If there is one thing I would recommend to a fellow traveler to do in Srinagar, is to wake up at 4.00am and go see the vegetable markets on Dal Lake.

Farmers from the surrounding areas come down through the boat channels on the lake early morning with their produce to sell and buy. It’s a mad chaotic experience and all done on the water! I got up at 4.00am and the ever-punctual shikara-wala was waiting outside. Riding in the dark on a quiet lake, alone…is an eerie feeling…until you realize it’s a bloody motorway! There were several canoes just whizzing past us in the dark, all trying to get to the markets. It took a good 40-minutes to get there. And it rained on the way as well!

Here the pictures from the markets, it gets clearer as the sun comes up. The markets only last as long as the produce does and by 6.00am everyone is usually vamoosed. It’s a real feel-good experience and it gives you a chance to connect to the daily lives of the Srinagar Kashmiris.