Palagam

2 hours from Srinagar, and I am up in the mountains - it is very alpine here, both in terms of the scenery (pine trees, snow capped mountains etc) and the architecture features the odd steeply pitched roof. It is also full of Indians here - all from the newly increasing middle class - spending money on pointless things and trying to keep the kids/wife happy. It means all of the resturants serve veg Indian meals - nothing local - and there are horse rides to get to all of the easily walkable local sights.

I stayed in a small guesthouse by the river, and the sound of rushing water at night reminded me of the canoe trip in Canada i took in my gap year. Walking in the woods is lovely, as being off the main horse route, there is no one!

Climbed 2000ft along a 15km road, which is still covered by snow and therefore closed to traffic. It forms part of a very important Hindu pilgrimage that will see the whole area chocked full of people in 2 months. Very hard to imagine at the moment!