NEW DELHI: Kashmir is the safest and most popular tourist destination in India, say agents and lure foreign tourists into visiting the state.

One Turkish traveler, Arzu Khan, came to India to study yoga in Rishikesh. "They told me all the tickets were booked," said Arzu. "But they showed me magazine articles about how safe and popular Kashmir is." She agreed to go.

For $250, she was put on a flight there with houseboat accommodation once she arrived. Once on the houseboat, she was informed by the manager that she could not leave without an escort.

The manager also demanded more money, claiming that he had not received the full payment. For an extra fee, she was taken trekking, where her hosts told her to run away if they saw a group of soldiers approaching.

"I found this a bit strange. I thought they wanted tourists."

Khan, who is a non-practicing Muslim, says the people she met were very friendly, and often told her she was their sister because of their shared faith. However, "they also sometimes made me feel like a captive."

Another traveler, Mario Torres from Queens, New York, described a similar feeling. "When I got to the houseboat they told me it would be an extra $250 to go trekking or fishing. I got angry and said 'you people lied to me, I want to go back'. I was trapped, so I basically sat in the houseboat for the entire four days. At night I heard a ton of gunshots and some bombs."

More Kashmir fun-facts here