Not a very restful night – neighbors chatting late into the night, up at 2, call to prayer at 3:15, awake at 4, awakened again at 5:00 for call to prayer. Watched the sun come up over the mountains, listening to all of the birds including roosters announcing the dawn.

Hazy over the mountains, man in boat picking up the morning's seaweed...

First salesman of the morning has come to visit, but they are very polite. They ask if you want whatever they are selling, and if you say no, they move away. .

A very strange scene has just happened. The great-grandfather was sitting on the porch next to us, and a boat arrived with two older women with women dressed in white, with their dresses with very tiny patterns on the white cloth dresses, and an old gentleman dressed in white with a small cap. They came up the steps, and the women knelt at the older man’s feet, and one began to keen. The older man who had come with them helped the woman up and they went back in the garden followed by the “great-grandfather”.

The owner came to talk to us and explained that his brother died five years ago. (We think he was the owner of the New Flower Garden.) He also said that they used to have tourists from all over the world. The major group came through a travel agency in Singapore, and they had a large group of tourists from New Zealand, Australia, Holland. Then there was a period of ten years there were no tourists whatsoever when the militants were fighting the military. He noted that he had to sell gold that he had in order to support his family. Then Indian tourists began to come, and relatively recently people from other countries began to return for visits to this area. He said things are getting better now. Perhaps that is the reason why the interior of the houseboat looks like no one has spent any money on the furnishings for at least 20 years.

After a breakfast of omelettes and toast, and some watermelon, we headed off with Dustan, our favorite shikara boatsman, across Lake Dal, to meet Mr. Firdous. He took us to three gardens as well as to Pari Muhal, which is the ruin that we can see at night all lit up on the side of one of the nearby mountains.

We went to the Mughal Garden, as well as to Shalimar gardens. I think all of us thought that that was the most beautiful of the gardens. It was laid out in the 1600’s and was a gift from a husband to his wife. Much of it was formal, like Longwood, and there were fountains down a long allee with flowers blooming on both sides.

There were many many fantastic saris in beautiful colors, and many children dressed in what can only be described as “glitzy” outfits.

Some of the children looked very hot! A number of people appeared fascinated with us, probably because we are foreigners and white and tall! A few people asked to take pictures with me, and initially I did not, but then decided to agree. I was part of a picture with about 15 girls all giggling. I wish I had asked the gentleman taking the picture to take one with my camera as well! Next time!

We then went to the Blooming Dale hotel with Mr. Firdious, and had a nice lunch with chicken, rice, rajma (kidney beans cooked in a thick red sauce), yoghurt, and fresh cucumbers, carrots, and tomatoes which looked lovely but I did not have any – we have not gotten sick yet and I would like to keep it that way! It was a little disconcerting to have Mr. Firdous watch us eat after he served us, but Jo said that is frequently how it happens in India. David and Jim left and Jo and I went up to the papier mache area to see all of the things he had on display. We learned that old paper is soaked for two weeks in water, and then the paper is pounded into pulp. It is then mixed with rice water to make a paste. A form is wrapped in paper, and then the paste is applied and allowed to dry. When it is ready, the item is cut into two parts, it is remove from the mold, the two pieces are glued together, and then the item is painted. The cost of the item is primarily derived from the amount of detail in the painting.

Back to the porch of the houseboat for some lovely relaxation time, including some superfudge brownies for David and Jo. We then bought a watermelon from one of the boats which was very interesting, particularly since the boatman was deaf.

Later Jo bought soda and sparkling water from one of the snack boats. We then sat and watched the never-ending parade of shikaras on the lake, filled with tourists in all kind of colorful garb. We took pictures of many of the boats – and they took pictures of us. It looked almost like a race or Central Park in New York when all of the little boats come out on the lake. Each boat is painted differently, many have decorated hulls, the canopies may have ruffles. I am now watching David paddle the skiff back (today because it is windy only one person can go out in the boat at a time) but due to the density of shikaras in front of the houseboat, he had a hard time getting the boat back to the dock.

Well, that was the beginning of a VERY exciting evening. Jo and David surprised us with a “romantic evening cruise” with Nizar Ahmed Sheikh, our boatsman from Dastan. They gave us each a chrysanthemum from the window boxes at the New Flower Garden, and had a diet coke and a beer for our pleasure.

We got into the boat at about 6:40 and set off on our cruise. It was lovely and the light was beautiful. We were rowed down the lake towards where it opens up, and it became clear that it was becoming very windy and there was some significant wind to row against. It was also becoming a little cloudy.

The boatman turned into a back bay with many channels that we didn’t even know was there. He rowed us onto Lotus Lake, which was filled with Lotus leaves with their characteristic flat shape and turned edges.

The sky was getting very grey and there were some spatters of rain, but we kept on in the back area. There were now many shirakars there, and the boatman said that it was because the water and the wind were so rough on the lake.

We saw a number of ducks, many moving in groups, and some kites (birds like hawks). There were also chickens. As we continued we saw some fantastic houseboats with elaborate carvings and fabulous chandeliers that we could see. It continued to get darker and darker and the wind got stronger. Out of nowhere appeared shops, selling many different handicrafts – shawls, kameez fabric, carved wooden furniture, the boatyard where new shirakars are made, a papier mache factory, a corner store filled with everything it looked like someone would want (including those ubiquitous chips) – all built out into the water. There are no roads in the back; everything is brought in by large boats. By now, it was really getting dark and very very windy, and it began to really rain. Nazar (?Nassar) was really working hard now, and was not making much headway because of the wind which caught the top of the shiraker which then acted like a sail. There had been a few phone calls on his cell phone (later we found out that one was from a worried David and Jo). Finally Nassar could not make any progress at all; it was cold, the wind was strong, and the water was very choppy. The boat blew against the side of a building and it was clear that we weren’t going anywhere. It was very scary. A skiff or canoe boat like the one we have at the New Flower Garden appeared, and Nizar said that we needed to get out of the shiraker and get into the other boat. My balance is never very good, and at night in a shaky boat with wind and rain – well, this was not my finest hour, but we didn’t capsize and I didn’t fall in. Both Nassar and the other young man (someone he called and paid to come help us), began to paddle furiously. We turned the corner from the canal onto Dal Lake and the wind was incredibly strong trying to push against the boat no matter how hard the men paddled. I was really scared by now, although I kept telling myself the worst thing that would happen was that we would capsize and I could swim to the nearest houseboat. I began to look at the names of each houseboat, and began to see ones that were close to us. With great relief, we pulled up to the dock for the New Flower Garden. David and Jo were very happy to see us, and we were happy to be off the water. The storm became even more forceful, there was a lot of thunder, and a lot of rain. The houseboat rocked a little on its moorings – and the power went out. The had some ancillary power so we were able to finish our dinner, and play a few rounds of Hearts before everyone went to bed after a long and exhausting day. I was very worried about Nasser and the other young man, and found out the next day that they had had a lot of trouble getting home. Also Nasser lost his glasses during the storm.