What to do in Srinagar - 10 tips

1. Upon arriving take your time to find the perfect houseboat to stay. As you probably are arriving late from either Leh or Jammu, spend the first evening just chilling on the front deck of the boat and soaking in the Kashmiri atmosphere.

There's nothing quite like Srinagar in the evening: the air fills with prayers from the numerous mosques around the city and the different coloured lights of the houseboats give the lake an evocative feel.

2. On your second day go and explore the city. Be forewarned though: the maps in guide books (LP 2007 and Rough Guide 2009) are particularly bad on the city center. So you just have to ask around. In Srinagar that's a pleasure as the people will go out of their way to help you around - free of charge, no guiding. I spent my first day in Srinagar with the wonderful Hilal whom I met in the Jama Mashid, a grand mosque and Srinagar's main place of worship. From there he took me through the bazaars to the

slightly bizarre brick tomb of Mother of Zain-ul-Adidin, to the astonishingly beautiful shrine of Shah-i-Hamadan (in the pic), to Sufi shrine Pir Dastgir Sahib and to a Sikh temple.

3. When visiting the mosques don't be shy about your camera. Do ask before taking any pics but at least in my case the attendants were all too quick to tell me to take photos before I managed to open my mouth. The oddest thing was that the most photogenic looking old men with either piercing eyes or a cool costume came to me and asked me to take their photo as if they knew I wanted to picture them. I'm telling you, they are doing your work for you.

4. Girls, do keep a scarf with you all the time if you intend to visit the mosques. It's mandatory. There's a sign at the Pir Dastgir Sahib saying visitors are not allowed in naked, but that's a serious understatement.

5. If you come here during the Ramadan like I unknowingly did, visit the silly secret cafes. There men, who are supposed to be fasting and keeping a way from cigarettes, make chimneys seem like a blast from the Middle Ages. You will recognise a secret cafe from the curtains on the door. It's like going back to sixth grade when the bad boys smoked behind the corner, away from the eyes of the teachers.

6. On your second day hire a shikara (a roofed little boat, with plush pillows to lie on) for tour of the lake. You'll see floating gardens (the lotuses are in full bloom in end of May), fishermen, floating markets if you get moving early enough (5AM), more of beautiful houseboats and the amazing reflections of the mountains and clouds on the clear, quiet lake.

On the way you can stop to Hazratbal mosque, which with its Taj Mahal -like features, is the only big mosque in the city which looks like a mosque. The others, Kashmiri styled square mosques with balconies are apparently unique in the islamic world.

A full day shikara tour will cost you 600-1000 rupees per boat (9-13 euros).

7. If you are on a low budget like I am, travelling alone and not having anyone to share the cost of boat with, a cheaper alternative is to do the tour on a normal paddle boat and paddle along with your guide. I can tell you, it's good exercise. The cost of renting just the boat with no boatman and no guide is 200-250 rupees for a day. But I think this way you'll only get lost as there are not that many boats on the big Dal lake to get directions from,

8. You should visit one of the gardens for which Srinagar is famed for. I stopped at the Nishat Bagh, a lovely garden built by the emperor Jehagir. I spent a jolly hour there with Ahmed and Zahoor, professors of English and physics. They tought me some Persian:Agar Firdous Baroai Zameen Ast, Hamin Ast, Hamin Ast, Hamin Ast. It means "if there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here. The words which refer to Kashmir are by the emperor Jehangir. In turn I tought Ahmed and Zahoor that Nokia is a town in Finland. I never claimed to be much of a poet.

9. Here's an odd tip: Visit the ATM at the headquarters of Jammu and Kashmir bank at the beginning of Lal Chowk, close to Dal Gate 1. The ATM is housed within the building and you have to ask the guards who are there 24/7 to escort you to the ATM. On the way they might show you pictures of the president of the bank shaking hands with important people and give you some dates to munch on while you withdraw money in the presence of an armed guard. Pretty sweet, eh?

10. Should it rain one evening, watching Enemy at Gates with Jude Law with your 61-year-old houseboat owner is perfect entertainment. The movie, in which Jude Law plays a Russian sniper in the Battle of Staliningrad has absolutely nothing to do with anything which is why it makes such a funny topic of discussion.

As a general rule I can safely state, that the people of Srinagar are the most welcoming I've met during my four trips to India. They are eager to talk to you and will want you to tell friends at home to visit Srinagar as the lovely city is dying to get foreign tourists back. The tourists left Srinagar 20 years ago, when the Hindu-Muslim tensions got to yet another breaking point and a series of terrorist attacks shattered the image of the city - not to mention kidnapping of foreing tourists. But now, and I'm not saying this at gunpoint: if you thinking of visiting India, try to fit Srinagar into your itinerary. It's simply wonderful.

See my previous post on how to find the perfect houseboat here.