Srinigar, in the Kashmir region of northern India, sits on a big, shallow lake at the edge of the Himalayas. Most ‘hotels’ are houseboats, reachable only by hand-paddled gondolas. Central Srinigar is like a cross between Venice Italy and a Louisiana bayou.

The history of the houseboats is a quirky rule dating back to the 1800s when the area was a British colony: the Brits were prohibited from owning property, but were free to float a fancy boat on the lake.