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Suru Valley
Suru valley’s most prominent town is Kargil. The Suru valley is populated with 25,000 people from Dard and Tibetan descant. In the Kargil and the lower Suru valley (i.e. Sanku, Panikhar and also in south as long as Parkachik), the majority of the population are the successors of Shia Islam. These people got converted from the Tibetan Buddhism during the period of 16th century under the guidance of Thi-Namgyal. Beyond the Parkachik region, the valley is almost uninhabited apart from a couple of tiny settlements (Yuldo and Julidak) that consists of Rangdum. People residing in this area are socially and culturally part of the neighboring Buddhist Zanskar and are followers of the 18th century Rangdum Monastery which comes under the Gelugpa sect of the Tibetan Buddhism. Approximately 25 km south of the Rangdum Monastery lies the Pensi La Pass which is about 4,400 m height (14,436 feet). The Pensi La Pass leads to Zanskar.
The lower part of the Suru valley at a height of 3,000 metres (9,843 feet) is an agriculturally productive area of the Ladakh region. The agriculture land yields two crops a year and it receives water from the very heavy winter snowfalls. The willow and popular tree plantation makes this area more lush and a very attractive region. There is a view of a spikey white topped mountain peak of the Nun-Kun with the height of 7000 m from several places in the valley.
The lower portion of Suru Valley delivers a panoramic view of the Kun (7035 m) and Nun (7135 m) and other peaks in the range. Sanku, the main town of the Suru valley is well connected with Kargil with a daily bus service. There is a 7 meter high rock sculpture of Mailreya Buddha at Kartse located near Sanku which is worth watching.
Panikhar is situated at a distance of 25 km ahead of Sankoo and is bounded by Nun and Kun peaks. Some of the most adventurous treks starts from this village and proceed towards Kashmir valley.
Rangdum situated at a height of 3657 metres is the farthest and most isolated region of the Suru valley. Rangdum is an elliptically expanded plateau engulfed by colorful hills on one side and glacier encrusted Rocky Mountains on the other side. It is located 130 km southeast of Kargil and it falls midway between the Kargil and Padum. Because of the remoteness of this region from other areas, the area is well known for its wild beauty which is almost haunting.
Tourism
In spite of distinctive effort, the tourism activity is very limited in the Suru valley while most of the tourists always rush through Padum and Zanskar. There are limited accommodation facilities for visitors but Jammu and Kashmir tourism does have basic tourist bungalows in various parts of the villages and there is also a summer tent-camp at Rangdum. Tangole village is a possible starting point for mountaineering expeditions in Nun Kun.
The places worth watching in and around Suru valley include Drass War Memorial, Lamayuru Monastery (Yuru Gompa), Phuktal Monastery, Shargole Monastery, Karste River, Rangdum Monastery, Mulbekh Monastery, Sani Monastery, Nakpochu valley, Cave Monastery, Karste valley and much more.
Travelers vote Rangdum as the best place to visit in Suru valley. There are 18 places to visit in Anantnag, a city just 78 km from Suru valley and 9 places to visit in Ganderbal which is situated at a distance of 79 km. The most famous among them are the Pahalgam in Anantnag and Amarnath Temple in Ganderbal.
How to Reach
Air Transport
The nearest airport is situated at Leh. The Leh airport is well connected with Delhi, Jammu, Srinagar and Chandigarh.
Railways
Kalka is the nearest railway station to Leh. One can prefer buses and taxis from the Leh bus stand which is located barely one kilometer from the city, to go to Suru valley. Private vehicles, buses and cars can also be hired from Manali through Shimla.
Road Transport
There are two common routes to reach Suru valley. One is from Srinagar and the other route is from Manali via the Manali-Leh Highway. Both the roads travel through tricky mountain roads and high pass and many times are blocked because of landslides. The Srinagar-Leh Highway is near to the border of Pakistan which is occupied by Kashmir.
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