Kashmir Valley of Paradise

Fly into Srinagar and transfer to a houseboat on Nigeen, the quieter of the two lakes, all walnut carving and khatamband ceilings. Late afternoon, take a shikara out among the floating gardens and the willow channels behind Char Chinar island, with a kettle of kahwa on board. Dinner is your first wazwan: rogan josh, tabak maaz and rista over rice, eaten slowly.

An early shikara to the vegetable market near Rainawari, where growers trade boat to boat for an hour before the sun is properly up. Back for breakfast, then the old city: the deodar columns of Jamia Masjid, Khanqah-e-Moula on the Jhelum, and a papier-mache workshop where the naqashi is still painted freehand. Afternoon in the Mughal terraces of Nishat and Shalimar, and sunset from Shankaracharya hill.

Fifty kilometres and two hours west, climbing through the conifers above Tangmarg to Gulmarg at 2,650 metres. Ride the gondola in two stages, first to Kongdoori and then to Apharwat at 3,979 metres, where snow lies well into June and the ridge line beyond is the Line of Control. Walk the meadow past the shingle-roofed St Mary's Church and the eighteen-hole golf course, the highest in the world.

Descend and cross the valley, about 140 kilometres and four hours, stopping at Pampore, where the saffron crocus is picked through late October and November, and at the ninth-century Avantiswami temple ruins at Awantipora. Reach Pahalgam by mid-afternoon, 2,130 metres, and walk the stony banks of the Lidder under the pines. Dinner is trout from the river, grilled plainly, which is the right way here.

A local-taxi day, since private vehicles cannot go beyond Pahalgam town. Up the Lidder to Betaab valley, named after the 1983 film shot there, then to Aru at about 2,400 metres, the trailhead for the Kolahoi glacier and the Tarsar and Marsar lakes. Afternoon by the water at Ganeshbal, or a round on the nine-hole course. Chandanwari, where the Amarnath yatra begins, is sixteen kilometres further if the road is open.

Back through Srinagar and northeast up the Sindh valley, roughly 170 kilometres and five hours, past Kangan and Gund with the river running green alongside the road. Sonamarg sits at 2,730 metres where the climb to Zoji La and Ladakh begins. Late afternoon, ride or walk the three kilometres to the snout of the Thajiwas glacier and watch the last light leave Sirbal peak.

An unhurried morning by the Sindh, then eighty kilometres back to Srinagar, about two and a half hours. Time for Hazratbal on the north shore of the Dal, and for Polo View and Zaina Kadal to buy pashmina, crewel work and walnut wood, with the government arts emporium as a price benchmark. Airport transfer allowing three hours, since Srinagar security checks are slow.