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Jammu |
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 Jammu has been for ever tucked into the shadows of the ever resplendent Srinagar, but has her own charm or grace. The snowcapped, mighty Himalayas over look hill town. A recent entrant in the tourist agenda, this city, on the banks of Tawi is more of a business hub and home to the Pahari school of painting. It is dotted with ancient temples including the Vaishno Devi temple which sees thousand of people during the season.
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Destinations |
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Kargil |
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 Located in an ideal location within the centre of the Himalayan region, Kargil is one destination of Ladakh with tremendous potentials for adventure activities. Kargil serves as an important base for adventure tours in the heart of Himalayas. It is also the take off station for visitors to the heaven of exotic Himalayan locales, Zanskar Valley. Tourists travelling between Srinagar and Leh have to make a night halt at Kargil before starting off the second leg of their trekking journey.
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Kishtawar |
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 Kishtawar, the upland valley in the north-east corner of Jammu region, lies ensconced among the picturesque folds of the Pir Panjal and the Great Himalayan Ranges.
Climbing in Kishtwar:
The main purpose for visiting Kishtawar would be for climbing or trekking across the Great Himalayan Range. Kishtawar is a major mountaineering base of J&K State and is surrounded by an incredible number of peaks. There are peaks like Tupendo up the Kaban Valley, which closely resemble the Chamonix Aigulles with varying degrees of climbing options. The walk up to the base camps of most of the peaks generally takes 2-5 days. Peaks like Cerro Kishtwar have been attempted by serious mountaineers like Mick Flower and Andy Perkins in recent times, while as other steep faces like the Hagshu North Face have had John Barry and his team attempting four times without success. The area was first explored for climbing by two Austrians, Fritz Kolb and Krenek in 1946 who were held up in India at the outbreak of the World War. Eight years later, as they waited for their passages home, they went off to Kishtawar and climbed Bramah-II (6, 425 m) and christened it as ‘Dreikant’.
After a period of closure, Kishtawar was reopened for climbing in the early 70’s, and in 1973 Chris Bonnington and Nick Escort made the first ascent of Brammah-I via the south-east ridge. The first ascent of Sickle Moon (6574 m) was achieved in 1975 by an Indian expedition of the High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS). In 1986, two lady members of a French expedition were on the summit as well. The Japanese were active in the late 70’s in the Barnaj group which lie in the eastern part of the valley. During the late 70’s and early 80’s, one of the major Indo-British expeditions led by Chris Bonnington and Balwant Sandhu climbed Sickle Moon and made the area quite popular as a climbing destination. Other popular peaks in the area are Brammah, Brammah’s wife (5478 m) and Eiger (5513 m), all of which have been attempted by renowned mountaineers during the seventies and eighties.
Following is the list of the known peaks in the Kishtawar Himalayas:
Sickle Moon (6574 m) Eiger (6001 m) Cathedral (5370 m) Charcha (6065 m) Namtse (6000 m) Lhalung (Durung Glacier).
In the Nanth Nala Region
Brammah-I (6416 m) Brammah-II (6425 m) Brammah’s wife (5297 m) Crooked Finger (5630 m) Flat Top (6100 m) Dereikant (5890 m) Eckpfeiler (5710 m) Gur (5709 m) .
Kalidhar Kishtwar (5835 m)
In the Barnaj Nala Region
Barnaj-I (6100 m) Barnaj-II (6290 m) Arjuna (6200 m) Agyason (6200 m) Shiviling (6000 m) Chapra (Bhazum Nala) (6500 m) Tibetsi (5600 m) Hagshu Janam peak (6330 m)
Charol (6000 m) Chering peak (6107 m) Mardi Pabrang (6062 m) Cerro Kishtwar (6200 m) Tupendo-I (5700 m) Tupendo-II (5600 m)
Kishtawar town (altitude of 1640 m) is situated at a distance of 216 kms from Jammu, but only 107 kms from the national highway resort of Batote. The area is connected with Jammu as well as Srinagar by regular public transport services. Accommodation with basic facilities is available in PWD rest houses / dak bungalows and small private hotels. But the best option is camping in the picturesque surroundings.
The area is drained by the Chenab river system which, flowing in from neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, enters the area through Paddar, home of the famous sapphire mines.
Paddar, Dacchan and Marwah are major valleys of Kishtawar. It is along these valleys that the trans-Himalayan trekking trails leading to the Suru and Zanskar valleys of Ladakh pass amidst breathtaking mountain sceneries.
Kishtawar town occupies a central plateau set amidst sylvan surroundings of forested hills. It is famous for the fine saffron grown here. Several waterfalls provide enchanting contrasts to the lush green landscape. The nearest of these is only 3 kms away from the town and drops down from a height of over 700 m in a series of seven cascades. Other local attractions include the highly revered shrines of two Muslim Sufi saints to which thousands of devotees and pilgrims throng from far and wide.
