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Where to go for those three or four days was no problem. There were lots of wonderful sights to be seen over the length and breadth of India, but Virginia's heart was set on Kashmir. You know: the snowy Himalayas, the flowery vale, lakes with houseboats. Mogul pleasure-gardens, pale hands I loved and all that.
On being told of our dream. Air India in Washington was discouraging. Did I not know that Srinagar, capital of Kashmir, is 400 miles north of Delhi? Up there, at the end of February, it would still be winter, with rain and floods, if not snow on the ground. No flowers of course. Nor would the houseboats be open for visitors, just ordinary hotels.
But knowing when my wife’s mind is made up, 1 said that nevertheless we wanted reservations for three nights in Srinagar. O.K. We had been fairly warned.
The services furnished the Washington group by the travel agents that took care of us. Travel Corporation of India, included driving us to the airport for what was for them our final departure from Delhi. The once-a-day flight for Srinagar via Amritsar was full to the brim, but cabin service was up to the usual standard of Indian Airlines.
During the brief stop at Amritsar we craned our necks in vain for a glimpse of the Golden Temple, central shrine of the Sikhs. We were not allowed to land. We sensed a certain tension in the air and noticed an unusually large number of soldiers on the field. Then we recalled that we were within a stone's throw of the Pakistani frontier.
A few minutes after takeoff we found ourselves flying through clouds—something we had not seen for the last ten days, even at a distance. When we emerged, already at a low altitude, we caught ragged glimpses of snowclad mountains, but mainly we were looking down on a brown. soggy, sunless landscape. Air India, Washington, had not lied to us.
Srinagar airport was as unappetizing as its surroundings. Also, after what I take to be the main arrival of the day. it was crowded and chaotic.
We looked in vain for the TCI representative we had expected to meet us. After a while I got hold of some functionary and explained our problem. He called out something in Urdu (I presume), which at once produced a personable young man who said in excellent
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