Turtuk is the final outpost of Indian-controlled Ladakh before entering Pakistan-controlled Gilgit-Baltistan. The hamlet serves as one of the access points to the Siachen Glacier. Turtuk is well-known for its fruit variety, particularly apricots. Turtuk is well-known for its fruit variety, particularly apricots.
Turtuk was part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir until 1971, when Major Chewang Rinchen handed the village to India’s authority along the Line of Control and never returned it. However, locals were first suspicious of India, and their faith in the Indian Army was non-existent. Because many locals had served in the Pakistan Army, it was understandable that their desire to change instantly was unachievable.
The tiny hamlet is located at the northernmost tip of Ladakh’s Nubra Valley, surrounded by the Shyok River and the high peaks of the Karakoram mountain range. There is only one route in and out, surrounded by collapsing rock faces: a rough trail that traverses over high mountains to Leh. Sleepy Turtuk’s fairly stormy past, as a hamlet that lost its nation, is arguably considerably more intriguing than its landscape.
It is the entryway to the Siachen Glacier, with the snow-capped summits of Mt. K2 visible in the distance from the village’s highest point.