When you think of Srinagar, you think of the Dal Lake.

And I think of Shashi Kapoor romancing Sharmila Tagore in Kashmir ki Kali. {Yes, yes, complete cliché, but it is what it is.} So it should be no surprise that a shikara ride was right up there on my have-to-do list. I was so eager to experience the romance of the shikara that I dragged the husband to the Dal almost as soon as we had checked in to our hotel.

I had heard that the Dal Lake is dotted with shikaras selling everything from trinkets to chips and Coke, and that they start hounding you almost the minute you get into a boat. That was not what I wanted at all, and I was prepared to tell the boatman that in no uncertain terms. But when we reached the lake, I didn’t see any other shikaras floating around – how lucky was that?Continue reading→