E-Paper
Fearless fun-seekers hop on house boats
IF YOU thought a trip to terror-torn Jammu & Kashmir was just for the sake of being part of the many religious tourist groups trekking the foothills of the Himalayan range every year, read on. The trend to spend holidays on house boats on the Dal Lake in Srinagar is making a comeback, especially among the fun-hungry Lucknowites.
IF YOU thought a trip to terror-torn Jammu & Kashmir was just for the sake of being part of the many religious tourist groups trekking the foothills of the Himalayan range every year, read on. The trend to spend holidays on house boats on the Dal Lake in Srinagar is making a comeback, especially among the fun-hungry Lucknowites.
More and more package tour operators are asking Lucknowites to book house boats for them on the Dal Lake, abandoning all fears of militancy in the trouble-torn north Indian State. Shikara boat rides are yet another unique selling proposition being promoted by a host of tour operators.
The local tour managers, in fact, have started sending off tourists from Lucknow on package tours to spend time in house boats at an average of 5 to 6 families every month.
Vijay Massey and his wife Dr Rani Massey were among Lucknowites availing a package tour organised by the international travel house SOTC. The Lucknow couple was among the many other tourists from Gujarat and West Bengal who spent memorable time on ornate house boats from May 30 to June 5. “The Dal Lake is heavily fortified all around by gun-toting securitymen, but you enjoy every moment of being in the house boat which, as the locals say, are worth Rs 1 crore each for their rich oak wood structure and furnishing”, said Vijay Massey.
“There are some 1,200 house boats on the Dal Lake. Jammu and Kashmir is truly paradise on earth, so we discovered during our trip”, commented Dr Rani Massey.
“The Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Department does not have tie-ups with private tour operators. However, we feel this would happen in due course since more and more tourists from Lucknow pine for a stay on house boats”, Syed Rizwan Ahmed of international travel house SOTC told HT Lucknow Live. He said the lingering fear among tourists against journey to Jammu & Kashmir is understandable, but, they are gradually gathering courage to visit the paradise on earth and enjoying their trips.
Rizwan said low-cost air fares being offered for travel to Jammu and Kashmir is added attraction for tourists to plan their holidays to a destination full of pleasant surprises.
Our experience tells us that tourists who have visited Jammu and Kashmir despite the militancy threat have returned satisfied and want to travel to the destination again, he said.
Most tourists, however, still prefer to take a flight to Jammu rather than travel by train. A number of tourists who have mostly travelled to tourists spots in Himachal Pradesh now want to spend holidays in the exotic locations of Jammu & Kashmir, he added.
