Skardu Town as seen from the Skardu Fort

Skardu (Urdu: سکردو) is the principle town and capital of Baltistan district, one of the districts making up Pakistan's Northern Areas (also part of the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir). Skardu borders Kargil district (within Indian-administered Kashmir) to the east, Astore to the south, Kashmir and Azad Kashmir to the south east and Gilgit district in the west. Skardu is located in the 10 km wide by 40km long Skardu Valley, at the confluence of the Indus river (flowing from near Kailash in Tibet and through neighbouring Ladakh before reaching Balistan) and the Shigar river. Skardu is situated at an altitude of 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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 167 KB) Summary The Skardu town as seen from the Skardu Fort. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 167 KB) Summary The Skardu town as seen from the Skardu Fort. ... Entrance to the Skardu Fort Skardu Town as seen from the Skardu Fort The ancient mosque at the fort Skardu Fort or Karpachu Fort is a fort in Skardu city in Northern Areas of Pakistan that dates from the tenth century CE. An ancient mosque is also present inside the... Urdu ( , , trans. ... Baltistan (Urdu: بلتستان) , also known as Baltiyul in the Balti language, is a region to the north of Kashmir, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... Kargil was a part of Gilgit-Baltistan before 1947, but now is a town in the Indian-controlled Kashmir. ... Astore Valley is a District in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... The Islamic Republic of Azad Kashmir (Urdu: , English: ) is part of the Pakistani-administered section of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, along with the Northern Areas; its official name is Azad Jammu and Kashmir. ... Gilgit Valle,By Rakaposhi Hiking Club Nawabshah Budhas Picture at Kargah,By Rakaposhi Hiking Club Nawabshah Gilgit (Urdu: گلگت) is the capital city of the Northern Areas, Pakistan. ... The Indus is a river; the Indus River. ... Kailash may refer to: Mount Kailash Kailash (journal) This site tell about the Greatest of Gods Lord Shiva and also his gift to mankind, the Holy Rudraksha Bead This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. ... Ladakh (Tibetan script: ལ་དྭགས་, Ladakhi IPA: , Hindi: लद्दाख़, Hindi IPA: , Urdu: لدّاخ; land of high passes) is a region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in Northern India sandwiched between the Karakoram mountain range to the north and the Himalayas to the south. ... Shigar is a valley and a town in Baltistan near Skardu that is watered by Shigar River. ... Cho Oyu, Lhotse, Makalu and Mount Everest as seen from the International Space Station. ... Karakoram is a mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, China, and India, located in the regions of Gilgit, Ladakh and Baltistan. ...

Tourism, trekking and mountain expedition base

Skardu, along with Gilgit, are the two major tourism, trekking and expidition hubs in the Northern Areas. It is the mountainous terrain of the region, including four of the world's fourteen Eight-thousander peaks (8,000m and above), which attracts the attention of tourists, rekkers and mountaineers from around the world. The main tourist season is from April to October - outside this time, the area can be cut off for extended periods by the snowy, freezing winter weather. Gilgit Valle,By Rakaposhi Hiking Club Nawabshah Budhas Picture at Kargah,By Rakaposhi Hiking Club Nawabshah Gilgit (Urdu: گلگت) is the capital city of the Northern Areas, Pakistan. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... Cho Oyu, Lhotse, Makalu and Mount Everest as seen from the International Space Station. ...

Accessible from Skardu by road, the nearby Askole and Hushe Valleys are the main gateways to the snow covered 8,000 m peaks including K2, the Gasherbrums, Broad Peak and the Trango Towers, and also to the huge glaciers of Baltoro, Biafo and Trango. This makes Skardu the main tourist and mountaineering base in the area, which has led to the development of a reasonably extensive tourist infrastruture including shops and hotels. However, the popularity of the region results in high prices, especially during the main trekking season. K2, the 2nd highest of the world Broad Peak, the 12th highest of the world Askole or Askoly is a small town located in the Braldu Valley in the most remote region of Karakoram mountains in Northern Areas, Pakistan. ... The North Face of K2 K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth. ... Gasherbrum is a remote group of peaks located at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram range of the Himalaya. ... Broad Peak (originally named K3) is the 12th highest mountain on Earth and 4th highest in Pakistan. ... The Trango Towers are a group of dramatic granite spires located on the north side of the Baltoro Glacier, in Baltistan, a district of the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... K2 from Concordia The Baltoro Glacier, at over 70 kilometers long, is one of the longest glaciers outside of the polar regions. ... Biafo Glacier is a 60km long glacier in the Hispar Pass (Northern Areas, Pakistan)which meets the 61km long Hispar Glacier at an altitude of 5,151m (16,900 feet) to make one of the longest glacial systems outside the polar region. ... Trango Glacier is a glacier near Trango Tower mountain in Baltistan, Northern Areas of Pakistan. ...

