A Trip to Baltistan, Northern Areas

On a recent one-week trip to Skardu, I had the chance to visit the most beautiful places of the region including Kachura Lake, Satpara Lake, Shigar Fort and Deosai Planes. The last three days of the trip were to be spent exploring the Shangrila Resort. Luckily, one of my local friends Wazir Hamayat Khan offered me a trip to the green and beautiful Khaplu. This was hardly motivating in Baltistan which itself is so green and beautiful. I accepted his offer, nonetheless, thinking its better than sitting idle in the hotel room.Khaplu, district headquarter of Ganche district, is situated 103 kilometres east of Skardu towards the Siachin Glacier. The road to Khaplu is in very good condition and passes along the Indus River and the Shyok River. Wazir Hamayat turned out to be the most interesting host and tour guide. He knew the area, the people and the culture like the back of his hand. I was informed about the significance and history of different places along the road from Skardu until we reached Khaplu.Footloose, NOS, The News InternationalAbout 50 kilometres from Skardu lies the small town of Kiris. Two great rivers of Baltistan region -- the Indus and the Shyok -- meet near this town. This 'meeting point' of the two rivers is known as Chumdo. A very interesting fact about these rivers is that, locally, Shyok is labelled as the female river (Mocho) while the Indus is the male river (Focho). This is because the Indus overpowers the Shyok at this point. The view point of famous Masherbrum peak is also situated at this road. This 7821m peak is ranked amongst the most dangerous in the world. Masherbrum was first sumitted in July 1960 by two American mountaineers while it took 23 years before a second ascent was made by two Japanese mountaineers in August 1983. It is also known as K1, a name given by the British survey team in 1856 while identifying the peaks in Karakoram Range.After four hours journey by car, we reached Khaplu city. Khaplu is amazing not only for its physical beauty (it is undoubtedly the most beautiful city in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, to me even more beautiful than Karimabad) but because in Khaplu one feels to be in a real Baltistani city with all traditional flavoursKhaplu was the second-largest kingdom of Baltistan. Being the neighbour of Ladakh, it guarded the trade route to Ladakh along the Shyok River. In the past, Khaplu had close trade and cultural ties with Ladakh. Many of the residents still have their relatives in Ladakh. These are the descendants of migrants from Baltistan, having settled in Ladakh when the Ladakhi Buddhist ruler Jamyang Namgyal (1555-1610) married Gyal Khatun, daughter of Yebgo Sher Ghazi, the Muslim prince of Khaplu. Gyal Khatun is said to have brought along with her a number of Baltis in her retinue. Before 1949, they used to visit their relatives in Ladakh and vice versa freely but now it is almost impossible for them to visit Ladakh. "To meet a relative who lives just 50 kilometres from my village, I need to have a visa and travel thousands of kilometres," says Abbas Hussain, a 60 year old resident of Ghursay village. He demands that both Pakistani and Indian governments should reopen this border.The natives of Khaplu including the new generation are very simple, friendly and greet everybody in the old Balti style by bending their heads and raising the hand. Modern buildings and houses are visible in the city but still many of the people live in old styled small and inter-connected Tibetan houses made of stones. Most of the settlements of such houses are around 200 years old while some are even 300 years old. In such settlements scores of houses are connected to each other in a small piece of land, making them cosy in winters. The streets in such settlements are narrow and covered with wood and stone. This old city allows a peep into the past of Baltistan, its culture and lifestyle, a link regretfully missing in big cities. Modernity has overcome the past lifestyle which is still preserved in old buildings and broachers in other cities of this region.Our first stop in Khaplu was the PTDC motel. Situated at the bank of the Shyok River, it is unquestionably one of the most spectacular PTDC motels in Pakistan. Inaugurated back in 1998, the building is made up of precious and beautiful deodar wood and local white stone. The courtyard of the motel was full of different plants with colourful flowers. According to Jalal-ud-Din, in-charge PTDC motel, the motel remains open from April to October because "in the extreme winter season, all the PTDC motels in Baltistan region are closed. " The number of visitors to Khaplu as well as his motel was never much but since the last five years even this number has been dropping constantly "especially the foreigners." Consequently, the government has also included this motel in the list of 26 PTDC motels that are to be privatised. This will really be a setback for tourists in this area as PTDC motel is the only nice and affordable accommodation in Khaplu. "Khaplu has all the ingredients to become the tourists hub in Pakistan. Only if government markets it properly," says Wazir Hamayat Hussain. He admits that the majority of Pakistanis do not even know the name of this historical city. He thinks such beautiful places should not be sold, instead these should be promoted to attract the tourists.Another interesting thing about Khaplu was the name of the localities. In the old city, these localities were named by Rajas according to the professions of their residents. The locality of carpenters is known as Shinggrong (shing means carpenter, grong means locality), Mongrong (mong means music) is the name of musicians' locality, Kwagrong is the locality of butchers while Khsergrong is the locality of jewellers. Although majority of the residents of these localities have changed their professions, the name of localities have not changed. Wazir Hamayat told TNS that Khaplu was well-known for its musicians and that is why there was a different locality reserved for them by the Raja "but these days you will hardly find a musician in Mongrong. They have changed their professions, some are working as carpenters, other as cobblers and labourers."Passing through narrow streets we finally reached our destination to eat the lunch of local dishes. Rice, meat and yogurt is the favourite food of Baltistan. A traditional Baltistani food is incomplete without these. But I find local spinach the most delicious. I found that Balti place meat, spinach and yogurt with white rice and eat it with chappatis. You have to get used to the taste to enjoy it. The water of Khaplu is considered the safest in the region to drink and comes from Ghanche glacier (from which the district is named) through Ghanche stream.Our next stop was the famous Chaqchan Mosque, the largest and most impressive among the old Balti mosques. It is one of the earliest mosques in Baltistan (1504 AD), attributed to Syed Ali Hamdani, the first Islamic preacher who came to the area. According to the locals, a Buddhist temple was replaced by this mosque. It has two storeys, the upper one is used during summers while the lower one serves as a winter mosque and as lodging and meditation place for visitors. A richly decorated, arched veranda surrounds the building on four sides. The prayer room houses four slim, pillars with cross-bracket capitals and bases with cusped arched panels in high relief. Several superimposed richly carved corbelled cornices form the transition to ceiling. Made of wood, the mosque is a fine example of Kashmiri architecture. The word Chaqchan is derived from Balti word Chaq meaning chain. There are two chains installed at the main door after which the name Chaqchan was given to the mosque.Khaplu Khanqah was to be visited next. This marvellous piece of Tibetan architecture made of wood is also the largest Khanqah in Baltistan region. It has six huge columns with square bases and large brackets capitals with more than twenty additional smaller columns in support of the weakened roof beams, eight hujras (mediation rooms) and a four metre wide veranda, which counts ten richly decorated arches topped by varying panjira latticework. Adjacent to this Khanqa is the 300-year old Astana of Syed Mir Muhammad, a locally venerated saint which is also worth-seeing.Last destination of the day was great palace of Raja of Khaplu. My host thought I had missed the amazing lakes, green valleys and two great pastures situated within 10 kilometres radius of the Khaplu. While on a visit to Baltistan, you cannot afford to miss Khaplu, otherwise you have missed much in Baltistan as well as in life.(Courtesy by Aoun Sahi)