Srinagar Couchsurfing

I landed in Srinagar airport yesterday and it was insane. It was like a battle for the luggage carousel. Vicious. Then i was hounded by people to fill out foreign visitor card, where they needed to call the local # i gave them of a couchsurfing host to verify that I had somewhere to stay before letting me pass. Then they still tried hustling me nonstop to stay in a houseboat. It was a mess. Eventually I finally got in a cab, and about 2 minutes out of the airport, we were stuck in gridlock traffic, cars turning around in opposite direction on one way road. Armed officers running through traffic to get up ahead. 10 minutes later they had cleared whatever issue was going on, and we were on our way to my hosts spot.

Then all of a sudden 3 Kashmiri army soldiers with huge guns jump in front of my cab and stop the driver and just jump in the cab with me. 1 up front and 2 behind me. I just smiled and nodded at them. We drove about 2 minutes, and then they stopped and jumped out. I guess when you're carrying a gun, hitchiking is free.

We finally got to my couchsurfing host, who picked me up on his beautiful shikara boat, and we cruised across the Nagin Lake to his house on the banks. There were 3 other couchsurfers staying there. I've been hanging out with a Dutch girl who lives in London right now and is also crusing around Kashmir.

The rest of the day consisted of paddling around the lakes, enjoying all sorts of hospitality, amazing teas, foods, dinners, and sunset.

This morning we woke up at 4am to get back on the lake for the sunrise and some crazy floating farmers markets. A bunch of sightseeing and now I'm finally at an internet cafe using an actual computer for the first time since I've been in India.

We're trying to figure out what to do tomorrow. Probably an overnight trek somewhere. Need to figure it out soon. Also trying to figure out a local cell phone.