Murgo Murgo is situated at an altitude of 14,600 ft and the name Murgo literally means "the gateway of death" in Yarkandi. It is rightly named as the route beyond Murgo, towards the Karakoram Pass, passes through a desolate barren gorge at a height of 15,000 ft. Difficult and dangerous, without any habitation or shelter and where constant snowstorms, gales and blizzards raged, Murgo trapped the ancient caravans on their way to this roof of the world, resulting in deaths of thousands of men and animals every year. Only a few lucky adventurous souls and the fittest of the lot could survive while the rest formed the heaps of skeletons that are still visible along the trail up to the Karakoram Pass. Murgo is a camping site.

On the ancient Central Asian trade route. Credit: Karamjeet Singh

There is a mineral water spring with warm and palatable water. The large stone heaps nearby indicate that Murgo was used as a camping site by big caravans in olden times. Not even a blade of grass grows in the area and the landscape is barren, with black and brown mountains all around.