One hour and twenty minutes by air from the national capital and you will be transported to a different world. About mid-way through the flight, I get my first glance of the snow-capped Himalayas. Srinagar, the summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is known for its romance, charm and beauty.
Like most Indians, my first experience with Kashmir was with Bollywood movies. As we headed towards Nagin Lake (it is a part of Dal Lake and quite peaceful) through the city, a pale view of hills welcomed us and soon gave way to calm waters of the lake.
As we stepped onto the shikhara and started rowing towards our houseboat, we realised there are a quite few of them. The idea of living on the water for day and night excited me and is definitely worth an experience—the thudding on the wood, swaying of the boat and the only means of transport being shikhara once on the boat.
You can either choose to spend the entire day in the houseboat appreciating the beauty of nature around or treat the houseboat as your house. Go out to the main city and come back to spend the night.
The huge boat with four bedrooms, dining hall, living room, a balcony and a deck is complete in itself. Modern amenities are no way alien to these old houseboats. By staying on a houseboat, you won’t be compromising on anything as they offer a combination of old world charm and modern facilities.
In half an hour, hot breakfast was beautifully laid on the dining table. Post breakfast we went around the city. I realised it was 4 pm and called the caretaker of the houseboat. As he spelled out the recommendations for dinner over the phone, I started salivating. As we reached our houseboat, a distinct fragrance filled my senses, an indication that our dinner preparations were in progress. It was now time to enjoy the Kashmiri delicacies. The table was so well laid that it stimulated my appetite. There was dry fruit laden pulao, spicy and sour dum aloo, rich tomato cheese, thick rajma and rogan josh. It was now time to call it a day.
We woke up as the sunlight flooded our rooms through thin curtains. A shikhara filled with flowers for sale glided over the water and came to our houseboat. There was this old woman collecting lotus stems. School children came in from behind the houseboat and jumped on the houseboat waiting for them. Srinagar is truly a nature’s masterpiece !