The romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir - Khamkoo

THE ROAD TO KASHMIR 127
meals, that is, six hours from Rawal Pindi to
Murree, two days from Murree to Baramula, and
six hours more to Srinagar. The mail tongas
which travel all
day and night can go through in
half the time. In the end we decided to take our
chances by the Murree route, and left the hotel at
Rawal Pindi at half- past
three in
the afternoon of
the 25th of February.
Our servants had refused to go with us, as they
were afraid
of the cold and of the dangers of the
road, so we three started off with our luggage in a
special tonga. A special tonga for three from
Rawal Pindi costs 130 rupees, or just two-thirds of
a rupee per mile for the 195 miles. For such parts
of the road as were impracticable for tongas, we
were to be refunded a proportionate amount.
Once on board the tonga we were free
to start as
early as we liked, stop for the night at any dak
bungalow on the road, drive on as long as the light
lasted, and halt for meals where we pleased.
Dhanjibhoy was careful to point
out that all he
agreed to do was to supply the vehicle, give us
relays of quiet, well-broken-in ponies, and a competent
driver. He " did not insure our lives," and