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Run out of holiday destinations? Here's a beautiful corner in the northern areas you probably still haven't been to: Shigar.
Shigar is a place in Gilgit-Baltistan where you will find a desert with proper sand dunes along with the rivers and shrubbery normally found in the region.
At an altitude of 2800 meters, the valley is ensconced between snow-clad peaks; and has everything to offer from plains and meadows, to forests and trees laden with cherry, apple, apricot, mulberry and streams of cold, fresh water at just about every corner.
Records show that this area was once called Little Tibet. But there isn't a single trace of Buddhist culture here today, neither in clothes nor in food. The approximately 70,000 people who live here are predominantly Shia.
The valley is Pakistan's most well kept secret; it seemed to me the safest place in the country. No Taliban, no drones, no mobile snatchers and extortionists.
Where else can a woman walk about town, any time of the day, and reach home without being ogled at, catcalled or touched?
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Jul 02, 2014 03:38pm
what happened to all the Tibetans?? eradicated?
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Jul 02, 2014 03:47pm
Well, you've just ensured that the place gets inundated with tourists!
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Jul 02, 2014 03:55pm
no more safe for women.
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Jul 02, 2014 03:57pm
Absolutely stunning place. Shigar fort is looking beautiful with vernacular architecture, this place is a well kept secret but tourism is gathering pace in this area and local population will benefit with its unique culture and traditions.
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Jul 02, 2014 04:00pm
Excellent photographs
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Jul 02, 2014 04:03pm
If it was Pakistan's most well-kept secret, you should have kept it that way. The only area in Pakistan with a peaceful way of life is now going to be swarmed with completely messed up preachers selling their own brand of religion while eyeing their women and robbing them off whatever little wealth they have accumulated over the years.
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Jul 02, 2014 04:04pm
@jayshankar This area is called Tibete Khurd (Little Tibet) with the same populations living there for centuries ...
What is your question!
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Jul 02, 2014 05:07pm
Ok.. Wow.
I definitely want to visit this place one day
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Jul 02, 2014 05:09pm
Wow! Great landscape and scenery!
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Jul 02, 2014 05:49pm
Super beautiful
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Jul 02, 2014 05:54pm
Have been to the place twice. Breathtaking.
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Jul 02, 2014 05:55pm
oh my god!! so beautiful!!!!!!!!
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Jul 02, 2014 06:35pm
It really looks a different world in Pakistan the best thing about it is peace and security which has become a dream for us nowadays
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Jul 02, 2014 06:48pm
Though much is lost to the strands of time, vernacular architecture places you immediately in Tibet.Traces of Tibetan culture survive primarily in sacred architecture - mosques and khanqas are both Tibetan and Kashmiri in style - minarets are more like tops of stupas with a crescent as their crowning glory.
Balti food is a combination of Tibetan and Central Asian cuisine both of which share its borders.
Shigar and Skardu boast some Buddha carvings and remnants of an old monastery in the mountains around the Shigar fort.
But as any Balti will be quick to comment, racially they are a Central Asian Indo European race and not Tibetan!
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Jul 02, 2014 06:54pm
Breathtakingly fantastic !
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Jul 02, 2014 07:00pm
Deliberate efforts are needed to make it a tourist attraction. There are enough locals well educated, serving and retired govt servants who can voluntarily join hands to make it a organized affair. Do not depend upon Tourism Department as they are incapable of making Pakistan a tourist attraction in spite of latter's tremendous potential.
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Jul 02, 2014 07:08pm
Wonderful. Locals must make efforts to preserve its natural beauty to make it a tourist attraction. Do not look for a Tourism department around. They are there, but good for nothing.
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Jul 02, 2014 07:14pm
Wow... mesmerizing beauty!! truly amazing.
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Jul 02, 2014 07:26pm
@jayshankar: It was called Little Tibet because of a similarity to Tibet landscape, not because there were any Tibetans there. Tibet is hundreds of miles away from the place.
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Jul 02, 2014 07:27pm
Alas, secret no more!
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Jul 02, 2014 07:32pm
Indeed this is blessing that we tend to ignore ..
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Jul 02, 2014 07:37pm
The first picture reminds me of a drive I did from San Francisco to Salt Lake City. This is so beautiful.
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Jul 02, 2014 07:50pm
who says pakistan is ugly
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Jul 02, 2014 07:51pm
WOW!!! Nice old world charm about it besides the breathtaking scenery. Good pics.
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Jul 02, 2014 08:07pm
Most of the people here are predominately Shia Ismailis. Many thanks to Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan for investing $1.5 million for Shigar Fort restoration. Beautiful place, beautiful people.
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Jul 02, 2014 08:31pm
The place simply looks BREATH-TAKING.
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Jul 02, 2014 09:09pm
Please visit these places, your visits shall be of great help for poor people of these parts of country.
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Jul 02, 2014 09:38pm
WOW!! Exquisite place! Definitely want to be there for trekking. Beautiful people and heavenly scenery!!
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Jul 02, 2014 09:59pm
please conserve the heaven like place.... what a beautiful place, wish i could visit in my lifetime.
