The town of Dras is located in a relatively flat and  open
space. It has extensive willow groves along the river. Insummer this town
presents a pleasant look while in winter it discovered under a thick blanket
of snow. Dras experiences the lowest temperatures in the valley and with
its altitude of3,300 m, this town is said to be the second coldest inhabited
place in Asia. The mercury may drop to as low as 40 degrees Celcius below
freezing point. Often the small huts are covered by snow and communication
with the outside world is cut off.
Best viewed in I.E.5.0 & above in 800X600 resolution Travel Tools
Resources Railway Timetable Currency Converter Distance Chart Weather
Visa Info Passport Info The Dras Valley is an enchanting valley formed
by the Dras River which rises in the Machoi glacier near the famous Zozila
Pass. The river is joined in its course by many other rivers and streams
flowing in from snowfields in the nearby mountains.
Drass (3230 m), 60 km west of Kargil on the road to Srinagar, is a small
township lying in the centre of the valley of the same name. It has become
famous as the second coldest inhabited place in the world by virtue of
the intense cold that descends upon the valley along with repeated snowfalls
during winters. Winter temperature is sometimes known to plummet to less
than minus 40 degrees.
The Drass valley starts from the base of the Zojila pass, the Himalayan
gateway to Ladakh. For centuries its inhabitants are known to have negotiated
this formidable pass even during the most risky period in the late autumn
or early spring, when the whole sector remains snow-bound and is subject
to frequent snow storms, to transport trader's merchandise across and
to help stranded travellers to traverse it. By virtue of their mastery
over the pass they had established a monopoly over the carrying trade
during the heydays of the Pan-Asian trade. A hardly people enduring
with fortitude and harshness of the valley's winter, the inhabitants
of drass can well be described as the guardian's of Ladakh's gateway
The river Shigar flowing in from the north drains an adjoining part
of the Dras Valley. In summer, as the snow in the upland smelts, the
volume of this river rises considerably. It meets the Suru River near
Kharul a short distance away from Kargil.The terrain is characterized
by rock and stone with the occasional greenish patch formed by willow
and groves.
There is a short summer season in the Dras Valley. It begins inMay,
when the snows begin to melt. Crop sowing activities startlate, while
harvesting is done early so that the crops arebrought in before the
beginning of snowfall.
Barley and other coarse cereals are the main crops grown inthis valley.
Agricultural production is hampered due to thepoor and unproductive
soil and the short growing season. Moreover, there is a lack of irrigation
facilities in many parts of the Dras Valley.
As a result, agricultural yields are not enough to meet theneeds of
the people living in this valley. Food grains have tobe imported from
the Kashmir Valley. Fuel too is a scarce commodity and has to be brought
in from across the Zozila Pass.Brokpas are the people living in the
Dras Valley. They probably migrated to this tract from Gilgit several
centuries ago.
Drass is a convenient base for a 3-day long trek to Suru valley across
the sub-range separating the two valleys. This trek passes through some
of the most beautiful upland villages and flower sprinkled meadows on
both sides of the 4500 mts high Umbala pass, which falls enroute. The
trek to the holy cave of Amarnath in neighboring Kashmir, which stars
from Minamarg below Zojila, takes 3 days and involves crossing of 5200
mts high pass. Drass also offers numerous shorter treks and hikes to
the upland villages.
|
