Pakistan’s Karakoram Highway

Today we went out for the highlands, driving to Naran, a settlement in the Khagan Valley. As we leave the city and join the major highway, we will most certainly witness a variety of brightly colored trucks hauling goods along the Friendship Highway between Pakistan and China. As we ascend through the valley, we soon gain altitude, flanked on all sides by the forested peaks of the lower Himalaya Range. There will be plenty of time to take photos and enjoy the landscape before arriving in Naran in the afternoon, after a six-hour drive.

The rest of the day is open for you to unwind and take it easy, or you can explore this tiny, riverside village.

This morning, we leave Naran behind and go north via the Lulusar National Park’s high-altitude lakes before turning onto the Karakoram Highway at Talichi. This ambitious route, which is officially known as the N35 but is also frequently referred to as the ”Friendship Highway” or simply the ”KKH,” was built over the course of 20 years with funding from the governments of Pakistan and China. The route begins in Abbottabad, Pakistan, travels 1,300 km over the steep Karakoram range, crosses into China at the Khunjerab Pass, and then continues to Kashgar, an ancient Silk Road city. The ”highest highway in the world” is thought to be the Karakoram Highway.

After traversing the Babussar Pass (4,173m), we descend to Tarashing, where we will spend the next two nights. The lodging is a basic guesthouse with two twin beds and an outdoor bathroom with a bucket shower. There are blankets and all bedding available.

With plenty of time allowed for picturesque breaks, the travel takes about five to six hours in total.

This morning, we begin by driving to the Upper Rupal Valley. From there, we hike five km to the base camp of the towering Nanga Parbat, Herligkoffer Base Camp, which faces east. We follow the Bazhin Glacier up to a natural spring, which serves as the beginning of the camp, after ascending through a verdant meadow. The camp, named for Dr. Karl Herrligkoffer, who led the first successful expedition to climb the world’s ninth-highest mountain, offers breathtaking up-close views of Nanga Parbat and the surrounding western Himalayan range. The entire walk is around 10 miles long, with about 400 meters of elevation and descent, and it lasts for three to four hours. If you don’t want to participate in today’s trek, you can take a 4WD trip in the Upper Rupal Valley instead, stopping at a picturesque viewpoint and going for a quick stroll through the village.

After the hike, we take a car to Tarashing, where we will spend the night. Tonight’s lodging will be in a basic guesthouse with twin beds and exterior facilities with bucket showers. There are blankets and all bedding available.

We have a long but rewarding day of driving ahead of us as we leave the Astore Valley and make our way to the 4,100-meter-high Deosai Plateau. The plateau, one of the highest alpine plains in the world, was given national park status in 1993 to help with the protection of a vital habitat for the Himalayan Brown Bear. A number of high-altitude lakes are nourished by the Bara Pani River as it winds through the national park, creating the ideal conditions for wildflowers to thrive. We’ll make a stop at Satpura Lake, whose water has a sparkling blue appearance since it gets most of its water from the plateau’s melting glaciers. After that, we will depart and take a quick two-kilometer walk around Sheosar Lake’s deep-blue, reflected waters to stretch our legs. We keep going by 4WD until we arrive in Skardu in the early evening.

We leave early this morning in our 4WD cars, stopping first in Shigar hamlet to visit the 400-year-old Amboriq Mosque and explore Shigar Fort. This amazing and unique piece of Islamic architecture is made entirely of wood and is recognized by UNESCO.

In Shigar, we’ll take a break for lunch so you may sample some authentic Balti cuisine. Be on the lookout for ’Mamtu’, tasty stuffed dumplings that are common to the Himalayan regions, ’Chapsuro’, a calzone-like bread loaded with delicately spiced mince and vegetables, ’Gittey’, a sort of sausage made with chili and coriander and ’Gittey. After a filling lunch, we’ll head to the Katpana Desert, a high-altitude desert with sweeping sand dunes that occasionally get covered in snow in the winter.

We’ll stop en route back to Skardu and take a quick ascent to the Kharpocho Fort, which dates from the sixteenth century. The location of the Fort, which gives it the appearance of being dangerously situated on a cliff edge, offers crucial views over the meeting of the Indus and Shigar Rivers. Including the trip to the Fort, the stroll will last about two hours.

This morning, we departed in our accustomed 4WD cars and began the approximately five-hour drive to Gilgit by taking the northern loop out of the Skardu Valley and rejoining the Karakoram Highway at Jaglot.

After arriving in Gilgit at about noon, we depart for a tour of this hive of activity. The town, which is located in the center of Gilgit-Baltistan, is a paradise for hikers, cyclists, mountaineers, and explorers, not to mention passing traders. The calm, snow-capped mountains that surround it act as a sort of counterpoint to the cacophony of activity there. We’ll stroll through the Gilgit Bazaar before stopping at the Gilgit Bridge. The longest suspension bridge in the area, measuring 158 meters in length and dating back to the Raja era, it spans the width of the swift-moving Gilgit River. We’ll also stop by the historic British Cemetery and the Kargah Buddha, a 7th-century rock carving that recalls the town’s role in bringing Buddhism to the region and along the Silk Road.

