Hashisted passage
Was in Kashmir in the 80s for a hashish-induced hasy spell on a houseboat on Lake Dahl. Went camping upriver for a few nights, during which the Pakistani President Zia was blown up in a plane. Kashmir being almost totally Muslim, this didn't go down too well with the locals but the customary form of protest was to stop all river traffic - including us. We didn't have too much of a problem until we came up to the first big bridge on the edge of the city, where we were waved down by the crowd. Our guide, a naturally funny wide-boy named Noor, whose family owned the house boat we were staying on, went off to see the crowd and came back with the bad news - they wouldn't let us through. Unless, of course, we paid them. There followed a period of tense negotiation, the upshot of which was they wanted the equivalent of about forty pounds.

"Fuck, I've only got about forty rupees (or whatever - it was about a fiver's worth).

He shrugged. "That'll do."

I handed the money over and five minutes later we were on our way. Never did work out who wanted what.
(zebideedoodah likes florence but prefers venice, Mon 7 Jul 2014, 19:24, 1 reply)

Way to earn that bonus
Noor you crafty little bugger.
(RebelWithoutApplause My underestimation will almost be the death of me, Wed 9 Jul 2014, 16:06, closed)