Well, I'm glad to say we're still going strong!

Kashmir wasn't necessarily a mistake but when you have thousands of soldiers around it does tend to inhibit the enjoyment that might have been!

Had a good time on a houseboat near Srinagar but the dodgy manager advising us that we shouldn't go out alone, or after dark, or at all, really started us thinking about an exit strategy as soon as we arrived. We escaped the city, which seemed like a good idea, to try and get closer to the militants that were living up the valley. Unfortunately they were all back in Srinagar but we made a good fist of it and spent a few days walking in the Himalaya. Why does that always sound prententious, Himalaya. Does Himalayas sound any better? I know it's wrong, but it sounds right. Anyway, the walking there was similar to walking up a very steep set of stairs for 4 hours then turning round and walking back down again. Actually, think of a cliff, put a slight incline on it, and you get the picture! Tough on the knees but amazing walking around up there with shepherds and gypsies and tribes from who knows where. Tigers as well apparently, but I guess they were scared off by the sound of creaking joints!

When I got back to Srinagar I thought it would be a good idea to shower. This is when I discovered something burrowing into my leg. It didn't have far to go to hit a major vein, and from there, who knows where. Luckily, though painfully, I managed to grab its hind legs and extricate the little creature - who, after all, was merely trying to pursue its life cycle - sending it scurrying away across the bathroom floor. What the was that?

Leaving Srinagar the following day by jeep with a 30 hour journey ahead of us and only mild diarrhoea, we managed to avoid, by 24 hours, some major goings-on in the city. Details are probably left unwritten! The jep driver was quite a card. He started with glazed, red eyes, smoking furiously, gobbing frequently through the window. He seemed to maintain his concentration with an endless supply of instant coffee which he would munch on while his eyes became more glazed and more red. He had only one rule when driving. "I must overtake". Be it a blind bend, be there an oncoming lorry or bus, be it on the inside or outside, be there a steep drop next to the road. Best way toovertake was on the inside, lorry approaching fast (possibly, you couldn't see it because of the blind bend), next to a vertical drop. If you didn't have loose bowels before, you certainly would after.

Spent some time in Agra (the Taj Mahal) and Varanasi (the Hindu Vatican?) over the next week. Both of which were beautiful and hot (48 degrees, believe me, that's bleedin' hot).

Enjoyed plenty of traffic jams in Varanasi. Rickshaws, lorries, cars (old type Ambassadors), bikes, cows, pigs, pedestrians, you name it. Everything stops, people shout, engines are turned off, nothing happens, people get out of vehicles (if they have them), walk around, distant shouting, general confusion, cows unmoved, engine starts in distance, everyone jumps back in to vehicles (if they have them), engines start, nothing happens, more shouting, one car moves a foot, general excitement, everyone moves a foot to fill spaces, everything stops, repeat ad infinitum.

Varanasi though was especially beautiful. Great people, bunch of hippies.

Now we're in Darjeeling in the NE of India and we've been sitting in a cloud for three days drinking tea. Heading off trekking for a fortnight from tomorrow in Sikkim.

Hope you are all well!

Lotsalove,

Ben and Kel