Sankoo is a picturesque township surrounded with numerous villages and colourful rocky mountains all around. It is a popular picnic spot for the tourists where you can explore the lust plantations and wild roses. Main reason to travel to Sankoo is the visit a small village near it called Kartse Khar which is famous for 7-meter rock carved statue of the Maitreya Buddhha.
Located at an altitude of about 9,524 ft above sea level, Sankoo is an upcoming township with a small bazaar and numerous villages around. Sankoo is located 42 Km South of Kargil in a bowl-shaped valley. This valley is drained by the broad secondary streams of the Suru River, the Kartse and the Nakpochu. Sankoo is fondly known as the Ladakh’s own Gulmarg as this is the most flourishing valley throughout the entire region of Ladakh.
Summers are warm in Sankoo but the winters are extremely cold and harsh when temperature can drop as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius. Temperatures are most comfortable from June to September, so this is the best time to visit Sankoo.
It is a popular picnic spot for the tourists and local picnickers where you can explore the lust plantations.
This place is famous for the ancient shrine of a Muslim saint, Sayed Mir Hashim, who was particularly invited for conveying religious teachings to the Buddhist ruler of the Suru principality after his conversion to Islam. Situated in the village of Karpo-Kharon, this shrine is located in the outskirt of Sankoo where the Chief had his summer palace. Tourists visit Karpo-Kharon Shrine to offer their prayers to the saint.
The main reason to travel to Sankoo was the visit a small village near it called Kartse Khar which is famous for 7-meter rock carved statue of the Maitreya Buddhha. This is considered as the tallest statue of the Buddha after the Bamiyan in Afghanistan as the local claims.
Sankoo is popular for its very nice morning breakfast stop. You can also enjoy the beautiful view of the lush greenery all around the village. Sankoo has plenty of greenery all around the village and is easily the only place in Ladakh where greenery actually flourishes and makes this tiny village looks like a veranda of flowers. You can also explore forests which are situated in proximity to the hamlet.
Around Sankoo, you can also visit Panikhar and Parkachik from where you can catch a breathtaking view of the Nun-Kun peaks.
Sankoo is located 42 Km from Kargil in the South and can be reached through Kargil. JKRTC buses are available from Kargil to Sankoo and the neighbouring villages in the Suru Valley. To avoid crowd you can take sharing jeeps from Kargil. You can also hire a taxi if it’s a group of travellers.
There is a “teacher’s bus” which leaves at around 7 AM and goes to the Sankoo village. This time makes it ideal for the teachers who live in Kargil, to attain the schools in the Suru valley according to schedule.
