Gurez Festival, J&K

The land of unexplored treasures- is replete with vast forests, pastures and green meadows with a serene environment. Pyramid shaped peak namely Habba Khatoon Peak is Gurez’s most formidable peak. The Kishanganga River roars through Gurez, and harbors world class trout including Brown Trout and Rainbow trout. Dawar in Gurez is an important archaeological site, and other important archaeological site is Kanzalwan where the last council of Buddhism is believed to have been held. Gurez falls along the ancient silk route, and is gateway to famous silk route across Central Asia. Ruins of ancient Sharda University are present along the Kishanganga River. In Gurez, one gets to experience the taste of real village life as houses are mostly made of large wooden logs. Traditional mud-color log wood houses makes Gurez no less than an European country. There are many trekking routes which go from Gurez and Tulail leading upto Gangbal and Sonamarg to its east, and Drass and Zanskar to its north. The Kishanganga river offers easy level of rafting, and tough ones from Tulail. Mountains have challenging scope for rock climbing. Trout fishing is a frequent sport, and Kishanganga is angler’s delight as it has abundance of world class trout.  Gurez has lovely camp sites where tents can be pitched. Gurez offers travelling, driving, trekking, rafting, cycling, photography, camping, paragliding, and local traditional and cultural values. There is a pass en-route to Gurez called Razdan pass which is a great spot for picnic as it boasts of meadows. The famous mountain Harmukh is visible from this pass. The beauty of picturesque Gurez valley rivals the Swiss alps, with dazzling fields of wild flowers, snowy summits, diverse fauna and wildlife including Himalayan brown bear and snow leopard. A paradise for explorers, naturalists, trekkers and tourists alike-Gurez valley’s pristine beauty and magnificent landscape mesmerizes the visitors.