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Jul 02, 2014 10:20pm
Beautiful place.
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Jul 02, 2014 10:35pm
Beautiful pictures, what an amazing treasure. Thanks to the author for sharing the info about Shigar.
A quick request (to authors in general), please don't specify the religion/sect of the people. With the current environment such info can only breed differences. People in Pakistan should be referred to as Pakistani not Shia, Sunni, Christians, etc.
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Jul 03, 2014 12:29am
Is this the remnant of the Buddhist culture
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Jul 03, 2014 02:15am
Go there and get killed by Taliban and Terrorists.
Nice Try. LOL
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Jul 03, 2014 03:11am
Now they would set up a military cantonment, some road or rail for transportation which would lead the way to colonization, Islamic extremism, land grabbing, construction and tourist resorts under the name of Uqaab and finally torture of the original inhabitants. This is how it has been with other regions.
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Jul 03, 2014 03:32am
@Aziz not shia Ismaili brother people are Shia isna ashriya... and the aga khan's investment can't motivate or attract people towards his sect... Ismailis r totally different from Shia isna ashriya..
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Jul 03, 2014 04:30am
I've seen 26 countries, including the most famous tourist attractions of Tanzania and Egypt, Switzerland and Italy in Europe, the amazing Big Island of Hawaii and half of USA and Canada, and Nepal and India. Without fear of contradiction, I can say Pakistan has the most diversely beautiful tourist attractions in the world
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Jul 03, 2014 04:46am
Was it necessary to state that "The approximately 70,000 people who live here are predominantly Shia." Are you trying to divert LeJ forces to their peaceful area?
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Jul 03, 2014 05:18am
All I can say at your question for PIA starting an air safari is: LOL! They're too busy trying to arrange the pilot's meal, or a night's stay at the PIA hotel in NY.
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Jul 03, 2014 06:37am
Let me make it very clear. Its my land and a disputed region. It's not Pakistan's.
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Jul 03, 2014 07:49am
LET THEM LIVE HAPPLY
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Jul 03, 2014 09:15am
Oh God! It is almost a crime not to visit such places. I would love to visit your beautiful country.
Any paki bro is welcome to join our group which is going to Tibbet / Mount Everest Base Camp Trail next year.
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Jul 03, 2014 10:21am
@BK Couldn't agree more
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Jul 03, 2014 10:26am
I have been to Shigar and adjoining ares. Its an immaculate place with complete peace and tranquility. People get up with the first of sun and hit the bed at dusk. Shigar fort is maintained by Sarena hotel and rooms are excellent with breath taking views. Road to fort is surrounded by white sand and it is awesome. Place is worth seeing.....
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Jul 03, 2014 10:30am
@NHM - valid point - there must be a preacher repellent to wade away ignorant spirits
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Jul 03, 2014 11:23am
Please keep it secret. I don't want their peaceful lifestyle hindered any way.
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Jul 03, 2014 11:33am
It's a secret for a reason. Stop advertising the tiny slice of heaven we have. Please see pictures of the huge pile of Garbage that David Lama and his expedition left at the Base camp of Broadpeak.
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Jul 03, 2014 12:16pm
OMG. Stunning. I am really impressed. Pakistan has such wonderful places. What have they done with Pakistan. They have tarnished the Image of a beautiful country. I hope the normal Pakistani people must as pure, warm and beautiful as these pictures are. We must encourage them to come out and make Pakistan a better place. Efforts must be put to allow foreign travelers to go and see such places by making Pakistan a terror free state.
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Jul 03, 2014 12:24pm
"Where else can a woman walk about town, any time of the day, and reach home without being ogled at, catcalled or touched?"
I have issue with this line. Perhaps refrain from making sweeping judgements about 160 million people, in the future.
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Jul 03, 2014 12:46pm
I thought you were gonna say bin ladin... not a secret anymore though
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Jul 03, 2014 12:51pm
@Mohammad Iqbal Nobody, there is nothing wrong with the country, or any country. It is the people who makes all the difference.
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Jul 03, 2014 01:11pm
Amazing place...beautiful people. Hope to be there one day.
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Jul 03, 2014 02:55pm
@Mohammad Iqbal ...Actually entire world ...lol
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Jul 03, 2014 03:08pm
Nice pictures. Lovely place. Has some resemblance to a few sites in Kaza in the North Indian State of Himachal Pradesh.
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Jul 03, 2014 03:14pm
not 800, but 8000 metres height for peaks
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Jul 03, 2014 04:43pm
@Munawar Correction: Pakistan passed Brazil 2-3 years ago and is today a country of 205 million people. 4th largest nation in the world. This according to PEW.
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Jul 03, 2014 07:25pm
This place is in Jammu & Kashmir.
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Jul 03, 2014 07:45pm
Well, it's a secret no longer, and now we can expect tourists, t-shirts, Coke and all the rest of the rest of the crap flooding the area.
Thanks!
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Jul 03, 2014 08:02pm
@Shah : According to Wikipedia, Pakistan is 6th behind China, India, USA, Indonesia & Brazil in terms of population.
