Oct 15 – Nov 5
Saffron harvest in Pampore
Two nights on a Dal Lake houseboat, a dawn pluck in the world's second-largest saffron field, a kahwa workshop with the family that still hand-grades it.
The crocus flowers for about a fortnight and is picked at dawn, before the sun opens the blooms and costs the stigmas their oil. Each flower carries three threads, which is the whole explanation for what saffron costs.
The karewa terraces around Pampore have grown it for centuries. Separating and grading is still hand work done indoors afterwards, usually by the same families who picked it, and the window shifts by a week or two with the weather each year.
The shape of it
Day 1
Onto the houseboat
Two nights on Dal Lake, and an early start to plan for.
Day 2
The dawn pluck
Out to the karewa terraces before the sun opens the blooms and costs the stigmas their oil. Afterwards, the kahwa workshop with the family that still hand-grades the threads.
Day 3
Off the water
The last morning on the lake.
Reserve dates
Every stay is confirmed by a person, not an algorithm. Tell us your dates and we will come back to you on this offer and what is available around it.
