Page 153 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

LAD AKH , JA MMU & K ASHMIR  151

9 Mulbekh
Kargil district. 190 km (118 miles) NW
of Leh. @ n Kargil Tourist Office,
(01985) 232 721.
A pretty village in the Kargil
district, Mulbekh, spread over
the broad green valley of the
Wakha river, is the point at which
the proselytizing tide of Islam,
spreading towards central
Ladakh, lost its impetus. As a
consequence, Mulbekh has
a mixed population of Buddhists Panoramic view of the Nun-kun massif from Suru Valley
and Muslims, and supports a
mosque as well as a monastery, Ali and his successors as willow and poplar, especially
which is perched on a crag above the true imams. around Sankhu village. Close
the village. Its main attraction, Kargil apricots are famous, to Sankhu are the ruins of
however, is a giant engraving of and its hillside orchards are an ancient forts, together with
Maitreya, the Future Buddha, on enchanting sight in May, when rock engravings of Maitreya
a huge free-standing rock by the trees are in bloom, and in and Avalokitesvara from the
the roadside. It is believed to July, when the fruit is ripe. valley’s pre-Islamic past. The
date back to the 8th century. The town is also the base for upper valley is dominated by
expeditions to the Suru Valley, the peaks, ridges and glaciers
Zanskar and Nun-kun. Kargil of the Nun-kun massif, which
suffered shelling during the is 7,135 m (23,409 ft) high.
conflict between India and Expeditions to the mountain
Pakistan in 1999, so check the take off from the picturesque
situation before a visit there. village of Panikhar, whose
pastures are covered with
alpine flowers in June
q Suru Valley and July.
Kargil district. 19 km (12 miles)
S of Kargil. @ to Sankhu.
The Suru Valley starts from
Kargil and runs some 100 km
(62 miles) to the southeast. One
of Ladakh’s loveliest and most
The 8-m (26-ft) high Maitreya Buddha fertile regions, it boasts rolling
at Mulbekh alpine pastures, mud-walled
villages and views of majestic
snowcapped peaks. Abundant
0 Kargil water from melting snows gives
the Suru Valley rich harvests of Prehistoric rock paintings in the
Kargil district. 230 km (143 miles)
NW of Leh and NE of Srinagar. @ barley and plantations of Suru Valley
n Kargil Tourist Office, (01985) 232
721. _ Muharram (Mar/Apr), Ladakh The Dards
Festival (Sep). Travel permits: required
for the Dha-Hanu region, available at A conspicuous sight in the bazaars of Kargil and Leh are the
Leh (see p146). Dards, in their colourful caps adorned with flowers. Their aquiline
features and fair complexions set them
For travellers between Leh and apart from other Ladakhis, as do their
Srinagar, Kargil town is a good customs and traditions. There are several
place to stop for the night. The theories about the origins of this small
second-largest urban centre in community – among others, that they
Ladakh, Kargil was an important are the descendants of Alexander the
trading centre before the Great’s soldiers. Anthropological research,
however, indicates that their ancestors
Partition of India, when the road migrated from Gilgit, in Pakistan, before it
to Skardu in Baltistan (Pakistan) came under the influence of Islam. There
was still open. The majority of are Dard villages at Dha-Hanu, east of
Kargil’s population are Shia Kargil on the Indus, close to where the
Muslims, an Islamic sect that A Dard in his distinctive cap river leaves Ladakh for Baltistan (Pakistan).
regards Muhammad’s cousin
Camel caravan across the sand dunes of the Nubra Valley

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