Treks to the Deosai Plains, the second highest in the world (at 4,100 m or 13,500 feet) after the Chang Tang in Tibet, either start from or end at Skardu. In local Tibetan language, Deosai is called Byarsa, meaining 'summer place'. With an area of approximately 5,000 square kilometers, the plains extend all the way to Ladakh and provide habitat for snow leopards, ibex, Tibetan brown bears and wild horses. Deosai National Park is located above the tree line and at an average height of 13,500 feet above sea level, the Deosai Plains are among the highest plateaus in the world. ... Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Sichuan Province of China lie on the Tibetan Plateau. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. ...

The town and the local people

The town has developed along the main road passing through it and to either side of this road is situated the New Bazaar (Naya Bazaar), with hundreds of shops offer almost everything (trekking supplies, souvenirs, local goods, etc.). To the west one finds Yadgar Chowk (with local monument) and from there, the quarter behind Naya Bazaar, to the right hand side is the older Purana Bazaar. Travelling west from Naya Bazaar is a polo ground and next to that, Kazmi Bazaar.

Skardu appears remote, dusty town at first glance, but the mixture of people here make it colourful and ethnically diverse. The crowded streets are mainly populated by Balti Tibetans and many of the local neighbourhoods (mohallahs) have names that reflect this too (i.e. Khache-drong, Khar-drong, Olding, Kushu-bagh, Pakora, Thsethang, Sher-thang, Nagholi-spang etc.). Due to this strong presence, Skardu has sometimes been referred to as the little Tibet of Pakistan. The Balti are a people of Tibetan descent with some Dardic admixture whose population of 400,000 is found in Pakistani-controlled Baltistan (a former district of Ladakh); and in Kargil and Leh districts of Ladakh, a region in Indian-controlled Jammu & Kashmir. ...

However, many other ethnic groups are present in Skardu including Pashtuns, Punjabis, Hunzakuts and even Uyghur, due to the close proximity of Baltistan to the respective regions. Since the creation of Pakistan people of various ethnicities from various regions of Pakistan have emmigrated here. The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, or ethnic Afghan; in referring to the period of the British Raj or earlier, sometimes Pathan) are an ethnic/religious group of people, living primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India who follow Pashtunwali, their indigenous religion. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ...

All the above ethnic groups are devout Muslims. This includes the Balti-Tibetans, who were converted from Tibetan Buddhism in the 16th century (the only sizeable group of Tibetans to have undergone such a conversion). Shia Islam has a strong presence in Skardu. A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... Tibetan Buddhism is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region (including northern Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh), Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (Russia), and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... A Tibetan pilgrim The Tibetans speak the Tibetan language natively and form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), although in anthropological terms they include more than one ethnic group. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

Entrance to the Skardu Fort

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 169 KB) Summary The entrance of the Skardu Fort. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 169 KB) Summary The entrance of the Skardu Fort. ... Entrance to the Skardu Fort Skardu Town as seen from the Skardu Fort The ancient mosque at the fort Skardu Fort or Karpachu Fort is a fort in Skardu city in Northern Areas of Pakistan that dates from the tenth century CE. An ancient mosque is also present inside the...

Weather and climate

The climate of Skardu during the summer is moderated by it's mountain setting and the intense heat of lowland Pakistan does not reach here. The mountains also block out the summer monsoon and summer rainfall is thus quite low. However, these mountains result in very severe winter weather. During the April to October tourist season, temperatures vary between a maximum of 27°C and a minimum (in October) 8°C. However, temperatures can drop to below -10°C in the December-to-January midwinter period. Monsoon in the Vindhya mountain range, central India A monsoon is a rainy season which lasts for several months and has lasting climatic effects. ...

Shangrila Resort, Skardu

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 217 KB) Summary Shangrila Lake in Skardu, Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 217 KB) Summary Shangrila Lake in Skardu, Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... Shangrila Resort, Skardu Shangrila Lake or Lower Kachura Lake is a part of the Shangrila resort located at a drive of about 20 minutes from Skardu (nearly 2500 m or 8,200 feet) town. ...

Transport

Skardu is accessible by two methods, road or air. The normal road route into Skardu is via the Karakorum Highway and a linkroad into the Skardu Valley from it. There are also four or five other road links to Kashmir and Ladakh. Alternatively, there are normally one or two flights daily between Skardu Airport and Islamabad. The high cost of air travel means that road travel via the Karakorum Highway and the link road onward to the Skardu Valley is often the preferred option of locals and tourists alike. The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is the highest international road in the world. ... The Skardu Valley is located in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ...

The climate can have adverse affects on transport in and out of the Skardu Valley, as Skardu becomes snowbound during the winter months. Often the roads in and out of Skardu (and other Northern Areas locations) can be blocked for weeks at a time depending on conditions (though two to five days is more normal), sometimes leaving air travel as the only feasible alternative. However, air travel in winter is also subject to disruption due to the unreliable Skardu weather and flights can occasionally be delayed by several days.

