Manasbal Garden, Kashmir

The banks of the Manasbal are deserted now, the gardens are in ruins. Only a few sportsmen, or hardy tourists, venture their boats up the narrow canal, and anchor in the shadow of the old chenars. Fashion sets away elsewhere, toward the English hill stations, with their small log huts perched high up on the mountain sides. But the Mughals, with their love of scenery and genius for garden-building, rarely chose a better site than the shores of this loveliest and loneliest of all the Kashmir lakes. [Note: Manasbal Lake is in the Jhelum Valley, Kashmir]