When it comes to splendid isolation, Zanskar is about as isolated as you can get. This rugged Buddhist valley can only be reached by an arduous week-long trek or a 14-hour drive along a pitted and potholed track along the Suru River. Although Zanskar is administered from Kargil, the people of the valley are predominantly Buddhist. The valley even has its own king, though the role is mainly ceremonial.
Category: Jammu And Kashmir
It has been 20 years since the houseboats of Dal Lake were last filled with holidaymakers, but the Kashmiri summer capital is slowly coming back to life, to the great relief of the thousands of Kashmiris who depend on tourism for a living. The attractions of Srinagar are myriad – placid Dal Lake with its slumbering houseboats, fabulous Mughal gardens, the historic wooden mosques of the old town. However, security is still a concern. Kashmir is the safest it has been for years, but even a minor shift in the political balance can trigger a new wave of bombings and murders. With this in mind, it would be foolhardy to visit Srinagar without checking the latest security situation thoroughly.
The population of southern Kashmir is mainly Hindu and Sikh, but the region sees regular attacks from Muslim militants who slip across the border from Pakistan. Tourist sights and train stations are favourite targets – investigate the security situation thoroughly before you decide to visit.
Set in a magical valley beside the Lidder River, Pahalgam is framed by pine forests and snowcovered peaks that bear more than a passing similarity to the Rocky Mountains. This was once Kashmir’s most popular resort, but today it exists in a state of limbo, empty for most of the year, but deluged with visitors during the annual Amarnath yatra (pilgrimage) from June to August. Outside of the pilgrimage season, this is a fine spot for walking, pony trekking or just enjoying the cool, clean mountain air. However, check the security situation before visiting – pilgrims have been repeatedly targeted by militants.
Basking under an endless sky, Padum is the capital of Zanskar, but don’t expect more than a few dusty streets and a bus stand. Around Padum, the Zanskar valley shimmers in the wan desert light. Yaks and dzo graze calmly in the fields and the plain is dotted with small farms and villages. Padum has a little town mosque, catering to a small community of Sunni Muslims, and two ruined gompas. A short walk across the valley is the medieval monastery at Pibiting, topped by a massive chorten with views over the plain.
From Leh, a rough road runs north over the awesome Khardung La, the highest motorable pass in the world. Even in summer, the crossing is crusted in permafrost and the Border Roads Organisation faces an ongoing battle to keep the pass open through winter and autumn. Beyond the pass is the wide, flat Nubra Valley, crisscrossed by the winding channels of the Shyok and Nubra Rivers.
On one level, Leh is a tourist town, with all the travel agencies, souvenir shops and pizza restaurants you would expect to find in a bustling backpacker centre. On the other hand, how many other tourist towns back onto ruined palaces in the lee of the Himalaya? The sky overhead is a vivid dark blue from the altitude – a breathless 3505m above sea level – and the modern town melts into a crumbling old city of timber and mud bricks. The Indian Army maintains a large military base near the airport to patrol the borders with China and Pakistan, but their main job is repairing roads and bridges and keeping the mountain passes clear of snow.
Ladakh is bound by mountains and made up of mountains. Sheer walls of rock and ice divide the Indus Valley from Tibet, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, and human habitation is restricted to narrow strips of greenery clinging to the rivers that drain down from mountain glaciers. This rugged region is home to one of the last undisturbed Tantric Buddhist populations on earth, protected from colonial interference, rampaging Mughals and the ravages of the Cultural Revolution by sheer force of geography.
The administrative centre for four surrounding valleys, Kargil marks the easternmost extent of the Muslim incursion into Ladakh. Before Partition, Kargil was an important trading post for caravans travelling between Baltistan and Zanskar, but today it stands on the faultline between India and Pakistan. A famous battle was fought here during the 1999 Indo-Pakistan War and the town remains heavily fortified.
Hemmed in by the Pir Panjal mountains and the western Himalaya, the Kashmir Valley straddles India and Central Asia. In both culture and appearance, this Muslim heartland is closer to Afghanistan or Iran than the neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The countryside inside the valley is flat and heavily cultivated, with low, terraced fields delineated by fruit and nut orchards and rows of pin-straight poplar trees, backing onto a wall of snow-capped mountains. Kashmiris even look different to their southern and eastern neighbours, with their green eyes and grey flowing pheran (woollen tunics).