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Skardu Valley
Skardu (Urdu: سکردو, from Tibetan (Balti): skar rdo - "star
stone, meteorite"), 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 Skardu Valley,
at the confluence of the Indus river (flowing from near Kailash in Tibet and through neighbouring Ladakh before
reaching Baltistan) and the Shigar
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.
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.
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