Mushkoh Valley

The Mushkoh Valley lies at about 3,400 m in the Dras area of Ladakh, some eight kilometres west of the main Dras market, at the far western end of the territory where it meets the northern reaches of the Kashmir Valley. Dras itself, about 141 km from Srinagar, is called the Gateway to Ladakh. Mushkoh is also known as the valley of wild tulips, the flowers being its main draw for visitors.

Long regarded as glaciated and unfit for settlement, the valley came to wide attention during the 1999 Kargil War, after Pakistani troops moved across the Line of Control and occupied positions in the area. Today a highland village sits among its meadows and mountains, and its people mostly farm and keep sheep. A 130 km road from the Gurez Valley over Kaobal Gali has been opened to off-road tourists, passing through former battlefields.