Kashmir. The Dal lake // SAYA.UZ

Published: 2025-10-18 20:49:14 +07:00

Took place on: 2025-09-12

The Dal lake is the most famous sight of Kashmir and Srinagar (the region capital) in particular.

That's, unfortunately, was the only sight I could experience in the city. I planned to get here by 10 am. But I didn't get in time -- my Uber just refused to log me in with my phone number and order a taxi, so I had to do it with the help of a hotel receptionist (who appeared at desk only by 7:30). And I had to buy a new flight -- late by 4 hours.

Then I tried to order a sim-card in the Srinagar airport. A trait of Ladakh/Kashmir territories is that the mobile network here is isolated. Not just data, but also cellular. Only local SIMs work here, not just Indian! And those also don't work outside the region.

It's tough for a foreigner to get a sim-card here. 2 years ago the procedure was really simple, but now one has to spend about half an hour to fill a big questionnaire with ambiguous fields, and so does a "trusted" face. This form then gets sent to a cell operator's server, where half of responses is a server error, and the other is rejections due to a nitpick (and you won't see, if you had any more!). In both cases you fill the form again.

So, another fruitless hour.

And then we've waited with my driver for the next 1.5 hours to pick up a family, my co-mates in the tour. :///

So I'd arrived at the hotel only by 5 pm, when the dusk was close.

The lake is traditionally a trade post for Kashmiris

The commerce still lives, though now mostly oriented to tourists

The floating houses are beautiful in their architecture.

Srinagar is one interesting city I would visit again. The buddy in the group told me, that he was not keen at all on it, but I spectated here a unique architectural style (not just some squatter, typical for India), some more promising sites and a huge old town.

These are floatinghearts, if I'm not mistaken. It's good for animal food

The dusk. 6 pm.

The Dal lake and Kashmir in general are lush subtropical regions. It has more comfortable climate, at least for me, as during the day there was +24°C (~ +75°F) max, while the evening was pleasantly cool. The air is drier too. The region can also have a chilly winter with snowstorms.

The lake's also got famous Mughal gardens, but I guess, 1 hour sailing was not enough for them.

The closer to night, the stronger mist is.

On the east coast of the lake are hills of Zabarwan, a popular place for trekking

Selling out to Coca-Cola.

Btw, this ad is identical across the whole Kashmir.

That's shikara -- I boarded one too!

The Dal has its own straits and bays

The coast we'd reached, I suppose, is more focused on the tourists. That's the place, where one can buy those famous Kashmiri clothes, fabrics, silk and rugs. The shops themselves are looking modern here.