“I booked a “”tailor-made”” Sukoon experience, including a “”3 days camp & hike”” in the Aru Valley, a local hiking tour outside of Srinagar, and a 3 nights stay on the houseboat.
First of all – the planning and organisation of all these individual parts of my “”Sukoon experience”” was perfectly well done by the Sukoon people.
The camp in Aru Valley was luxurious with a “”real bed”” in my spacious tent, carpets, a little table with a mirror and bed side tables.
Just outside the sleeping tent there was a “”outhouse”” tent, with a comfy toilet in it, and a washing tent, with towels and hot & cold water in buckets.
While Manzoor and Rashid guided me on my hikes and took me to many beautiful spots in the Aru and Lidder Valley, Amin, the cook, prepared the most delicous Indian meals I could imagine.
What he created in his pretty basic kitchen tent was just amazing – and I enjoyed every bite of all his heavenly curries and dishes, especially after a day-long hike....
I felt pampered from A-Z.
Then I returned to Srinagar where the rest of the Sukoon Crew welcomed me very warmly.
The boat itself is a jewel in Dal Lake – with beautiful wooden walls, ceilings and floors, spacious rooms, indoor dining room as well as a deck with an outdoor dining area and sunbeds/umbrellas for relaxing hours.
The houseboat is reachable by the Sukoon´s own engine-driven Shikara.
Every time you need a ride, the Shikara is made ready for you within minutes.
The soul of Sukoon, and what makes this beautiful houseboat so homely, is the Sukoon people, with Bashir, Ashiq, Passang, Bela, and of course the kitchen crew around chef Amin.
They just do all they can (and even more) to make every stay on Sukoon a very memorable one.
They all live the great Kashmiri hospitality – and guest satisfaction always comes first.
Srinagar and Kashmir are so well worth a visit – and I (solo female traveller) felt 100 % safe, wherever I went, in town as well as in the mountains.
So – go ahead – and enjoy and discover this unique place!!!
THANK YOU dearest Sukoon-housboat-team for making my stay such a wonderful one.

(One thing about Reservation/Administration that is done by the headoffice in Delhi – Please be careful when making international bank transfers as in my case the money never arrived.
Even though the problem with the payment is not yet solved I am full of admiration how the manager of Sukoon in Srinagar, Mr. Muslim Naqash, is handling this case. THANK YOU!!!)”

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