Satpara Lake in 2002

Image File history File linksMetadata SatparaLakeSkardu1215. ... Image File history File linksMetadata SatparaLakeSkardu1215. ... Satpara Lake in 2002 Satpara Lake is an important lake in Skardu Valley which supplies water for the town of Skardu, which is located at 2286 meters (7500 ft). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

Skardu Fort (Kharpochhe Fort)

Skardu Fort or Kharpochhe Fort lies on the eastern face of the Khardrong or Mindoq-Khar ("Castle of Queen Mindoq") hill 15 metres or 40 feet above Skardu town. The fort dates from the 8th Century CE and contains an old mosque probably dating back to the arrival of Islam in the 16th Century CE. The fort provides a panoramic view of Skardu town, the Skardu valley and the Indus River. The fort was built by Rmakpon dynasty rulers of Baltistan and it was a seven storey building. It was burnt down by Sikhs in the 18th Century AD. Entrance to the Skardu Fort Skardu Town as seen from the Skardu Fort The ancient mosque at the fort Skardu Fort or Karpachu Fort is a fort in Skardu city in Northern Areas of Pakistan that dates from the tenth century CE. An ancient mosque is also present inside the... Satellite image of the Indus River basin. ...

Kharpochhe (Skardu) fort was built on a design similar to that of Leh Palace and the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. The name Kharpochhe means the great fort - Khar in Tibetan means castle or fort and Chhe means great. The ruined Royal Palace at Leh. ... The Potala Palace located in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India after a failed uprising in 1959. ... Lhasa (Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་; Wylie: lha sa; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), sometimes spelled Llasa, is the traditional capital of Tibet and the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. ... Tibetan can refer to: A place or item from Tibet. ...

Lakes near Skardu

There are three lakes in the vicinity of Skardu. In local Balti-Tibetan language, a lake is a thso or tso.

Katsura Thso Lakes

There are two Kachura Lakes - the less well known Upper Kachura lake and the more famous Lower Kachura Lake, better known as Shangrila Lake. Lower Katsura lake is home to the Shangrila Resort hotel complex (possibly the reason for the lakes alternative name), built in a Chinese style and another popular destination for tourists in Pakistan. The resort has a unique style of restaurant, set up inside the fuselage of an aircraft that crashed nearby. Kachura Lakes are two of the lakes in Skardu (nearly 2500 m or 8,200 feet); the Upper Kachura Lake and Lower Kachura Lake. ... Upper Kachura Lake, Skardu Kachura Lakes are two of the lakes in Skardu (nearly 2500 m or 8,200 feet); the Upper Kachura Lake and Lower Kachura Lake. ... Shangrila Lake or Lower Kachura Lake is a part of the Shangrila resort located at a drive of about 20 minutes from Skardu (nearly 2500 m or 8,200 feet) town. ... Shangrila Resort, Skardu Shangrila Lake or Lower Kachura Lake is a part of the Shangrila resort located at a drive of about 20 minutes from Skardu (nearly 2500 m or 8,200 feet) town. ... Shangrila Resort, Skardu Shangrila Lake or Lower Kachura Lake is a part of the Shangrila resort located at a drive of about 20 minutes from Skardu (nearly 2500 m or 8,200 feet) town. ... The fuselage can be short, and seemingly unaerodynamic, as in this Christen Eagle 2 The fuselage (from the French fuselé spindle-shaped) is an aircrafts main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. ... Look up aircraft in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Satpara Thso Lake

Satpara Thso Lake or Sadpara Lake is Skardu Valley's main lake, supplying water for Skardu town and reputedly one of the most picturesque lakes in Pakistan. In 2002, the Government of Pakistan decided to build a dam on the Satpara Lake [1] allocating Rs. 600 million ($10 million) to the Satpara Dam project, two years later in 2004 [2]. Progress on the project has, however, been slow [3]. Satpara Lake in 2002 Satpara Lake is an important lake in Skardu Valley which supplies water for the town of Skardu, which is located at 2286 meters (7500 ft). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Government of Pakistan (Urdu: حکومتِ پاکستان)The Constitution of Pakistan provides for a Federal Parliamentary System of government, with a President as the Head of State and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the chief executive. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Skardu Airport
• Skardu Fort
• Northern Areas
• Pakistan
• Ladakh
• Tibet

Latitude: 35 20' 10" N Longitude:75 32' 52" E Skardu Airport is a small domestic airport, located at Skardu, Northern Areas, Pakistan. ... Entrance to the Skardu Fort Skardu Town as seen from the Skardu Fort The ancient mosque at the fort Skardu Fort or Karpachu Fort is a fort in Skardu city in Northern Areas of Pakistan that dates from the tenth century CE. An ancient mosque is also present inside the... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... Ladakh (Tibetan script: ལ་དྭགས་, Ladakhi IPA: , Hindi: लद्दाख़, Hindi IPA: , Urdu: لدّاخ; land of high passes) is a region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in Northern India sandwiched between the Karakoram mountain range to the north and the Himalayas to the south. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. ...

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

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

Coordinates: 35°18′N, 75°37′E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...