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Jul 03, 2014 09:17pm
@Shah Correcting my self: 5th largest, behind Indonesia but before Brazil.
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Jul 03, 2014 10:22pm
Goodness Gracious me, The heights to which a woman must soar -just ONLY NOT to be manhandled!
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Jul 03, 2014 10:41pm
Stunningly beautiful...beautifully stunning...It a paradox that with such amazingly serene surroundings in the backyard...very few Pakistanis visit this areas. Foreign tourists are more adventurous and vagabonds. Local Pakistani people need to come out of their sedentary/lazy and laid back lifestyle and start visiting these splendid places one in a lifetime.
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Jul 03, 2014 11:16pm
@Shafiq stop being stupid by laying claims as such
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Jul 03, 2014 11:21pm
@Tony
No, this is in Pakistan held Kashmir, namely Gilgit-Baltistan. Jammu and Kashmir is the IOK(Indian occupied Kashmir).
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Jul 03, 2014 11:28pm
The title should be 'One of Pakistan's mot well kept secret'. There are dozens of places in northern areas, in Skardu, Chitral, and and in further up north Gilgit and Baltistan where people have not ventured out before. Dawn should make it a permanent pictorial to highlight the undiscovered and hidden areas of Pakistan, once in a week.
This will do wonders to the local and international tourism in Pakistan.
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Jul 03, 2014 11:38pm
shun any nonsence of Shigar being outside Pakistan
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Jul 04, 2014 02:45am
@Shafiq
It is pakistan first and than your region
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Jul 04, 2014 06:51am
@Goga Nalaik . Please read the write up carefully.....
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Jul 04, 2014 07:01am
This place defines safety. The difference between shiger and rest of the places is education. Well educated folks of this valley realise the importance of tourism and hence own the tourists. This ensures every local ensures you have a wonderful time here. A must see place. Equally safe for men, women and foreigners.
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Jul 04, 2014 10:55am
What is the point of mentioning their Sect? How irresponsible is this article and the editors have not even removed this statement! If Shigar is some great beautiful undiscovered place for tourism then WHAT IS THE POINT OF STATING THAT PEOPLE ARE PREDOMINANTLY SHIA???? Bigtory all around. Can editors please be more sensible if writers clearly aren't.
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Jul 04, 2014 02:25pm
why did u feel the need to mention the sect?? just why?? ajeeb, this stupid sectarianism goes so deep in our culture that even the "moderate" cant save their uchkun
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Jul 04, 2014 05:40pm
@Tahereh Well the people of Shigar may well be from indo-European origin but the people of Skardu proper look quite like Tibetans.
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Jul 04, 2014 09:14pm
Want to go and visit.
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Jul 04, 2014 09:28pm
Shhhh.. the Talibs will read and come here too!
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Jul 05, 2014 09:23am
I thought Osama was Pakistan's best kept secret?
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Jul 05, 2014 11:38am
Beautuful place...I shudder as to what will happen when the sickos enter...which they will, as NO ONE in Pakistan is ever punished, so why not carry on the mayhem?..
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Jul 05, 2014 05:34pm
@Hilarious. It is better to get this place inandated by tourists instead of terrorists!
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Jul 05, 2014 06:34pm
Well best kept secrets are usually gossiped by women looks like the taliban running from NW are going to end up there thanks for sharing with us a well kept secret
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Jul 05, 2014 07:33pm
Looks okayish.
Shame it's people are dominated by the death cult
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Jul 05, 2014 09:09pm
Really a beautiful place,worth visit.
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Jul 05, 2014 10:52pm
Perhaps your article has made the place unsafe. But good to know such pristine places still exist in Pakistan.
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Jul 06, 2014 12:09am
Interesting.May
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Jul 06, 2014 04:27pm
"The valley is Pakistan's most well kept secret; it seemed to me the safest place in the country. No Taliban, no drones, no mobile snatchers and extortionists.
Where else can a woman walk about town, any time of the day, and reach home without being ogled at, catcalled or touched?"
One can only hope that all of Islamic Republic of Pakistan will become safe for women and not only Shigar. Ameen!
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Jul 07, 2014 12:12am
I wish my Pakistani brothers that your country returns to peace and normalcy soon....
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Jul 07, 2014 02:39am
Beautiful!
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Jul 07, 2014 11:56am
Very innocent people, but I am worried about them because they might become the next victim of sectarianism too.
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Jul 07, 2014 01:20pm
Visited Shigar in 2009. Had lunch at Shigar fort. Amazing place.
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Jul 07, 2014 02:39pm
@Aziz:
You are required to study about these areas, population of shia Ismailis in Baltistan in negligible, In Hunza, Ghizer and Chitral they are in majority.
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Jul 07, 2014 03:39pm
@NHM You are absolutely right. This place is going to be ruined now.
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Jul 07, 2014 06:41pm
@Goga Nalaik, Jayshankar has no question. It was just an expression of sarcasm to show his hatred against Pakistan and Muslims.
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