Arriving at Srinagar airport we could already tell a difference to Delhi.We were met by the tourist police who escorted us to a jeep to take us to the lake we'd be staying on.It was, as promised, much cooler here and similar to a European summer and as we arrived at the lakeside it was as beautiful as it had been described with mountains providing a backdrop and colourful boats lining the shore.Although we knew we were close to the border, the thing we had naively not realised with our last minute change of plan was that this area would be so heavily policed by the military.Jeeps are stopped for checks and many of the shops were completely shut due to the daytime curfew in place.This, however, doesn't really affect you when you're a western tourist in a house boat the other side of the lake.

We were taken over to the boat in a shikara (like a longtail but with a roof and a comfy bed-like seat) and once we'd passed the old lady who sits permanently on the step, we were suitably impressed with the enormous rooms with chandeliers and grand furniture.Our room was large and comfortable so as we sat on the veranda drinking yet more Kashmir tea (green tea with cinnamon) we admired the view and congratulated ourselves of a good last minute decision.

After a while we were greeted by 'Ali G', the man in charge, and ushered into his office to talk about trekking.We learnt quickly that Ali is an exceptional salesman who knows exactly when to leave long silent pauses and uses slurps of his tea to do this.With food included in this accommodation and no monument fees to pay we had a small amount spare so after a lot of drawn out negotiation we were booked onto a 2 day trek to the Himalayan foothills starting the next day.After a boat ride to see Ali's new house boat and the intricate carving (we can see all this negotiation must be making a fair amount) we settled down for dinner (served by Bashir, another hastled cook and apparent slave) of cheese curry.We chatted to Tom and Sarah over a few 'Haywards 5000' (we were to discover that since not allowed in the Muslim community beer was even a dirty word and the cost would be considerably higher than in Vietnam) about the trek they had just returned from and were excited about a new and unplanned adventure.

We had incidentally discovered that everyone we had met a the Dandoo Palace House boat had the same story - "Shaffi sent us here…"

Liz