Deosai

Deosai is a treeless plateau lying above four thousand metres between Skardu and Astore, the second highest plain on earth, and the Balti name means the land of giants. For nine months it is under snow and the two roads onto it are shut. When it thaws the whole surface turns to flowers and marmots, and the park was declared in 1993 to protect the last Himalayan brown bears in the region. Sheosar Lake sits at the western end with Nanga Parbat behind it. There is nothing to sleep in but a tent. The park covers three thousand square kilometres of it.