SKARDU PAKISTAN

SKARDU PAKISTAN

Skardu Town as seen from the Skardu Fort

Skardu land of Saka people, is the principal town of the region Baltistan and the capital of Skardu District, one of the districts making up Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan.

Skardu is located in the 10 km wide by 40km long SkarduValley, at the confluence of theIndus river (flowing from near Kailash in Tibet and through neighbouring Ladakh before reaching Baltistan) and theShigar River. Skardu is situated at an altitude of nearly 2,500 m (8,200 feet). The town is surrounded by grey-brown coloured mountains, which hide the 8,000 metre peaks of the nearby Karakoram range.

Tourism, trekking and mountain expedition base

Skardu, along with Gilgit, are the two major tourism, trekking and expedition hubs in the Northern Areas. The mountainous terrain of the region, including four of the world's fourteen Eight-thousander peaks (8,000m and above), attracts the attention of tourists, trekkers 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.

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 infrastructure including shops and hotels. However, the popularity of the region results in high prices, especially during the main trekking season.

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 Balti language, Deosai is called Byarsa, meaning 'summer place'. With an area of approximately 3,000 square kilometres, the plains extend all the way to Ladakh and provide habitat for snow leopards, ibex, Tibetan brown bears and wild horses.

SATPARA DAM PROJECT:- is a project inagaurated in 2002 and to be completed by december 2010. It is 7 kms away from skardu city and its altitude is 8,700 feet moreover it will also pond the water about 90,000 acre feet. The main source of water is melting ice of DEOSAI PLANES during summer season. It is multipurpose project, which produce 13 Megawatt hydel generation, irrigate 15,000 acre land and also provide 13 cusecis drinking water daily to skardu cilty.

Client of SATPARA DAM PROJECT is WATER AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (WAPDA), Engineer is PAKISTAN ENGINEERING SERVICES (PES), 90 percent project is completed under the supervision of Chief Residential Engineer (CRE) S.TAHIR.HUSSAIN of SHAHU KHEL. The major contractor of civil work DESCON and irrigation work contractor is CENTRAL CHINA POWER GROUP (CCPG) of China.

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.

However, many other ethnic groups are present in Skardu including Shins, 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 emigrated here.

All the above ethnic groups are devout Muslims. This includes the Balti-Tibetans, who 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.

Famous personalities of Skardu valley. S.Mehdi Shah, present chief minister of BaltistanProvince. Sheikh Nisar of Gamba. Fida Mohamad Nashad of Hussain Abad. Wazir Shakeel Agha of Ali Abad. Syed Ahmad Ali Shah of Gamba.

Entrance to the Skardu Fort

Weather and climate

The climate of Skardu during the summer is moderated by its mountain setting and the intense heat of lowlandPakistan 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. The lowest temperature of the year can reach -25°C

Shangrila Resort, Skardu

Transport

Skardu is accessible by two methods, road or air. The normal road route into Skardu is via the Karakorum Highwayand a linkroad into the SkarduValley from it. There are also four or five other road links toKashmir and Ladakh. Alternatively, there are normally one or two flights daily between Skardu Airportand 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 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 otherNorthern 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

Skardu Fort (Kharphocho Fort)

Skardu Fort or Kharphocho 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 theIndus 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 CE.

Kharphocho (Skardu) fort was built on a design similar to that of Leh Palace and the PotalaPalace in Lhasa, Tibet. The name Kharpochhe means the great fort — Khar in Tibetan means castle or fort and Chhemeans great.

Skardu Road

Cricklewood's North - South avenue takes its name from the fort of the same name.

Lakes near Skardu

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

Kachura 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 lake's alternative name), built in a Chinese style and another popular destination for tourists inPakistan. The resort has a unique style of restaurant, set up inside the fuselage of an aircraft that crashed nearby. Kachura lake 18m from Skardu.Kachura Lake is famous for its deep blue waters. There are numerous places to visit and things to do near Kachura Lake, situated near Skardu in the northern area.

Satpara Lake

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 allocating Rs. 600 million ($10 million) to the Satpara Dam project, two years later in 2004. Progress on the project has, however, been slow. Satpara Lake is 6m from Skardu. Satpara Lake is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the country offering trout fishing, and row boating.

Indus River

It is the longest river in Pakistan and the twenty-first largest river in the world, in terms of annual flow, on the Indian Subcontinent.

Nanga Parbat Peak

While Flying to Skardu from Islamabad, we viewed the awesome, snow covered Nanga Parbatpeak. The name literally means “the naked mountain”. It is the ninth highest(second highest ofPakistan, K-2 being the first) mountain on Earth. It is a part of the Himalayan Range. It is is 8,126 metres (26,660 ft) high.

Wild Life of Deosai National Park

Deosai Plains make up one of the last frontiers of natural habitat for the Himalayan brown bear, a creature that once roamed the mountains freely. The Deosai National Park was established in 1993 to secure the survival of the brown bear and its habitat. Having long been a prize kill for poachers and hunters, the brown bear, Pakistan’s largest omnivore, now has a hope for survival in Deosai where its number has increased from just 19 in 1993 to 40 in 2005. The Deosai Plains are also home to the Himalayan ibex, red fox, golden marmot, wolf, the Ladakh urial, the snow leopard, and over 124 resident and migratory birds

Birds in the park are: the golden eagle, the lammergeier vulture, the griffon vulture, the laggar falcon, the peregrine falcon, the kestrel, the Indian sparrow hawk, and the snow cock.