Kargil. A few photos, but more lore // SAYA.UZ

Published: 2025-11-01 22:08:10 +07:00

Took place on: 2025-09-13; 2025-09-14

We had only passed across this town. But the region of Kargil has its legend

There are three ways to Kargil. On the west is Srinagar, Kashmir, you can get here to western India. On the east is Leh, which can get you to Eastern Turkestan (Yarkand), Tibet (and further to China) and central India. So, Leh is by itself an important point of trade, connecting India and Central Asia.

Not really a welcoming town, that Kargil, and I was a bit exhausted, to be frank

A stop before was another patriotic war museum, now about all the war conflicts, which were in this region

They gave me a pin, though

At first I didn't get this familiarity. Only the next day I got that it's an acronym for Border Roads Organization (no doubt that was in purpose)

But what made Kargil one?

There is a third, northern route, where one, traversing through Skardu, Baltistan will get into western parts of Central Asia, like Bukhara, Samarkand, Merv. And also Persia.

So, where are we flowing with that?

Shia mosque (a bit blurred)

Quite possibly, the main street

By this point, you understand -- Kargil is not a tourist town at all. It seems that this squatter is all contemporary too

It's this cross-section what gave Kargil its unique place in the region. Pressured between Sunni Islam, which was quickly spreading across India (that's a bit simplified and the details be better left for another time), and devotion to Buddhism on the east, Kargil was converted by Persian missionaries, who got here by northern route, to Shia Islam.

Before Persians arrived in the XV century, Kargil was Buddhist, just like the rest of Ladakh. No surprise here, as they were both part of Tibetan Empire.

The squatter on the foothills catches my eye, though

Wanted to focus on these "favelas", but instead gave away for free a location for copper

Would wish to visit a quarter like this someday, see all this everyday life and stuff

Sometimes these arrays form a grid

So, how is the town? That's a joint capital of Ladakh with Leh and the second most populous settlement here! Only 16 thousand, and to be honest, it feels even sparser.

In the end town felt mediocre. A walk around the town core could change this perception, though, I don't know.