Dras India

Dras located in the state of Jammu & Kashmir in India is the coldest place after Siberia during winter, are strategic towns that lie close to the Line of Control.

Drass is located at an altitude of 3230 m, 60 km west of Kargil on the road to Srinagar, is a small township lying in the centre of a valley of the same name. It has become famous as the second coldest inhabited place in the world by virtue of the intense cold that descends upon the valley alongwith repeated snowfall during winter. Winter temperature is sometimes known to plummet to less than-40 C. During the spring and summer, however, the valley around the township becomes very astonishing as the gently undulating hillsides turn into lush green pastures splashed with a variety of fragrant wild flowers.

The Drass valley starts from the base of the Zojila pass, the Himalayan gateway to Ladakh. For centuries its inhabitants are known to have negotiated this formidable pass even during the most risky period in the late autumn or early spring.

The Inhabitants
Its inhabitants are mainly of the Dard race, an Aryan race believed to have originally migrated to the high valleys of the Western Himalayas from the Central Asian steppes. They speak Shina which, unlike the Tibetan-originated Ladakhi dialects spoken elsewhere in Ladakh region, belongs to the Indo-European linguistic family. Their ancestral sport, `horse-polo' which the Dards play with particular zeal, resembles our modern polo.

A Convinient Base for Trekkers to Suru Valley
Drass is a convenient base for a 3-day long trek to the Suru valley across the sub-range separating the two valleys. This trek passes through some of the most beautiful upland villages and flower sprinkled meadows on both sides of the 4500 metres high Umbala pass which falls enroute. The trek to the holy cave of Amarnath in neighbouring Kashmir, which starts from Minamarg below Zojila, takes 3 days and involves crossing a 5200 metres high pass. Drass also offers numerous shorter treks and hikes to the upland villages.

Arriving At Dras
By Roadways : Buses plying between Srinagar and Kargil/Leh touch Drass. Local buses leave Kargil in the morning and afternoon for Drass.