SKARDU is a heaven on earth its an oasis of striking beauty , pure and simple living , free of the turmoil. I wish , someday My whole country will be as peaceful, tranquil and welcoming as SKURDU is.
As I mentioned in Part 1 that my brother was our host In Skardu. He posted 2 years ago in Skardu and he maintained his house very well.
My great interest was a small veggie garden with seasonal vegetables.
Cabbage
Spinach, it was a bit different from spinach grown in Punjab and Sindh. Leaves were very small.
Red radish.
Peas.
Salad leaves, Mint, Coriander were also part of veggie garden.
A cemented large cage for Hens and Cocks was very interesting for my kids.
It was interesting to eat Desi eggs in breakfast daily 🙂
My nephew Fahad, whose hobby was to run after them.lol
One more thing which was quite interesting and exciting, was STOVE. In Gilgit/ Skardu natural gas is not available so people use Carosine oil stoves or Lpg gas cylinders. I cooked couple of things on this stove. They kept these stoves outside the kitchen in open air to reduce gas smell and heat.
Skardu’s weather is unpredictable. We found it moderate in June thou in Islamabad it was very hot but in Skardu the nights were very cold and windy. Even in June heaters were ON. You can see this special Carosine oil Heater.
Winters here are very severe. I love watching covered tops with snow on mountains from Lawn.
In skardu , Apricot trees and Cherry trees are in abundance. In every home you will see these trees. In my brother’s home Apricot tree was loaded with unripe apricots.
Look how beautiful this tree is looking.
A bird house 🙂
Neighbor of my brother sent Apricots from their tree. The color was very different from apricots we buy from Islamabad. They were looking like small sized peaches to me 🙂
Cherries were in season and we enjoyed fresh , juicy and sweet cherries straight from trees.
My brother gifted us a number of Cherry boxes. Which were packed from a nearby Cherry farm.
When I landed in this town, the first impression in my mind was , a small , remote village as in Punjab. You will not see any Rickshaw or Taxi in Skardu. Those who can afford have cars and those who have not they travel themselves. Half an hour walk is not a big deal for them 🙂
Mostly you will see Balti people here but few Pathans, Punjabis, Hazarians you will see. Mixture of people make Skardu ethnically diverse.
Shia Islam has a strong presence in Skardu.
One thing which my brother told us , they are very peaceful and crime rate in Skardu is nearly ZERO. So its safe for tourists to go out and visit beautiful place without any fear.
The people here are very cooperative and friendly. I went to bazar thou as compare to other cities here things are very limited, and expensive as compare to Islamabad.
We went to New bazar which was on the main road and bazar was on both sides of road with hundred of shops offer everything.
Purana Bazar (old bazar) is close to New Bazar with old shops.
Interesting thing here is a Female Bazar DARAKSHAN, where shopkeepers are females.
Beauty salon is also in the same bazar. Otherwise you will not see any beauty salon in the city. I went there and met hardworking ladies. One shop attracted me where few ladies were making hand made bed sheets, cushions, hand bags, clutches etc.
These things were beautifully designed by Charsoti embroidery which they told us that a specialty of Baltistan.
Few shops were of female and kids clothes and jewelry.
Army Pubic School is the only best school in Skardu.
Here are some beautiful sceneries which I have captured from the lawn of the house. The beauty was every w
You should plan to visit this beautiful place with your family.Next I will post my experience of traveling from Islamabad to Skardu by Plane. 🙂
nice one