Your taxi speeds out of the airport gate and towards
the city of Srinigar, slowing occasionally for large pot holes. Before long
you enter the city proper, the streets brimming with pedestrians and every
imaginable kind of wheeled vehicle. On the other side of town Dal Lake comes
into view, and with the mountains as a backdrop it looks like a postcard
come to life.
Inside,
the houseboat is suprisingly cool and smells sweetly of wood. The back porch
seems the perfect place from which to watch the sun set on Dal Lake. The
owner of the boat eventually joins you, and invites you to call him by his
first name, Akbar. When the conversation turns to the local tourist attractions,
Akbar tells you that he believes visits to these attractions to be much
more rewarding with the services of a good guide. In fact, he says, he knows
of one who is extremely knowledgeable and highly recommendable. You are
left to decide over a tasty dinner of mutton and rich sauce whether to engage the guide or to go it on your
own.
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