Living in a houseboat when in Srinagar in Kashmir, is as essential as taking a gondola ride when in Venice. The Dal Lake located in the heart of the valley is choked with multiple houseboats, but there is one quaint corner west of the lake where Butt’s Clermont Houseboats are docked. This is the place to be for that unperturbed still reflection of the beautiful valley on the lake.

Famously, George Harrison abandoned his Beatles troupe to stay back here and learn to play the sitar from internationally acclaimed Indian musician Pandit Ravi Shankar. The tranquil surroundings of the houseboats justify such surge of passions. Writers, readers, loners and stoners can easily feel at home in these surprisingly equipped floating structures.

Every boat has a good sized living room, dining room, bedroom and bathroom complete with baths. Interiors are done in traditional Kashmiri woodwork and embroidery patterns. There is also an assigned butler, who is trained to entertain every reasonable whim (an oxymoron).

Local food fare is cooked home style in Clermont’s kitchen for guests – the menu covers local wazwan (age-old Kahmiri tradition of offering a communal style meal comrising of mainly meat-based dishes like rista, rogan josh - recipes have been passed down generations) to vegetarian Pandit dishes. The butler also ensures a constant supply of the classic Kashmiri noon chai (salty tea).

Butt’s Houseboats is an ideal setting to feel the privileged Kashmiri living with a hint of an old English cottage feel. The decks are ideal to perch on and immerse yourself in literature, and if in need of a break from the still idyllic scenery of the lake, step out for a stroll in the green Naseem Bagh, a garden said to be commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Cocooned in the summer capital of one of the most controversial conflict areas in the world, Butt’s hospitality envelopes you away from the ‘maddening crowd,’ like many testimonials claim. The chatty butlers and the owner Mr. Ghulam Nabi Butt will surely entertain you with tales of the first English owners or the extremist infested valley. Or you could just hop on a shikara (Kashmiri style gondolas) and just drift away.