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Shahdra-Sharief |
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 Jammu and Kashmir is a veritable heaven of spiritualism for millions of believers who proceed on pilgrimage to the numerous shrines and holy sites in which the state abounds. There is hardly any town or city which does not have a shrine of its own, many among these being the state’s living heritage and symbols of secularism
The shrine of Shahdra-Sharief in Rajouri district, 177 kms from Jammu, is one of the most popular Muslim shrines of Jammu region, visited by thousand of devotees every day.
Built in the 19th century on a beautiful hillock in Thanna Mandi area, 29 kms from Rajouri town, it has great historical significance in the context of the origin of the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
According to historical sources, in 1820 AD Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab sent his army general Gulab Singh to defeat an adversary. Out of the 150 companies of troops taken on this expedition, only 25 soldiers could stay with the General. At last he camped at Thanna-Mandi and went to call on a local recluse named Baba Ghulam Shah ‘Badshah’, who lived in the nearby locality of Shah-dara and was known as a wise and pious person. When Gulab Singh approached the saint, he found him sitting under a tree with an apricot twig in hand and in deep devotion. (According to some legends it was the saint who had sent one of his disciples to invite the general). The saint looked at him and smiled. When asked about the reason for his mysterious smile, the saint said, "I smile on the miracle of the infallible Almighty who has committed to the charge of your exalted personality the performance of so many expeditions of government and the management of affairs of sovereignty. Climb atop this mountain and cast a glance around, and whatever countries you see, the eagle of your prosperity will some day spread its wings of sway over these places". Gulab Singh climbed the mountain to cast his glance in the direction of Jammu, Kashmir, Kishtwar and Tibet. He was highly pleased with the recluse and expressed his intention to grant a ‘jagir’ to him But the recluse said, "I have a piece of land granted to me since long, if the Shah-dara locality is added to it, it will suffice". Consequently, the ‘Sanad’ for both the land and the locality were issued to him, which continue to be in the possession of his offspring to this day. Later, when the saint’s prophesy became true and Gulab Sigh became maharaja of the Jammu and Kashmir State, he visited Shah-dara to express his devotion to the saint. But as the saint was not alive anymore, Gulab Singh built a shrine dedicated to the saint to pay homage. It is highly inspiring to learn that this Muslim shrine was built by the Hindu founder of Jammu & Kashmir.
Today, thousands of devotees of all faiths, irrespective of cast, colour and creed, visit the shrine every day in deep faith and with great devotion. And it is strongly believed by the multitude of the Baba’s devotees that their cherished desires are invariably fulfilled. Interestingly, the pilgrims and visitors to the shrine are provided free accommodation, food and other facilities by the shrine management. Now large-scale infrastructure development carried out by the shrine management as well as the State Government has made this holy heritage site easily accessible to everyone and the shrine now attracts large numbers of pilgrims every year.
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Suru and Zanskar Valleys |
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 Treks originating from Panikhar in the Suru valley lead to different destinations in the Kashmir and Kishtwar valleys across the main ridge of the Great Himalayan range. One route wanders across the Kanji-la through the Kanji gorge to Henaskut on the Kargil-Leh highway. The other crosses the glacial Chillung-la behind the Nun - Kun massif to get to the Kishtwar valley. From Padum four main trek routes go to different destinations - one to Manali in the Kullu Valley, one to Lamayuru and Hemis respectively and the last to Kishtwar.
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The Pangong Lake Circuit |
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 The beautiful high altitude Pangong Lake is also another popular destination with trekkers. It is a picturesque route that covers Shey and Thikse with their interesting monasteries, before turning off into the side valley of Chemrey. It goes over the Chang - la , the pass over the Ladakh range which despite it height is not too difficult to tackle. At the base of the pass, tangse has an ancient temple. The trek ends at spangmik, which is the furthest point to which foreigners are permitted - about 7 km along the southern bank of the lake.
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The Pangong Lake Circuit |
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 It goes over the Chang - la , the pass over the Ladakh range which despite it height is not too difficult to tackle. At the base of the pass, tangse has an ancient temple. The beautiful high altitude Pangong Lake is also another popular destination with trekkers. It is a picturesque route that covers Shey and Thikse with their interesting monasteries, before turning off into the side valley of Chemrey.
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Trekking in Ladakh |
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 When Ladakh was first thrown open to tourism an average itinerary encompassed visits to Leh and its environs with some treks into nearb valleys. The most popular of these were the 8-day Markha valley trek, the 11-day Lamayuru-Padum route and the Stok Khangri round trek. Now with growing interest in adventure tourism the focus has shifted to the mysterious valleys of Suru and Zanskar with their spectacular scenery
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