Kashmir’s wooden houseboats are equally romantic. They date back to the British Raj, when the maharaja barred the British from owning property or building houses in Kashmir. Today, about 800 of these floating accommodations are moored on lakeshores around Srinagar, the largest city in India’s Jammu and Kashmir region. Ornately carved from cedar, they retain a vintage colonial appearance, even though they have modern amenities. Lavishly decorated with chandeliers and handwoven carpets, they feature several bedrooms and a dining room. (Rates include international and Kashmiri meals.) Local families look after the houseboats. Living in an adjoining kitchen boat, our staff included a cook and a boatman for our exclusive shikara – a small, paddled wooden boat. We enjoyed cocktails on our houseboat’s verandah, while admiring stunning views of the Himalayas over Dal Lake. Vendors selling colourful flowers paddled shikaras to our terrace. After dinner, our shikara transported us past illuminated houseboats to a doonga boat, where we joined other guests for evening entertainment. Seated on cushions, we listened to Kashmiri singers and musicians playing stringed instruments. Servers poured us Kashmiri tea – flavoured with saffron and cardamom – from a silver samovar. It was an evening to remember. kashmiritours.com/houseboats-in-srinagar Houseboat with a view Just as Srinagar features houseboats with a view, Chile boasts a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve lodge with jaw-dropping mountain scenery. Our window in the 49-room Explora Patagonia framed an awesome panorama of glacier-carved granite towers, reaching heights of up to 3,050 metres. Accommodations included gourmet meals, beverages, airport transfers and a choice of 42 guided hiking and horseback excursions for every ability. Each tour helped us discover the breathtaking beauty of Torres del Paine National Park, with 242,000 hectares of cascading waterfalls, towering pinnacles and turquoise lakes. Our most memorable hike was a daylong trek to Grey Glacier, which extends south into Grey Lake from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field – the third-largest continental ice field in the world. Its jagged ice wall resembled an ice castle with Gothic towers and buttresses. After a day of vigorous exercise, the sauna, heated pool, outdoor Jacuzzis and massages in the spa soothed our sore muscles. A gentle horseback ride through the vast grasslands was another highlight of our stay in Explora Patagonia. We felt as if we were huasos (Chilean cowboys). explora.com Mountain ecolodge 16 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
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