TREK OVER NAZBAR AND ZAGAR PASSES TO YARKHEN VALLEY CHITRAL PAKISTAN

Five to six days trekking in Hindu Kush Mountains:

This trek starts from couple of kilometers from Yasin a village is called Nazbar. You arrival in Gilgit is an access this village there are public van services from Gilgit to Yasin if you wish to do this trek on your own. If you are with an organized group with a guide will manage all. There is three and half hour s travel on metal road to Yasin and three km from Yasin to Nazbar on a smooth rough road. You come across beautiful villages of Punial and Gupis on the Shandur Road along the crystal clear Ghizar River.

Nazbar is village with about 300 houses. The villages will warmly welcome you on your arrival of the village, and help for your camp to sat up tents and show you reason place with clean water for drinking and cooking. You will arrange you porters from for the trek, it is better to have someone with you if you are without guide from the village to show you the way, because this trek is rarely used you will not find any path to approach to the passes.

Day-1 Nazbar Village to Shukan:  Four to five hours trek of the day, the trek starts on an easy smooth path the Nazbar people take tractors for wood up to the pastures during the months of October and November for the winter collection. You will walk trough summer settlement all the way with superb views of the natural beauty with amazing landscape. There are fields of barley and wheat where you will find people working in the fields and they will convey regards and invite you their homes and offer tea it is long tradition of the local you may have nice experience of the local culture. You will find some with little speaking English sometime a good speaking one because the education in the valley is top priority of the people Yasin.100% children go to school and study English from the very beginning. You go across the summer village in four hours reach to your camp site Shukan a place with clear spring water and camping areas for your tents. There is good view panorama of small snow capped peaks all around.

Day-3 Shukan to Ano gol across the Nazbar Pass (4,977 meters): It takes about three hours walk steeply towards the pass on rocky fields you cannot see any path on the rocks better to have some for day until to reach the pass otherwise there are many spots seem like a pass all around you may not miss the pass. There will be snow on the pass if you are here early summer or late autumn. I made it once in mid-August there was not snow on the pass. You need to have enough water from the camp for the three hour because there is no water until to cross the pass. There is nice view from here to both sides backwards and ahead. From here you will walk about two hours descending all the way to the camp of Ano Gol. A beautiful camping spot with grass and spring water and magnificent views of natural scenery of the Ano Gol an Baustter Gol, once I had this trek with a Japanese researcher of flowers. There are huge fields of flowers in the Bauster Gol we spent two weeks and enjoyed a lot. The valley has amazing peaks to climb for the inexperienced people to enjoy climbing.

Day-3 Ano Gol to Dedero Shall:

From here we cross the bridge on Bauster stream and reach to the first summer settlement Harigal Shall on the crossing Nazbar pass. The women from Shamaran stay here in the summer with cattle and warmly welcomed us with gifts of local dishes and it was surprise for them when my friend was working with the flowers. You walk down about a five kilometers and reach to the summer settlements of Dedero Shall, at the junction of the Zagaro Stream which flows down from the ZagarPass. There is beautiful campsite with trees at about 3,500 meters.

Fom here you have two options whether you go to cross Zagar Pass to Mastuj in Yarkhun Valley, in the district of Chitral or go down Shamaran a village of Phunder Valley on the way to Shandur Road. It takes two more days to go to Mastuj and to Chitral and one day to reach Shamaran and to Gilgit.

Day-4 Dedero Shall to Zagar Base camp across the Pass (5008 meters).Six to seven hours of the day trek it is bit harder walk the previous three days to go up to the pass. It takes four to five hour to reach to the pass it is a snow covered pass. The view from the pass adds to joy of holidays you can see two different kinds of landscape the one towards the Chitral and the other towards Ghizar district.  You walk another seven kilometers down on a clear path to the campsite of the Zagar Base camp at 3,700 meters.

Day-5 Zagar Base camp to Malo/ Chapali: We continue down the other side about eight kilometers, across rolling pasturelands with occasional shepherds, goes a trail with superb views of the mountains ahead Yarkun Valley and towards the Chamarkhan Pass ( A pass between Barsat and  Chamarkhan)  Chapali, which on the jeep road about 11 kilometers upriver  Mastuj. Your jeep will catch you there and drive down Chitral or Gilgit over Shandur Pass as you programmed. You can stay in Mastuj there are hotels to stay and worth to walk around The drive from here to Chitral takes 6 to 7 hour and to Gilgit 8 to 10 hours across the beautiful Phunder Valley there are many options on the way to stay nights and enjoy the holidays, if you are not in hurry, worth to spend more days in Chitral too, here is unique culture places to visit such as Kalash Valleys (will be described in the next posts).