A view over ornately carved wooden railings onto a row of houseboats near Boulevard Road on Dal Lake in Srinagar, in the vale of Kashmir. The house boats have different categories, with the top standard being panelled with carved wood, and furnished with locally made carved walnut furniture; one of the great experiences when travelling in India is a week on a Kashmiri houseboat.

There are around 1,500 houseboats on a series of lakes, of which Dal Lake and Nagin Lake are the largest. The boats are a relic of the Raj, originally built as a workaround by British officers in the 19th century, when they were denied the right to buy land in the valley by the Maharajah. After Indian independence, the Kashmiris developed and honed the tourism industry, creating regulations to preserve the beauty and peace of the valley.

Since 1989 the valley has been plunged into turmoil as Pakistan sponsored militants fought the Indian army, demanding that Kashmir be ceded to Pakistan; a conflict that has decimated tourism. Atrocities were committed by both sides, and only now, after 15 years, is there any sign of peace. Because of the war, the houseboat business is now under threat as there is only one builder of the magnificent hulls left, and he is in his seventies, with no-one left to take his place. Srinagar, Kashmir

More Kashmir images: in market gallery