Travel and Photography | Shikara Ride | A Moment to Remember in Kashmir

© 2012 Wazari Wazir | Shikara at Dal Lake Kashmir

For a newly wed couple I highly recommend you guys to visit Kashmir and give a Shikara Ride a try. I know that was a weird idea to start this blog, actually I just don’t know how to start writing this entry, I was so busy lately but anyway, yes I really mean it when I say that a newly wed couple should give a Shikara Ride a try. I know that some people will think and still think that Kashmir is among the most dangerous place to visit but you know what, life will be boring without some risk and adventure.

Kashmir is not at war, they are just a complicated and conflict area, demonstrations happens almost every weeks and sometimes there will be a casualty, but don’t let that “little risk” put a damper on your next adventure, from my one week experience there, it is a safe place to visit and in fact, the Srinagar airport is quite new, maybe just get renovated recently and that was a sign which I guess, that they are welcoming a tourist even though from the air, it looks like you are going to land into a military airport, yes it does look like a military airport from the air.

Some people claimed that Kashmir is a paradise on earth and most people know, that to get into “real paradise” is not a walk in the park kind of activity, you will be tested and only few people will really get into the paradise. Whether you agree or not, Kashmir is something like that, a paradise on earth, every rose has its thorns kind of things, it’s beautiful to my eyes and yes you have to be extra careful here but it is not that difficult to get here, you just have to believe yourself, trust yourself and don’t get yourself to be influence by what the media says about Kashmir, trust your instinct and please give Kashmir a visit.

Anyway, talking about the Shikara ride, it’s really a moment to remember. I came here last February which is in winter season and to Kashmiri people, winter is a low season for tourism, very few tourist visit Kashmir in winter and it is very difficult to spot a tourist here during my visit, maybe because it is too freezing cold here and I heard that last December, which is in December 2011, some part of Dal Lake is frozen. So you can forget about taking a Shikara ride then.

During peak season which is in Summer and Autumn, you can hire a Shikara for Rs300 per hour, I mean one Shikara which can comfortably seats four people inside. During my visit, which is in Winter, I get to hire a Shikara for just Rs100 per hour, which is a great bargain, for photographers I really recommend you to hire one Shikara for two person even though you came here with a large group of a photographers.

With two person inside the Shikara, you can asked your friend to take a picture of you and you can take a picture of your friend as well. We  photographers like to take pictures and we need a lot of room to move around changing angles and position, you can asked the Shikarawallah to take you around the Dal Lake at your pleasure, at your pace, and trust me, it is so huge, one hour ride felt like just a few minutes, and for me when I found some interesting angle, I just asked our Shikarawallah to “park” the Shikara in the middle of the lake and just wait until I get  the right subject to enter my frame, which is normally another Shikara or small boats against the Majestic Himalaya.

It is a pleasant ride and you will never get bored circling the beautiful Dal Lake surrounded by the great Himalaya as your background and I did hire a Shikara almost everyday, some days are better than the other, I mean sometimes the weather was not very good for photography and I decided too hire the same person over and over again because I like his service, most of them, Shikara owners does speaks English well, so communication is not a problem here.

Hopefully my pictures here will aroused your interest to visit Kashmir someday and gives Shikara a try, and if you are photographers like me, you will need more than a week here in Kashmir to really enjoy the scenery, most tourist only stays here for a periods of two or three night but as a photographer myself, I highly recommend you who have the same interest as mine, to give Kashmir more than a week and trust me, once you get back home, you will plan to make another visit.