01.06.10 - 07.06.10

After much hype and anticipation we had finally left for our trip! We got there via a pretty harmless flight (apart from Pete throwing up his Vodka and Orange at breakfast) and arrived in Delhi to begin our journey.
Some did question why we decided to go to India at the hottest time of their year but we put that one side... when we got out into 36 degree heat at midnight we began wonder if these people may be right. We arrived at our hostel not really knowing what to expect, when a friendly chap wearing a turban called Lucky popped out and introduced himself as the hotel manager. We settled into our rooms and we're soon introduced to his friend Omar who loves weed, and we were soon sharing spliffs with him before getting an early night.
After about an hour's sleep we awoke early to blinding 44 degree heat. As we went to get some breakfast Lucky informed us we had a free tour of Delhi as part of our stay. Swish! So we spent a few hours being driven round Delhi where we got out to see the Delhi Gate, their parliament buildings and a few kinda nice but boring buildings. When we were sick of the heat we decided to head back... but the driver dropped at us off at a tourist office to see the sights there. Hhmm, looking less swish. We got talked into booking a trip up North of India and we're pretty sure we were overcharged. Little buggers.
We got back to our rooms sick of the heat and salesman and coming down off the malaria tablets, so we got in our pants and sat under the fan for a long while, getting up for a cold shower every thirty minutes.
Another early rise so we could continue our journey up North to Kashmir as booked. We got the metro before hopping on what turned out to be the Death Bus, which raced round corners and dodged between traffic whilst we sat cramped in ridiculous heat for 14 hours. Finally we got off and our guide showed us into a jeep which we continued to travel in for another 12 hours, racing up a mountain trying to avoid the crazy road monkeys. We stopped for a pit stop and realised it's a lot less hot in Kashmir and marijuana plants grow everywhere. Glad to be out of Delhi!
Finally we arrived at our guesthouse in Syrnguar... a lovely house with a good host and a slave boy who cooks for us. We got had a lovely meal and our host, Ash, got some hash out (a common interest amongst most locals in Syrnguar incidently) and we relaxed into our new home for the next few days.
The days we went in Syrnguar have been nice and relaxed, it's a beautiful area with mountains everywhere you look and stunning lakes which we travelled across by boat. Unfortunately we couldn't go out unaccompanied as much as we might have liked because Muslims were rioting after some shop sold pants with pictures of Mecca on them, and the day after the President was visiting so there was a curfew.
We're soon off trekking in the Himalayas, quite glad to get out as there is limited things to do around the town, and as much as we like sitting in a nice house getting stoned, drinking green tea and playing poker, it is wearing a tad thin. We are glad it is going well so far! Having fun and we haven't fallen out yet... also have not even thought about swapping Tino for a cow as planned. So far so good.