Gilgit (Gilgit Baltistan)

 

Gilgit is a splendid place for tourists, situated at the altitude of 4800 feet in the southwest of Karakorum Range in the Gilgit-Baltistan Province near the confluence of the Gilgit River and Hunza River. It is the capital of the Gilgit-Baltistan province, which is an administrative territory of Pakistan.

Gilgit is connected with the Karakoram Highway with all of the cities in Pakistan. It also has an airport that is used for local direct flights from Islamabad. All of the airline services are provided by Pakistan International Airlines. Gilgit is bounded by Nagar, Shigar, Rondu, Tangir, Diamer, Astore, and Ghizer districts.

One of the best beauty of Gilgit is the Karakoram Highway along the Gilgit River in the Gilgit area, one can also find a number of rock carvings and drawings from the Buddhist time period along the road as well. It was abundant in standing rocks in Passu village near Hunza Valley.

Gilgit is the administrative capital of Gilgit-Baltistan Province, so it is considered a hub for tourists to visit various valleys in Northern Areas for the purpose of trekking and mountaineering in the Karakoram Range. There is a number of hotels, guest houses, and restaurants in Gilgit City. It is also a center point to visit most of the valleys around Gilgit City. So people mostly stay there, perform a round-about visit to a valley, and back to Gilgit City for a night stay again.

Buddhism was the main religion in this area, and Gilgit was the major center of it. There are thousands of Buddhist rock art and inscriptions on the standing rocks along the Karakoram Highway. One of the oldest manuscript collections written in the 5th to 6th centuries, also known as the Gilgit manuscripts, is also found in the Gilgit region. It is included in the UNESCO Memory of the World register and is the core element in Buddhist studies and Sanskrit literature.

The main attractions of Gilgit are the beautiful valleys of its surroundings such as Juglot, Danyore, Naltar, Nomal, and Bagrot Valley. Distaghil Sar at an elevation of 25,869 feet is the highest peak in Shimshal valley in the Gilgit district, which is the 19th highest peak in the world.

There are a number of beautiful and attractive lakes in the Gilgit district. Borit Lake, Naltar Lake, Rush Lake, and Nomal Lake are much famous and papular with visitors. These lakes are mostly accessed by a four-wheel jeep, otherwise, most of the tourists prefer to perform hiking and also enjoy the magnificent scenic views on the trek.

The confluence of the Gilgit River and Hunza River gives splendid views in the summer season. The view of mixing the Hunza River water with the Gilgit River water is one of the unique scenes, that one can never forget.

Jaglot is a small town in the Gilgit district at a distance of 45 km from Gilgit City. The uniqueness of this town is that it is situated at the junction of three mountain ranges, the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram, and the Himalayas. It is also a point of confluence of the Gilgit River with the Indus River.

Danyor lies across the Gilgit River in the Gilgit District. The Shrine of Shah Sultan Ali Arif is situated above the Danyor Tunnel. Other attractions of Danyor are the Chinese Graveyard near the Karakoram Highway and the rock inscriptions in Chikas town. The Danyor Suspension Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. It connects Danyor to Karakoram University across the Hunza River. On the Danyor side, the bridge connects with a tunnel to access the Danyor town.

The weather condition of Gilgit is normally dry and hot due to the blockage of monsoon winds by Nanga Parbat, it receives much less rainfall. Due to this climate effect, it shows an entirely different scenery in the mid of snow-covered mountains and green fields. The winter season is longer and harsher there. So due to extreme weather, there is a number of landslides and avalanches in this area.