We travel further up the KKH to the calmer town of Karimabad. We stop along the way at a viewpoint that provides a panoramic view of Rakaposhi, a mountain peak that looms over other adjacent mountains with a height of 7,778 meters. When we arrive at Karimabad, we tour the 700-year-old Baltit Fort, which served as the historical capital of the Hunza Kingdom. The fort’s architecture is particularly distinctive and has a Tibetan feel to it; in fact, many have noted comparisons to Lhasa’s famous Potala Palace. In order to watch the sun set into the Hunza Valley below, we spend the last part of the day journeying to Duikar Village, another location with gorgeous far-reaching views. With this approach, it is simple to understand why James Hilton is usually credited with drawing inspiration for the legendary utopia of ”Shangri-La” in his classic novel.

This evening, in a little town outside of Karimabad, we share dinner with a local Huzakut family. Here, we learn about the way of life of many local villagers and sample a variety of their cuisine, including ”Buttering Daudo,” a traditional apricot soup, ”Chap Churo,” a mouthwatering pie made with mincemeat between two pan-fried flatbreads, and ”Burish Chapik,” cheese chapattis topped with ground almonds.

We leave early this morning in a four-wheel drive vehicle towards the Hoper Valley, which is home to the powerful glaciers Hoper, Barpu, and Mier. We leave our cars behind and go on foot, covering around 1.5 hours before stopping for a picnic lunch in front of this amazing glacier. Please be aware that this hike has some exposed and steep areas. We travel to Passu in the afternoon to view (but not really cross!) the Hussaini suspension bridge. This crude engineering feat, which spans 64 meters across the Hunza River, is little more than a collection of widely separated, rotting timber planks connected by a number of lengths of steel cable. It was constructed by the villagers and serves as their lifeline for transporting commodities and agricultural produce across the swiftly moving river below. We will proceed towards Passu after taking some time to observe the people using the bridge before stopping at Borith to take in the breathtaking views of the Passu Glacier.

Today, we leave Karimabad and go along the Karakoram Highway until we leave it and merge onto the main road that connects Chitral and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the west with Gilgit Baltistan in the east. The road itself is incredibly picturesque, with large open spaces surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Along the trip, we stop at a few places, including Gahkuch, a charming village situated on a broad, sweeping bend of the Gilgit River, where we have a picnic lunch. We arrive in the small riverside village of Gupis, our resting place for the following two nights, after a roughly six-hour trip.

Today, we explore the Yasin Valley for the entire day. This historical region is connected to a network of valleys that extends beyond Pakistan’s northwestern border and into the Wakhan Corridor area of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. From Central Asians competing for the silk trade to more modern British colonial powers, control of this region has been battled over for centuries. This high-altitude valley is surrounded by the Hindu Raj Mountain Range, has a glacial river sculpting its way through the valley floor, and is framed by imposing mountains that rise more than 6,000 meters above sea level.

We leave Gupis this morning in a 4WD and travel to the village of Darkot, where we get to observe daily life for the few residents of this barren, inaccessible mountain region. The road ends at Ghasum, where we leave the jeeps behind and continue on foot for the final 45 minutes of the journey to the glacier’s snout. Here, with a view of the glacier, we have a lunch break before moving on to the lovely Ghamubar Lake. Later on in the afternoon, we head back to Gupis. The entire walk takes about 1 hour 30 minutes, and there is a 200-meter elevation gain.

Today, we leave the isolated valley region behind and travel east to rejoin the main road. First, we pass Babusar Pass (4,100 meters) and stop at Lulusar Lake before descending back to Naran through the Kaghan Valley. There will be time for a quick orientation tour of the town and its lively main bazaar once you have checked into the hotel.

This morning, as we continue to lose height, we descend back to the foothills, passing via the towns of Mansehra and Abbottabad. On the route back to the capital, we’ll stop at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Taxila, an ancient city that dates back to 3500 BC and was the subject of centuries-long conflict between the several civilizations that once called this region home. The historic city of Rawalpindi is the next place we go. The huge, densely populated ”Twin City,” which is a part of Islamabad’s larger urban conurbation, is in stark contrast to Islamabad’s wide, verdant streets. We intend to go through the congested Raja Bazaar and the winding streets before heading back to the hotel.

After breakfast at our Islamabad hotel, the journey comes to a conclusion.

You are free to leave Islamabad at any moment as there are no organized activities today. Our hotel offers luggage storage if your flight doesn’t leave until later in the day. You must fly out of Islamabad International Airport (ISB), which is 30–40 minutes away from the hotel if you want an airport transfer today.