You sit low in a shikara before sunrise as boats loaded with vegetables from the lake's floating gardens drift in around you. This is the floating market near Nehru Park, where growers bargain from boat to boat while the carved houseboats along the shore are only starting to wake.
Away from the water, the terraces of Nishat Bagh climb the hillside above the lake, and in the old city the Jamia Masjid rests on rows of deodar pillars. Winters bring snow and frosty nights, spring is the wettest season and summer days turn warm. When your plans run out, a Local Friend picks the next stop, maybe a quiet ghat on the Jhelum.
