The town of Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan offers such spectacular views that it is sure to leave every tourist mesmerized. However, if you plan on visiting Skardu for a truly memorable trip, then Shangrila Resort provides you all the ingredients which one can hope for.
Widely regarded as “Heaven on Earth“ due to its magnificence, this beautiful resort is located at a drive of about 20 minutes from the main Skardu city. The credit for the establishment of this gorgeous resort goes to the late Brig. (Retd) Muhammad Aslam Khan, the first commander of the Northern Scouts who liberated the Northern areas in 1948. Shangrila was named after a book titled “Lost Horizon“ by the renowned English novelist James Hilton. In the novel, the author narrates a tale in which an airplane crash-landed near a riverbed in the early 1920s. The surviving passengers came across some Buddhist monks from a nearby temple and sought their help. They were taken to a beautiful lamasery filled with a variety of fruits and flowers. The monks looked quite young, although they claimed to be hundreds of years old. The peaceful place was called Shangri-la, a Tibetan word meaning “Heaven on Earth.“
Another great aspect of this resort is the Shangrila or Lower Kachura Lake. This lake is encircled by the Shangrila Resort, along which fruit laden orchards and flower filled gardens present a delightful view. It also has a unique restaurant which is built on the fuselage of an aircraft which had crashed nearby. The Shangrila Resort has 60 large rooms which are exclusively planned for providing comfortable facilities. All the cottages of the Shangrila Resort have private balconies which open to the Kachura Lake. Among these 60 rooms, they have 40 Lakeside Cottages, 6 Swiss Cottages, 4 V.I.P Suites and 2 Presidential Suites. One more remarkable feature of this resort is the complimentary pick and drop for tourists from the Skardu Airport, which is included in all their accommodation packages.
Contributed by Ahmed Raza.
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