Skardu

Why you should visit Skardu? Heart of tourism in Pakistan

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Why you should visit Skardu?

The majority of domestic and foreign tourists are like to explore meadows, snow falling, mountains, waterfalls, deserts, rivers, lakes, hiking and trekking, mountaineering, hunting, and unique foods for foodies.

Skardu is the only region where you can find all these tourist attraction sites within a diameter of 200km. the reason, you should go to Skardu first. A good time to plan your trip to Skardu is in between April to September.

Top visitng sites of Skardu

  • Meadows: Deosai plain, Basho Meadows, Balghar Xoq
  • Snowfalling: K2 basecamp
  • Mountains: K2, Mashabrum, Gashabrum
  • Waterfalls: Manthoka, Basho and
  • Deserts: Cold desert Skardu
  • Hiking and trekking: Gandora La, Concordia, Marsur Rock and Organic village
  • Hunting: Ibex hunting at Hushe valley (trophy hunting)
  • Rivers: Springs
  • Lakes: Blind lake Shigar, Upper Kachura lake, Sogha lake and Kharfaq lake
  • Local foods: Prapo, Marzan and rZab-Khor

These are the categories anyone can discover and capture in their lenses within a few days trip, that is why you should visit Skardu.

Visit Skardu to Discover Meadows

Baltistan is the home of the giants and worldly famous plateau Deosai National Park, Basho Meadows, and Balghar Xoq.

Deosai Plains

Deosai Plains is 2 to 2.5 hours of travel from Skardu (4×4 vehicle). Deosai plain is the world’s second-largest plateau. Things to explore on Deosai are; Sheosar Lake, Burzil top, Murtaza top, Badha Pani, and Chota pani.

Basho Meadows

Basho meadows are around 3 hours of travel from Skardu. Basho waterfall and Chocolate rock of Basho comes underway. Basho meadows are famous for their majestic landscape. 

Balghar Xoq (Balghar Meadow)

It’s a Greenland and pasture area of Balghar village. The landscape is very beautiful and photogenic. Balghar is 40 min away from Khaplu city. This destination is between Skardu and Khaplu. It is one of the UNEXPLORED JEWELS OF GILGIT BALTISTAN.

Snowfall in Summer

To witness snow falling in summers is a dream of many travelers and tourists. To convert this dream into reality, the only destination to book your seat is Skardu.

On summer days, heavy snowfall can be a witness in the following areas; K2 basecamp, some parts of Deosai, snow lake Shigar and at the neck of Siachen Glacier.

Visit Skardu to Explore Mountains

Gilgit Baltistan is the hub of giant mountains. 5/14 8000rs peaks are located in Gilgit Baltistan.

Skardu Baltistan is the home of K2 (world’s second-highest mountain), Mashabrum Ⅰ, Masharbum Ⅱ, Gashabrum Ⅰ, Gashabrum Ⅱ, Saltoro Kangri, and many other peaks.

Annually, thousands of outsiders of Pakistan visit Gilgit Baltistan for mountaineering.

Waterfalls in Baltistan

These are the famous waterfalls in the area:

Basho waterfall Skardu
Basho waterfall Skardu

Manthoka and Khamosh waterfalls are located in district Kharmang. Both destinations are around 2 and 3 hours of traveling from Skardu respectively. Basho waterfall is at 1.5 hours of travel from Skardu.

Lakes in Skardu

There are many stunning lakes located in Baltistan region. Few of the any lakes are Kachura lake, Blind lake Shigar, Sogha Lake Khaplu.

Kachura Lake Skardu

Upper Kachura  lake skardu is at 1 hours of travelling from Skardu city. It is very famous for its beauty, photography, boating, swimming and trout fishing.

Deosai-plateau-skardu-gilgit-Baltistan
Deosai-plateau-skardu-gilgit-Baltistan

Deserts in Skardu

Cold desert Skardu is very famous for its unicity. This cold dessert chain is connected to the Indus river. Cold desert Skardu is one of the most visited places of the area and it also has worldly recognitions.

Hikking and trekking routes in Skardu

There are many hiking and trekking routes in Skardu Baltistan. Few are very famous and many are still unexplored. 

  • Marsur Rock hiking
  • Nangsoq Organic village hiking
  • Hikking to Kharfaq lake
  • K2 Basecamp trekking
  • Trekking at Gandoro La
  • Trekking at Concordia
  • Trekking from Hushe valley to Mashabrum BC.

Hunting

Ibex, markhor, and many mountainous birds can be found in Baltistan. Open hunting is banned and NOT ALLOWED at any corner of Gilgit Baltistan. Hunting enthusiasts can convert their dreams into reality by trophy hunting campaign; it is a paid hunting. The main purpose of trophy hunting to generate funds to help in reserving these endanger species. Very few numbers of trophy hunting permits are issued every year.

Local foods of Skardu Baltistan

There are uncountable dishes of Baltistan from which very few are famous. Some royal dishes of Balti peoples are:

  • Prapo
  • Marzan
  • Azoq
  • Bhalay
  • rZab-Khor

The Baltistan region is known to be the hub of fresh fruits and dry fruits. Different types of Apples, peaches, cherries, apricots, grabs, etc are very abundantly found in Baltistan.

Local foods of Baltistan
Local foods of Baltistan

The answer of the question ‘Why you should visit Skardu?’. Skardu is also called a mini-universe of tourism. just because of its plurality.


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