A picturesque expanse
surrounded by colorful rocky mountains, Sankoo is an upcoming township with
a small bazaar (42 kms south of Kargil) and numerous villages around. Dense
plantations of poplars, willows, myricarea and wild roses fill the bowl
shaped valley, giving it the ambience of a man-made forest tucked within the
mountain ramparts. Two side valleys drained by large tributary streams of
the Suru river, the Kartse flowing from the east and the Nakpochu descending
from the west, open up on either side of the expanse. The Karste Valley runs
deep into the eastern mountains mass with a large number of isolated
villages tucked within its course. The 4-day trek between Sankoo and Mulbek
follows this valley; the route passes through some very beautiful alpine
areas on the way the 4950 m high Rusi-la . The high altitude settlement of
Safi and its mixed Buddhist-Muslim population is struck between the Rusi-la
and the Shafi-la over which the final leg of the trek passes before entering
the Mulbek valley. A southward diversion from the foot of the Rusi-la leads
to Rangdum across the glaciated Rangdum pass where the Karste River rises.
The 3-day trek to Drass across the Umba-la (3350 m) follows the western
valley. Sankoo is a very popular among local picnic lovers who throng the
area from Kargil town and other places. Locally it is also popular as a
place of pilgrimage to the ancient shrines of Muslin scholar-saint, Sayed
Mir Hashim, who was specially invited from Kashmir for imparting religious
teachings to the region's Buddhist ruler, Thi-Namgyal of the Suru
principality, following his conversion to Islam during the 16th century. The
shrine is situated in the village of Karpo-Khar on the outskirts of Sankoo
where the chief had his summer palace. How
to reach ? Sankoo, Panikhar
and Parachik are connected with Kargil with regular bus services, in summer
even twice a day. A bus ride from Kargil takes 2 hours to Sankoo, 3 hours to
Panikhar and about 4 hours to Parkachik. Rangdum is serviced by the BI-week
bus service to Padum, which increases according to demand. Some trucks
plying between Kargil and Padum also offers a lift in the cabin for the
price of a bus seat. Cars and jeeps taxis can be hired from Kargil for
visiting different places in the Suru Valley, including Rangdum and Penzila.
