Yesterday evening I had a dinner at the Mocambo-Restaurant. I think, it was one of the better restaurants due to the prizes and the audience. I had a Kingfisher-Beer (640 ml), Chicken Oriental and a Brownie with Vanilla Ice. Everything was OK and very good. I payed 450 Rs (these are 8 EUR - most expensive dinner here in India ever, it is up to the prize of a room/night).

It was very interested, that the guests in this restaurant - although they are all from India - spoke only english. Very strange and quite a broken english. I verified this, as I talked with the man next to me. He is a doctor, living in Kolkata…

OK… This day I visited the BBD Bagh Part of the city - “Dalhousie Square“. Went there by taxi and walked around… Very interesting, very british. Many british buildings - you could mean, you are somewhere in the UK.

The gap is very high… The differences… between poor and rich. Best restaurants, top mobile-phones and computers and during watching new cars on the street you have to take care, that you do not hurt people crawling or sleeping on the pavement, street or floor.

Children and woman are begging. “Giving money to beggars is a crime”, I am often hearing from locals.

The hotel, I am staying… Sunflower Guest House… The building is very old and there is an elevator in it. Very very old one and operated manually day and night by a person. Does not look very secure… :)

@Albert: You are right… They are selling teaching books on the street… All kinds… TOEFL-test, German, all computer languages…

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./

So, just booked a room in New Delhi for the first night(s) at Hotel Raki International in the area of Paharganj, where most of backpackers are staying. The idea is here getting in contact with other guys and checking posssibilities and latest travelling-news.

Lonely Planet is saying, that rooms are having windows - important, at least for the first night(s). Rooms is 300 Rs/Night, which is around 5 to 6 EUR.

I am arriving late at night - at 00.20 with Austrian Airlines, so a taxi will catch me up at the airport with a shield with my name on it.  Funny…