In view of the conditions, we slept respectably well, but were annoyed when Rs5 baksheesh was demanded of us. We paid, but with ill-grace. Just about everyone we’ve met who’s been up to Kashmir has warned us about the touts in Srinagar, anxious to persuade one to go to their particular house-boat, so the outwardly affable fellow who tried to chat us up in the Centre never had a chance. He just took some convincing of the fact, that’s all. So we shook him off + marched out on our own.
Found a café to give us a cup of coffee to wake + warm us, then went searching for the Mona Lisa houseboat, to which we’d been recommended by a traveller in Ringo’s. We spotted it almost by accident, for the directions we’d been given were pretty poor, + got a young man to paddle us across in a shikara. The lake itself was nothing like I had imagined. Indeed, it was difficult to tell it was a lake at all, with a great row of boats parked with their noses to a strip of land 30 yds or so away, + parallel with the main road.
We were dropped at the bottom of the stairway leading up to the veranda at the stern of the boat. We were welcomed aboard by Sultan, the old man who owns the boat, + he showed us round. I for one was stunned by the size + opulence of the boat. Behind the veranda was a huge lounge, decorated in the style of a comfortable sitting-room back home, complete with 3-piece suite, standard lamps, + writing desk. Behind that was a good-sized dining-room; behind that, 2 huge bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. It was easily as luxurious as most houses we have been in, big enough, comfortable enough, clean enough for a family of 4. So much so that we had to check the price. But yes, it was just Rs25 each per day, breakfast included. We didn’t bother to look any further – this would do us nicely.
There were 2 other occupants of the boat, + we met them soon after, a couple of young Englishmen, Steve + Paul, both pleasant enough. We chatted with them pleasantly over breakfast, which turned out to be a long + leisurely affair. The whole morning followed that pattern, in fact, with a hot water mandi, + then sitting up in the increasingly warm sunshine up on the roof.
By around lunchtime, we had recovered sufficiently from our ordeals to go ashore. There we mixed some business, buying our ticket for Wednesday over to Ladakh (confounding all the definite information down in Delhi that the road was now closed), visiting the Post Office, with pleasure, + a look round the Govt Arts Emporium, situated in a wonderful old colonial building. We weren’t so impressed with the goods on show inside. We would have quite liked one of their wicker picnic hampers, I must say, but it would hardly have been a practical purchase.
In the evening, the 4 of us went to dinner at one of Srinagar’s recommended restaurants, where we met up with another English couple, Peter + Mary. They were very entertaining, with a lively sense of humour. The food, despite the reputation, was not very good. At least, I didn’t think so.
Definitely one of the happiest memories of our trip was discovering this relic of Raj luxury, at a price we could easily afford. My understanding is that this is far from the case nowadays.
