Maagies vol, oogies toe! This is all that comes to mind at the moment. That and I'm feeling strangely light headed, I must look into how high we are out here in the foothills of the Himalayas. Flying into Srinagar over the mountains this morning was truly spectacular. With the clouds above and the misty snow capped peaks below, a little smile stretched across my face that is still with me now as I lie on my bed in the 'super deluxe' Dogoda Palace house boat, belly full from a scrumptious pilau at lunch, where 'just one more spoonful', was the motto of the moment.

Dan and I started our epic adventure a few days ago in New Delhi. It has all been surprisingly easy so far, so much so that we keep waiting for the 'big rip-off' and have dreamt up visions of being sold on arrival in Kashmir. Apparently my green eyes would fetch quite a lot on the black market. Think I'll try hang onto them for a little while longer. But yes, despite our free airport pick up not arriving, Dan being pick-pocketed for a whole £4 and having a very substandard and expensive first massage, India, thus far, has been a breeze. The pre-paid taxi from Delhi airport was dirt cheap and maybe it was organised or maybe it was fate, but the tourist office our taxi driver stopped to ask directions at, introduced us to some extremely friendly Kashmiris, our new BFFs if you will. They left us to rest the first day and then picked us up from our hostel to discuss travel over a few indian smokes back at their office, the first of many we were to discover! After plotting the next months route, we were whisked around Delhi to see some sights and then welcomed back for dinner and of course smokes! A few strong beers and triple whiskeys later we were invited to two Kashmiri weddings and had a couple of Kashmiris on our own wedding guest list as well. 'We'll find each other on facebook' we all promised. 

Our new BFFs, Sunny (the boss), Yasir Arafat (but not the king) and Shahid (the beautiful one) have done good on their promises so far. It's impossible to deny this while sipping spicy Kasmiri tea, 'christmas in a cup' as Clint would say and watching the colourful little boats ferrying people around Lake Dal with the misty hills in the backdrop. Maybe it's time to stop being so suspicious of everyone and have a little faith in people again. Then again, this is India and 'the big rip-off' is surely round the corner.