Skardu
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- This article is about the Skardu town, for the District of Skardu, see Skardu District
Skardu (Urdu: سکردو), the capital of Baltistan is part of Northern Areas along with Gilgit Region - and Skardu is one of the districts of Northern Areas. Skardu borders Kargil district in east, Astore in South, Kashmir in south east, and Gilgit district in the west. It is located in the wide (10 km) and long (40 km) Skardu Valley, in the very place in which the Indus River receives the Shigar River waters. Indus River flows from tibet, passes through Ladakh and then enters Pakistan through Baltistan. Skardu is also a district of Baltistan. Situated at nearly 2500 m (8,200 feet), the town is surrounded by gray-brown coloured mountains, which hide the 8,000 metre peaks of the nearby Karakoram range.
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[edit] Major hub for expeditions
Skardu is one of the two major hubs of all trekking expeditions in Northern Areas, a region that includes four of the fourteen Eight-thousander peaks (8,000m and above) of the world. The other hub is Gilgit. The tourist season is from April to October.
From Skardu two roads lead to the Askole and Hushe Valleys, main doorgates to the snowy giants, and to the huge glaciers of Baltoro, Biafo, and Trango. Here begins the way for climbing legendary mountains such as K2, Gasherbrums, Broad Peak and the Trango Towers. This makes the town a major summer tourist hotpoint, which results in many hotels and shops in the area, and in the trekking season, expensive prices. Treks to the highest plains in Pakistan, Deosai Plains either start from Skardu or end at Skardu. At a height of about 4,100m (13,500 feet), these are the second highest plains of the world, second only to Tibet. In local Tibetan language, Deosai is called Byarsa which means the 'summer place'. Approximately 5000 square kilometer in area, the plains extend all the way to Ladakh and provide habitat for snow leopards, ibex, brown Tibetan bears and wild horses.
[edit] The town
The town is built up along the main road, and both sides of this grows up the New Bazaar (Naya Bazaar) in which hundreds of shops offer almost everything. To the west one finds Yadgar Chowk, with a ugly monument, and from there, the quarter behind Naya Bazaar, in the right hand side is Purana Bazaar, the old one. Following west from Naya Bazaar, there is a polo ground, and next Kazmi Bazaar. Skardu appears as a dusty town, but its people are colourful. Streets are full of men (almost no women), mainly Balti Tibetans, but many other ethnicities pack the streets of the bazaars: Pashtun, Punjabis, Hunzakuts, and even Uyghur, due to the close proximity of Baltistan to these regions. Since Pakistani occupation, advent of Pathans and Punjabis is on rise, threatening livelihood and cultural identity of the local Tibetan Baltis. Some of the names of the mohallahs in Skardu town are Khache-drong, Khar-drong, Olding, Kushu-bagh, Pakora, Thsethang, Sher-thang, Nagholi-spang etc.
[edit] Climate of Skardu
The tourist season is from April to October. The maximum temperature is 27C and the minimum (October) 8C. However, in December-January, the temperatures can reach below -10C. The Skardu valley is snowbound during the winter months. Often the road blocks at Karakoram Highway cut the road link (Karakoram Highway) of areas like Gilgit, Skardu and Hunza from the rest of the country. Although Baltistan is connected with Ladakh and Kashmir with four or five routes, it has only one road connection with Pakistan. once this road is blocked, you are cut off from rest of the world. sometimes blockades are for weeks, but more often, opened within 2 - 5 days time. The local people are demanding from Pakistan to open roads towards India so tourists do not remain stuck and Pakistan is reluctant to do that. The air travel is also disturbed by the unreliable weather of Skardu and on some occasions flights are be delayed by several days because of weather. Furthr, air travel is very expensive nowadays.
[edit] Skardu Fort (Kharpochhe Fort)
Skardu Fort or Kharpochhe Fort is a fort that lies on the eastern face of the Khardrong or Mindoq-Khar ("Castle of Queen Mindoq") hill 40 ft above Skardu city. There is an old mosque inside the fort as well. The fort dates from the 8 century CE. A view from these monuments brings into vision the entire valley, the Indus River and the settlement below. The fort was built by Rmakpon dynasty rulers of Baltistan and it was a seven storey building. It was burnt by sikhs in the 18th century AD. It resembled the Ladakh fort of Leh which is 9 storey tall. The Potala of Lhasa Tibet, Leh fort and Skardu fort are all built on same designs. The name Kharpochhe means the great fort. Khar in Tibetan means castle or fort and Chhe means great.
[edit] Lakes in Skardu
There are three lakes in Skardu:
[edit] Katsura Thso Lakes
There are two Katsura Lakes; the Upper Katsura lake and the Lower Katsura Lake. The latter is also known as the Shangrila Lake. The Upper Katsura lake is not as famous as the Shangrila Lake.
There is resort at Lower Katsura lake that is known as Shangrila Resort. It is another popular destination for tourists in Pakistan. The resort has a unique kind of restaurant that has been set up inside the fuselage of an aircraft that crashed nearby.
[edit] Satpara Thso Lake
Satpara Thso Lake or Sadpara Lake is the main lake in Skardu Valley which supplies water for the town of Skardu. It is one of the most picturesque lakes in Pakistan. In 2002, the Government of Pakistan decided to build a dam on the Satpara Lake. [1] The Government allocated Rs. 600 million ($10 million) for Satpara Dam project in 2004's financial year. [2] The progress on the project, however, has been slow. [3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Jettmar, Karl et al. (1985): Zwischen Gandhara und den Seidenstrassen: Felsbilder am Karakorum Highway: Entdeckungen deutsch-pakistanischer Expeditionen 1979-1984. 1985. Mainz am Rhein, Philipp von Zabern.
- Jettmar. Karl (1980): Bolor & Dardistan. Karl Jettmar. Islamabad, National Institute of Folk Heritage.
- PIA's page about Northern Areas
[edit] External links
- Blankonthemap The Northern Kashmir WebSite
- Skardu Map
- The Changing Northern Areas
- WUnderground.com - Weather of Skardu
- Photos from Skardu, Kachura Lake and Satpara Lake by Waqas Usman
- Photos from Skardu and Kachura Lake by Arif Khan
