Travel Diaries – Srinagar and the Long Ride Home!

Yes, it was a houseboat! Before I get into that, my 1^st impression of the Dal Lake follows. I had only seen the Dal Lake in movies famously in Mission Kashmir. However, when I actually came to see it for the 1^st time, I was awestruck. A massive piece of water mass! Never before have I seen such a huge mass of water which is labeled as a Lake! This should have been categorized as a mini Sea! Simply beautiful. From a distance, watching the shikara glide over the silk like surface is something which you can only see to believe.

Then finally, we got a chance to glide over the lake in a Shikara. From a distance, it seems like any other boat in which you can sit and go over water. However, it’s really a different story when you are in it! It simply submerges into the water to such an extent that you feel that it can go under any time!

Once the Shikara beings its journey, all you can do is sit still!! Our houseboat was further away from the edge of the lake. So, the Shikara ride was a longer one. It’s sometimes very amazing that how easily the rowers can navigate the Shikara towards its destination. The view of lotuses on the Lake with the sun shining in the backdrop is something which any DSLR owner would want to take and keep it locked up in their harddrive! Further during our ride to the houseboat, we had other shikaras containing salesmen who used to pull up and join the boats so that they can sell something to us!!

We finally reached our houseboat and were greeted by a grand archway which led into the living room! A houseboat is a very modest name which is given to this structure. It should have been called a Palaceboat!! Its basically a 4 BHK on the lake! Its constructed in linear fashion (one room leads into another). We started off with a grand hall which had really royal style sofas and chairs. Modern amenities like DTH and tube lights and bulbs along with a table fan grace the spectacular woodwork! The hall led into the dining area which again comprised of a huge table capable of seating around 8-9 people. The most interesting thing about these 2 rooms was the décor! Amazing woodwork and polish which really sets the tone for a grand place! From the dining room, we had a long but narrow corridor which ultimately terminated into a master bedroom. Along the way, there were small rooms on the left and windows on the right. The rooms were the kitchen followed by 3 double beds – each of which equipped with a wardrobe and a bathroom!

All in all a really beautiful place to stay. However, walking through the corridor was creepy as the wood below made squeaky sounds which were reminiscent of the horror movies of the 70s and 80s!

After relaxing for a while, we headed out again and went to a relatively famous place in Srinagar – Adhoos restaurant for late lunch. Food was nice but had a Kashmiri/Mughali flavor to it! Sadly couldn’t enjoy much as I was forced to eat veg!

Staying in a palace like structure, we wanted to keep the feeling of being royal alive. So, we headed over to the Mughal Gardens which were on the other side of the Dal Lake.

The gardens were typical ones which you would find – only difference being that they were huge and had wide varieties of flowers and trees! It essentially is a photographer and Lover’s delight!

After spending the evening there, we headed back to the houseboat to enjoy the beautiful evening lights that could be experienced at the Lake. It’s magical what lights can do to completely lift the beauty of the place!

Time spent in Srinagar was too less and we definitely need to come back again for a longer exploration of the place. After a peaceful sleep (something which we had after a long time), we packed our bags one last time and headed over to the airport. Since being Srinagar, we had to reach the airport really early (3 hours before departure). Around 5-10 kms before the airport, we had to get out of the car, do a scan of our luggage and ourselves! The level of security was unparalleled to anything which I had seen!

After reaching the airport, we had to even checkin our hand luggage – basically get into the flight with nothing but wallets! Thankfully, we had booked our return flights on Kingfisher Class – food served was on the house!

The Kingfisher flight was a relaxing one as it took us from Kashmir via Delhi to Mumbai. For obvious reasons, my friends really enjoyed the flightJ. All in all, an awesome end to a spectacular journey!

Epilogue

While we checked and loaded our luggage onto the trolley, there was a sense of sadness amongst us. These 10 days were really incredible considering the various ups and downs that we saw but we really pulled through. Even as we left the airport waving our good byes, we knew that this was just an adventure trip which we took to get away from our real lives – the lives which we were to resume a day later. Even today, when I feel exhausted, I close my eyes and try to remember the green/white/brown picturesque views of Rohtang/Ladakh/Kargil. It makes me feel relaxed and calms me down – in short refreshes me! Such is the impact, a trip like this can have!

This was the 1^st time I ever undertook a trip like this and boy how amazing it turned out. We could easily have got stuck, got undone by nature, hell could have been fallen to our deaths, but we pulled through. I didn’t want to prove anything to anyone by going through with this trip but I proved one thing to myself – I pulled through adversity to witness some of the most beautiful views that nature had prepared to be seen!

I don’t know if ever I will undertake such an adventurous trip, but I do know one thing – I am really glad that I said “Yes” when asked about this!