Deosai National Park

Visited April 2022

I can tell you that I was there… So, if one day Deosai NP – one of the highest plateau and the habitat of the endangered Himalayan brown bear – is inscribed, I will have it ticked already! But I can tell you I have not appreciated landscape, animals, plains… And seen nothing but snow all around. Why? Because at the end of April it still snowed and the layers of snow covered the only road going through the park linking Skardu with Astore Valley Road. The owner of the guesthouse in Skardu where I stayed for four nights was trying to convince me that it did not make any sense to even try to get to the plains. But I was stubborn. So… off we went in a Toyota Prada. That was exactly last week of April – in Skardu it was green everywhere, white and pink blossoms in the valleys, sunny days, although windy (there were moments with so much sand in the air!); hard to believe that there were still so much snow up there. Skardu is situated in a vally at an elevation of around 2500 metres – Deosai plains are situated much higher, I’ve read that the average elevation of the park is of 4100 m! More than 1500 metres up – it makes a difference!

There’s only one road up in this direction, called Doesai Plain Road. First we stopped at the Buddha rock, still in the city of …