A Shikara Ride on Nigheen and Dal Lakes

The early-morning shikara (small boat) ride from Nigheen Lake in Srinagar, where we stayed on a houseboat (during our recent long motorcycle ride through Himachal, Ladakh, Kashmir and Punjab), to Dal Lake was very enjoyable. Since it was early in the morning, many birds were around, most looking for breakfast in the form of fish. They were pretty colourful and good-looking, and I would have loved to photograph them, but I did not have a camera with a zoom lens, and they did not come close enough to the boat for me to take a good picture. It was a treat to watch them sit on the lotus leaves floating on the lake or hop about from one such leaf to another. The young ones were actually running on the leaves.

On the way, we saw floating vegetable gardens, where, I was told, vegetables such as bottle gourds are grown. The roots of the lotus plant are also harvested and sold for use as vegetables. There were floating fences around the gardens, and people in boats tended to what they had planted within them. There is supposed to be a floating vegetable market, too, where the buyers and sellers both come in boats to conduct their business, but that is relatively early in the morning, and we missed it.

Many people who live on the lake-front don't have road access and use shikaras to commute. I even saw construction material being ferried on shikaras. There was even a school there, with floating fences on either side marking the waterway to approach it from the lake.

We also shopped at shops on stilts within the lake, where the shikara could be parked.

A kahwa (Kashmiri tea) seller came along on another shikara, and we all enjoyed a beverage.

At Dal Lake, I was disappointed to notice that they had built a couple of fast food joints on stilts almost in the middle, which spoiled the view.

Even at Nigheen Lake, sports such as water skiing have been introduced, which could spoil the serenity of the place. Fortunately, not many people indulged in such sports while we were there, and we had a good experience.