10 days in Kashmir

Upon our arrival in Kashmir we were, first of all, pleasently surprised by the nice weather- 30 degrees, moderate humidity and a cool breeze compared to 45 degrees, high humidity and no air at all in Delhi! The second pleasent surprise was the houseboat which was really very lovely.
We spent our fist day there relaxing and eating great indian food. On the second day we explored some of the city of Srinagar which wasn't very exciting, since everything was closed, due to a strike (I have never seen so much military presence anywhere else!). Then we went for a boat ride on and a swim in the lake. On day three we took a jeep to Pahalgam National Park in order to do some trekking there. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and our campground next to a river a perfect spot! After putting up the tents we explored the surrounding area and visited the houses of some gypsie people living there. In the evening it got quite cold and I was very glad that I hadn't thrown away my jeans yet! We looked at the beautiful starry sky and went to sleep to the sound of the river flowing past our tent.
The next day we went on an eight hour hike through mountains, forests and over rivers. Again, we just couldn't believe the beauty around us and had a great time walking. When we got a bit tired on the way back we rode on the horses that came with us, which was also very nice (I think nicer for me than for Ede, though!!). Day two of our trekking was supposed to take us high up to a mountain lake, but I was very tired from the first day of walking and also felt a bit sick- probably caught a cold because of the 40 degree temperature change between Delhi and Pahalgam! So we only walked uphill for about an hour. There we reached a beautiful river bed and I decided to just stay there, while Ede went for another three hours of hiking and climbing. Then we had some lunch and then slowly made our way back to our campsite, passing more gypsie houses, horses, sheep and cows on the way. We took a bath in the ice-cold river and then passed the time with a couple of games of chess before going to sleep for the last time in this lovely place. The following day was basically just spent with packing up things and returning to Srinagar, where we met J.A. who had really kept his promise and came to see us! We had a fun evening on the boat, talking until 4 in the morning and looking at the stars from the rooftop. The next day, Ede and I had another shot at exploring Srinagar, this time more successful than the last! In the evening, we again met up with J.A. and his friends and went to a pretty fancy hotel, where we sat in the garden, having a couple of drinks and some great dinner. J.A. invited us on a fishing trip for the next to days and we happily accepted. So the next morning we packed our things together and again took off, this time in the other direction. At noon we reached a small village next to a river, and the guys did some fishing while I had some rum instead! We spent the night all together on matresses in a room of a gypsie familys home- the people there were so nice and the whole atmosphere so peaceful, that none of us really wanted to leave the next day, but J.A.'s friend had to go back, so we left after the guys had done some more fishing.
We spent our -finally- last day in Srinagar organizing some things and taking some more pictures of the people and the town and then went to the home of J.A.'s family for dinner. It was a wonderful evening with great food and lovely people, and we felt very privileged to be able to take part in something genuine like this, which is probably not possible for all tourists who come to Kashmir. And as one can see (again), everything happens for a reason, and most of the time, things that seem bad in the beginning turn out good in the end- you just have to let them happen and "go with the flow of life". By now I am very happy to have met J.A., although you can't exactely say that we had a good start together!
Now Ede and I are in Leh, Ladakh, a buddhist town in the middle of the mountains at 3500 m altitude. So far I can say, that this is one of the most peaceful and vibrant places I have ever been to, but details will follow in the next post!
So much for now, take care, and always try to see the good behind the bad... life is beautiful.

INDIA- How I ended up in a houseboat in Kashmir.

Yes my dears, I have made it to the other side of the world to India!
After an exhausting 36 hour journey from Panama City to New Delhi I met up with my friend Ede who flew in from Germany at the airport. We got a taxi to take us to a hotel we had picked out of the Lonely Planet but half way there the driver explained he couldn't take us there for some strange reasons, and we had to go to the tourist information first. Since there was nothing else we could do we agreed, although it already seemed very strange to us, especially since the "tourist information" was located in some dark alley...
There, they called several hotels for us, which apperently were all booked up because of some festival that was taking place in Delhi for the next week. By this time I was really frustrated and in desperate need of sleep! At that point the guy from the tourist information offered us, that we could spend the night at his appartement and I thankfully accepted. His friends picked us up and took us to his place where we immediately went to sleep. The next morning, we wanted to buy a bus ticket to Dharmsala and the guy from the tourist information (his name shall not be mentioned here, in order not to ruin his buisness, therefore I will refer to him as "J.A." from now on...) offered to call the company for us. They told us, that all buses going north from Delhi were also booked for the next six days! Since we didn't intend to spend the next 6 days in Delhi, J.A. offered us a flight to Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, including a 7 night stay on a houseboat on Lake Dal. Although we didn't like the idea of "being stuck" in one place for a whole week and hadn't intended on flying at all, we let us be talked into the trip and went to get the money.
Then we had some lunch and explored some of the chaotic old town of the city. At some point we decided to do a little research on bus tickets and hotel rooms ourselves, as the story with the festival seemed stranger every minute we thought about it more... Of course we found out, that there WERE bustickets as well as hotel rooms available! I started to panick, because I had also left my passport, Visa card, etc. at J.A.'s appartement and we took the next Riksha back. There we confronted J.A. with our "new information" and told him, we wanted our money back! A three-hour discussion followed, in which we all admitted, having made some mistakes and finally agreed on the plan, that we should fly to Srinagar, see how we liked it, and that we could get our money back once we returned to Delhi, in case we didn't. After this exhausting dispute, J.A. invited us to go to a bar with him. We had a couple of drinks and a good time and returned to the appartement around two in the morning. I was really tired and ready to go to bed, but that's when J.A. started talking... he confessed everything- that the taxi driver was paid for taking us to his office, that the phonecalls to the hotels had actually been phonecalls to his friends and finally that -of course- there was no festival! We were shocked but glad at the same time, that we had finally been told the truth, and we liked J.A.. So we asked him to come and visit us in Srinagar, where he was from, anyway, and he agreed.
The next day we were on our way to Srinagar.

