Visit of Fortress Kharphocho

At the end of Main Bazaar at the polo field is the turning to a rocky massif, on the top of which is built the fortress of Skardu – Kharphocho. The narrow dusty path rises up from the foot of the massif. Tourist traffic is very weak here, so you may not meet a living soul. The first beautiful views of the surroundings start to open after a while. Especially nice is the contrast of green fields with local arid high mountain landscape.

After a few tens altitude meters of the ascent you get to the entrance gate to the fort. Admission fee for foreigners is 10 times higher than for locals – 200 rupees (as of 2010).

If you lean backwards and look up, the fortress stuck to the rock massif really looks like an eagle's nest.

From the fort there is an amazing view of Indus valley and in the distance you can also see its confluence with the river Shigar, which takes water from Karakorum’s giants including K2 – the second highest mountain in the world.

Indus before from Skardu is more than 300 meters wide and its shores are lined with fine sand from perfectly crushed stones. It is completely different than the roaring Indus in the canyon Rondu a few kilometers below.

Except for massive walls and lonely small building of old mosque there is nothing architecturally interesting to see. It is apparent that the fortress has been abandoned for a long time.

Also from this picture you can see that there is not much left from the fortress, which is a pity. But it is definitely worth to come here at least because of the beautiful views, if you have a spare time in Skardu.
 

From the fortress you can see entire Skardu and the flow of Hargisa river. Over the mountain ridge are hidden interesting Deosai plains.