Srinagar, Kashmir, India, Tuesday afternoon. Arrived in Delhi (after changing in Paris) last night. Delhi is the main point of arrival in Northern India, and despite having no redeeming features, is a major tourist centre. Most people are desperate to leave as soon as possible, and business is brisk down at the travel agent's.

After a fairly uncomfortable midnight taxi scam and an overnight stay in someone's back room, I joined the stampede to leave, and jumped on a flight to Srinagar up in Kashmir. I feel very environmentally unsound as a result, but a mental resolution to offset my carbon footprint (at some point in the near future) quickly absolved me from any guilty feelings. A bit like confession in church, I imagine. Sadly, I can't see India undertaking to do the same, and one newspaper article I read today totally dismissed green emisions targets as beng 'of course, completely incompatible with India's economic growth' and that's that. Incidentally, Salman Rushdie and Silpa Shetty are vying for today's star coverage in all the papers. Did you know that the Times of India is the world's biggest English daily?

It's very beautiful here in Srinagar, and the depressing grime and clamour of Delhi is already a fading memory. Dal lake is is stunning, with a backdrop of forested hills a bit like lower parts of the Alps but with water lillies, unfamiliar birds wheeling around, and houseboats for rent. I have a boat to myself (so far), with a resident cook, great views of the hills, and cold Kingfisher in the fridge. What more could you want?

There are uniformed soldiers everywhere, but no sign of trouble. Apparently, tourism and trekking have been picking up in the last 2-3 years. Most folk here are Muslim, and are surprisingly moderate live-and-let-live types, fed up with people wanting to take over Kashmir, The majority seem not to want independence, rather to get on with being a part of India. Pakistan is very unpopular, at least with the bloke who runs my houseboat. He abhors violence and castigates the US for selling guns to every home in Pakistan, but supports Bush and Blair's intervention in Iraq and the removal of evil Saddam. How's that for a rounded worldview.

Plan for the evening: to try an obscure local delicacy, a mysterious oriental dish known to locals as 'lamb rogan josh'...