Spending one night in McLeod Ganj at Hotel Ashoka with a wonderful view to the Manimahesh Kailash (5.656 m) mountain for 350 RS/Night.

Slept well and got up at 8, having a breakfast at a Tibetan restaurant - some mixed fruit chocolate pancake. Tasting very good.

McLeod Ganj is a very small but very touristy place. You get here everything, starting from Red Bull to Ritter Sport and other kinds of goods. I did not expected it here. McLeod Ganj is placed in a valley between the mountains. As I have heared, this is not the very best place, as the earth is shaking quite often here.

I visited gompas and temples, the government of Dalailama and his homeplace. It was interesting seeing the praywheels, seeing some Tibetan signs, fighting for independence. It is very interesting getting in contact with this religion.

In the afternoon I had a coffee and an applecake and looking forward meeting Mehmet at 5.30 PM for having some dinner. Then we are going to split and continuing our journey in different ways. Thanks a lot Mehmet, it was very nice travelling with you. Good luck :)

Afterstaying in Kashmir and visiting city and Gulgmarg outside in the mountains I went down to Jammu in a Jeep for 10 hours. It was the most exciting drive ever. Through rough mountains, a lot of trafic jam the whole way: Jeeps, Busses, Lorries, Rikshas, Sheeps, Goats, Cows, Bikes. Exciting and the local next to me was always crying “Allah” (Kashmir is Muslim). The drive was very dangerous. It was raining and there was a thunderstorm all the time. It was along journey through the mountains where itwent down meters on the right side all the time. We had twice stops where we had dal with rice and the next time salted tea.

The first days I had everything: heat and cold, freezing and sweating, hail and rain and sun, snow, thunderstorms as well as big big desert-storms with broken trees on the “roads”… Amazing.

We had to sop many times im between and saw a lot of accidents, b roken cars and strange things.A lot of military (of course, Kashmir) and dead cows which felt down into the valley on the right side of the street. It was very much exciting and made me feel how i could be in Afghanistan.

At about 11 PM we arrived in Jammu, the other part of Jammu & Kashmir. We stpped there and hwent searching an accomodation. We decided to search for another jeepwhich drives us to Amritsar in Punjab. We found one and left at 0 oclock.I was very tired and was sitting in front next to the driver, left to me was Mehmet.

The drive was crazy again. I felt like in another movie. The street was big, then thin. Then tared, then not tared. Then splitted, then together. Then absolutly no street and then a big big big space, then separated by tons or broken up by military. On both sides next to the streets I always noticed lorries parking - mazbe having a rest. It was a crazy drive, horning all the time and shaking up and down. I trusted the Punjab driver. A lot of strange cars where heading or in front of us. Strange vehicles where I do no know, what they should be for. Strange lights, strange colored cars with strange sounds. Very extraterristic. Very interesting.

We arrivved in Amritsa anb 4 AM in the morning. There was high/life at the Golden Temple and we decided to go there to have a short sleep. I slept there on the floor outside and - as we have checked a hotel before - we went to this hotel after a couple of hours to go to sleep.

The Golden Temple was amazing. Never seen such a building and such an athmosphere before. So. More tomorrow, I have to leave…

OK. And eve somewhere on this road, between Jammu and Srnagar I found the even most most most terrible toilet until now :)

After staying and travelling around in Delhi I started up to Kashmir by plane.

I had some strange feelings, as Kashmir seemed to be a very, very dangerous zone a couple of years ago. So, I was informing myself a lot and everything seemed to be OK there. Checked a flight from Delhi to Srinagar.

The flight itself was horrible. Had to stop at Jammu due to technical problems. We had to left the plane and then getting in again after a couple of hours. The security checks have been amazing.I had to varify both of my luggage a couple of times and my body was checked again and again. People told me, that due to travelling to this zone, everything is checked a lot of times.

Then after a cople of hours (I prayed, that i do not have to enter this plane again) we entered the machine and started up to Srinagar without any troubles. Puh.

In Srinagar itself I was “welcomed” by a lot of inhabitants: Offerd me Rikshas, Stays in houseboats, in hotels, food… It wasOK. Checked a pre/paid/taxi to Hotel Swiss near the Dal-Lake. Stayed there two nights and had some recent conversations with the local hotelmanager and the people outsite there. There are not many tourists… And the present of military is amazing… Everywhere… On every corner… In every place… Made my stomache feelng a little bit different the first hours, but it was Ok then.

Visited the city whic is something like Afghanistan. Amazing and very exciting. Interesting landscape. Lake, Mountains.

The \second day in Kashmir I went together with Mehmet, a guy I met at Hotel Swiss to Gulmarg. A place in the mountains - a “ski-ressort” n INdia with a gondola up to 4.000 m (Lonely PLanet says so).

Very much exciting… stood in a qew up to one hour, but there were only 50 peple waiting for buying a ticket. Interesting temperament the people are having - the quew was controlled by military..

We went to the first section, sawq some snow a handful of skie, soe slidges and had a tea at a hut there. Strang, strange, strange. Very wexciting.

Went there by shared jeep and back the third with a local indian buys. standing near the open door, packed bnetween all other guys and having no space :) funny driveand alinteresting experience.

At the hotel swiss I got in good contact with the local “hotelmanager” as he was very much interested in Online (Marketing). I even installed him Google Analytics into his webpage aas he was interested in it. Some optimazation in the webpage will provide him a good online-presence :) Wonderful… and fiunny./