Upper Kachura Lake:
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| upper Kachura Lake |
There are two Kachura lakes located in the district of Skardu, Gilgit Baltistan named as the Upper Kachura Lake and the Lower Kachura Lake. The lakes are at an elevation of 2500 meters and the distance between the two lakes is 8 km.
Upper Kachura Lake: The Upper Kachura lake is located at a distance of 27.7 km from Skardu City and is approx an half hour drive. It is easily accessible on cars. It is a beautiful lake fresh clear blue water surrounded by huge mountains and wild trees covered with fruits mainly apricots. The temperature in summers can reach upto 20 C and in winters the lake is frozen. The main attractions of the Upper Kachura lake include its breathtaking scenery, trouting and mountain trekking.
Lower Kachura Lake:
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| Lower Kachura Lake |
The Lower Kachura or most commonly known as the Shangrila which means “Heaven on Earth” is a one of a kind resort located at about 20 mins drive from Skardu. The Resort was established by the late Brig Muhammad Aslam Khan who was the first Commander of the Northern Scouts Army. The Resort is famous for attracting a huge variety of local and international tourists. The lower Kachura lake is surrounded by the Shangrila Resort with almost 70 swiss cottages facing the lake makes the place totally mesmerizing. The resort offers variety of services to accommodate the tourists e.g pick n drop to airports, sports facilities etc. The Resort offers variety of food choices:
Pagoda Restaurant: The Pagoda restaurant offers Chinese cuisine with chefs specially called in from China.
Lake View Restaurant: The lake view restaurant holds a broad view of the resort.It offers continental and Pakistani cuisines.
DC-3 Coffee Shop: is a one of a kind coffee place which is situated in an abandoned aircraft structure which once crashed in the river bed and was refurbished in 50s.It has a similar theme then that of a cabin crew.
Tandoori Village: has a traditional theme with ancient old recipes and traditional food e.g chicken tikka , seekh kababs, fish etc. The restaurant has an impressive ambiance with food served outdoors under the starsStak Nala (Stak Valley):
Stak Nala or Stak Valley is located in the middle of Gilgit-Skardu road and takes approximately 2.5 hours from Skardu. Stak Valley is a magnificent breathtaking valley which has all the features collectively to amaze a nature enthusiast. There is a place called “Broq of Stak Nala” which means high altitude in local language which provides an ecstatic eye gazing pananormic view of high altitude waterfalls, lush green trees, lush green plains and a huge area covered with glacier known as “Kutia Lungma”.The place is 3 to 4 hours away from Tookla village. If someone feels that they didn’t get enough of this place so there is also a PTDC hotel which could accommodate the travelers.
Moreover Stak valley is strategically important with the recent discovery of mines of precious gemstones has gained international attention. The gemstones are only half n hour away from the tookla village and in the future Stak valley could emerge as an exploration site.
