Wooden tower
Four carved storeys.
Hassaan ur Rahman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Qammer Wazir — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sanam Noor — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Usmaan.khaled — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Omer Awan — CC BY-SA 4.0
Khaplu Palace, known locally as Yabgo Khar, is an old fort and palace in the town of Khaplu in Gilgit-Baltistan, one of the region's leading heritage sights. It stands at 2,600 metres, north of the town and south of the Shyok River, facing the high Karakoram, about 66 km in a straight line from Skardu. Raja Daulat Ali Khan of the Yabgo dynasty built the palace in 1840 to replace an older fort nearby, and it was the residence of the Raja of Khaplu. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture restored it between 2005 and 2011, and it now holds a hotel and a museum on the history and culture of Baltistan. The white palace rises on stone terraces above a green lawn, its front centred on a four-storey wooden tower with carved balconies and lattice windows. Bare rocky mountains with snowy peaks rise behind it, ringed by stone walls and orchards. Part of the palace is a hotel, so ask about museum visits. The mountain road from Skardu is long, so allow a full day or an overnight stay.
Four carved storeys.
Green before the palace.
Snowy peaks behind.
Khaplu, Ghanche District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Raja Daulat Ali Khan, in 1840.
Part of it is a hotel; book ahead.