"Baltistan! a place where one goes and forgets the rest world."
Baltistan, also known as Baltiyul in Balti, is a region to the north of Kashmir, bordering the Chinese region of Xinjiang. It is situated in the Karakoram mountains just to the south of K2, the world's second highest mountain. It is an extremely mountainous region, with an average altitude of over 3,350 m (11,000 ft). It is inhabited principally by Balti Muslims of Tibetan descent.

The region is divided between India and Pakistan. Pakistani Baltistan (the districts of Skardu (Skardo) and Ganche) lies within the Northern Areas of Pakistan, a de facto federal dependency of Pakistan administered directly from Islamabad; its main town is Skardu. It contains the highest peaks of the Karakoram, including K2. Indian Baltistan (the district of Kargil) is located in the north of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Baltistan is often called "little Tibet".

Skardu is one of the two major hubs of all trekking expeditions in Northern Areas, a region that includes four of the fourteen Eight-thousander peaks (8,000m and above) of the world. The other hub is Gilgit. The tourist season is from April to October.
Treks to the highest plains in Pakistan, Deosai Plains either start from Skardu or end at Skardu. At a height of about 4,100m (13,500 feet), these are the second highest plains of the world, second only to Tibet.

The maximum temperature is 27C and the minimum (October) 8C. However, in December-January, the temperatures can reach below -10C. The Skardu valley is snowbound during the winter months. Often the road blocks at Karakoram Highway cut the road link (Karakoram Highway) of areas like Gilgit, Skardu and Hunza from the rest of the country. The air travel is also disturbed by the unreliable weather of Skardu and on some occasions flights are be delayed by several days because of weather.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/

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