Fun Is Gud: [FAO] Turtuk; The Last Beautiful Frontier

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Turtuk is a picturesque border village in Ladakh, very close to the Line of Control between India and Pakistan. During the 1971 war with Pakistan, the Indian Army recaptured the village from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Today, it is the last inhabited frontier before the border, inhabited by Balti Muslims who cultivate wheat, buckwheat, apricots and tomatoes in the fertile soil churned by the tributaries of the turbulent Shayok River, itself a headspring of the mighty Indus. Turtuk, a gruelling nine-hour drive from the district capital Leh, was opened to tourism in 2010. The region is a part of Ladakh's Nubra Valley, accessible to Indian citizens and foreign nationals with an Inner Line Permit.

A postcard-perfect view of Turtuk in Nubra Valley, Ladakh.

Azure skies smile down upon the tri-armed Nubra Valley. Turtuk is approximately 90 km from Diskit, the main town of the valley. The Shayok River cuts through it.

    The village of Changmar, with the strategic bridge over the Shayok River. According to Wikitravel: "The area of the Shayok river past Hundar, including the three villages of Changmar, Bogdan and Turtuk, were only opened to foreign tourists in 2010, so they are still quite new in their contact with tourists and the West, and feel rather unexplored."

    Somewhere along the way before Bogdan village en route to Turtuk.

    The mighty Shayok rushes through the valley.

    On the way to Turtuk, somewhere before the military airfield and base of Thoise, which allows the forces access to the Siachen glacier. THOISE is an acronym for "Transit Halt Of Indian Soldiers Enroute (to Siachen)".