and checked my email. i was feeling lazy so decided to spend the day drinking coffee and playing chess online. i had dinner and collected my laundry. that night i watched “sympathy for lady vengeance” on my computer.