Sailing to Panama

Ok, so the good news is, I've made it to Panama! The bad news is, that I can't really tell you how the trip there actually was because no words could ever describe it.
The feeling I had when the bay of Cartagena had finally disappeared, and all you could see around you was water, is probably the most amazing I've ever experienced.
We sailed for 48 hours, day and night, and the whole time I felt so unreal, so small and so FREE.
When we got to the San Blas Islands that feeling didn't really change much, because it was paradise. White sand, palm trees, the most beautiful colors and the most beautiful people- it all seemed so peaceful and just to good to be real.
We had a nice group of people on the boat, too, although it didn't really matter, as we were all just staring in awe and not talking much. Our captain, David, didn't talk that much either, but he was a great guy and an experienced sailor, and we felt very safe with him. That first day on the islands we actually got to do some "real sailing" when a pretty strong wind and rain came up and the boat was leaning at a 45 degree angle! So much fun!!
That night we also met another captain, Adrian from the Attila, and his friend Nestor, one of the indigenous Kuna people, and we ended up getting pretty drunk! After that things with David were easier, too, and he actually started talking to us- turned out that he's a pretty funny guy, as well!
The next day we spent on Nestors island, looking at the way people lived there, having lunch at the beach and playing with Nestors six (!) little girls. It was such a great community there, and again we felt like we were in paradise. After a beautiful sunset we all returned to our boat, the Tango, and had an even bigger party than the night before, including dancing on deck!
Unfortunately the party was over at about eleven o' clock, as everybody was very tired (and very drunk- we had started at noon!). Adrian and I were the only ones left, so I went with him on his boat where we talked almost until morning. At eight the Tango pulled up to our boat, as it was time to leave the islands and head for the mainland, but instead of going with her, I packed my things and put them on the Attila. And that was the moment I officially left the "gringo-trail", stopped being "just another traveller" and started living!!!
I had an amazing day with Adrian, just sailing around the islands with no particular goal, stopping every now and then to swim or to have a beer, and I never felt better in my life.
The next day he had to pick up two tourists, in order to take them to Cartagena, and together with them and two other random guys we had met we started another party on the boat. Because of this, none of us was really up for doing much sailing the next day (and I didn't want to leave, either!!), so we just stayed at the islands, relaxing for another day, cooking our own food and not partying quite as hard for a change!
The day after that, my seventh day at sea, it was finally time to say goodbye to the San Blas Islands, Attila and Adrian and to the things I had fallen so much in love with- the wind, the rocking of the boat at night, the feeling of freedom you have on your "own" boat, in short, THE SEA.
I took a small plane to Panama City and spent the last two days, trying to cope with culture shock and "land-sickness" (the damn ground just won't stop moving!). Funny enough, I met two people from the Tango here, one of the other captains, Kevin, is sleeping right next to me and I have the most beautiful bed in the whole house, from which I can see the sea... that all kind of helps to cope with the overwhelming feelings I have, because I think I've found what I set out to look for. The life I have experienced in that last week in the Caribbean is exactely the kind of life I want to live. On one hand, this is a very good feeling and I'm very happy, on the other hand though, I now have to figure out, how I am going to go about it to make the dream come true, and that is a very frightening thought at the moment.
It's a good thing I'm flying to India in four days, there I can hopefully sort some things out and find to myself again. Until then I just want to do nothing, see nothing and just "rest my weary head".
My love goes out to all of you, who understand or at least accept what I have just tried to tell you, you are the true friends.