Hindukush Karakorum Tours and welcome
all the adventure and nature lovers to enjoy their holidays in the ultimate destination for the lifetime rejoice. Breath-taking nature, enchanting
tradition, and beautiful culture with extra treks -ordinary art and architecture
are awaiting you with warm greetings.
The magical scenario of the naturally blessed Pakistanis something
worthwhile to visit by everyone, either by
trekking or tour and travel in the country from snow to land in amazing places
of different geographical landscapes one will get to live his/her dreams
definitely. It offers one of the exciting tours to North Pakistan and hopefully, you will enjoy the diverse cultures, traditions, and landscapes from the valley to
valley. It is the difference from other agencies mostly offering unspoiled parts of
Pakistan such as the Hindukush Range. There are several Treks and mountains
that are still waiting to discover and explore. We are there to provide our
services by taking you to new places.
Day
1-Drive to Chilas 10-12 hours drive on Karakoram Highway,
prepare for a simply astonishing journey along what was once an ancient Silk
Road and now an international highway connecting Pakistan and the entire Indian
subcontinent to China. Traversed for centuries by traders and travelers alike,
the route will take us into the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world.
Highway through Kohistan
Region of Khyber Pukhtun Khaw Province, en-route stop at Shatyal rock
inscriptions. This morning, a lifetime adventure begins from Besham, leaving
the green hills behind, we start driving our day in the black rocks on
Karakoram Highway, carved by the brave hearts of Pakistan and China. At Shatyal
we take a break to visit the rock carvings left by traders, Buddhist pilgrims, and historians on their way to Taxila and the Middle East. Overnight at a hotel.
Day
2-Drive to Tato& trek to Fairy Meadows:
Drive to Raikot bridge (1.5 hr) where we will leave our car and
take a jeep to reach to Tato (2 hrs). From Tato, there is another three hours trek
to Fairy Meadow. As we reach our camp late afternoon, we will take rest
at an Alpine Hut surrounded by trees and lush green meadow.
Day 3-Free
day or day hike to Nanga Parbat Base camp and back to Fairy Meadow for
overnight:
The optional day hike up to Nanga Parbat base camp does involve a
relatively long day of trekking. The trek follows a walk on a narrow goat path
along a ridge overlooking Raikot Glacier; it descends to a stream originating
from the melting Ganalo Glacier. Once across the stream, the trek rises to the
top of a ridge on the base of the snowy mountains. Another descent leads to a
narrow reach of Ganalo Glacier marked by ice walls and big boulders affording
access across the glacier. Following the glacier, the trek rises again leading
now to a wider grassy plane and meadows in the wilderness with wildflowers
above the tree line. Nestled between the monumental peaks, Nanga Parbat base
camp (3,967 m) offers breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, glaciers, and huge masses of snow and frozen world.
Day-4 Trek
to Tato and drive to Gilgit after lunch drive to Karimabad Hunza:
Trek to Tato and drive to Gilgit, it is located in the heart of
the Karakoram Range, surrounded by lofty peaks, the most majestic being
Rakaposhi. Gilgit is both accessible by road and by air; the road, journey
along the path of the ancient silk route, is an unforgettable experience
through winding valleys and tumbling waterfalls. We will visit Kargah Buddha, a
rock carving beside the KargahNullah (steam) 6km west of Gilgit along the old
road to Punial, which is the most popular short outing from Gilgit. The Buddha figure
is about 3m tall and looks down protectively over Gilgit. It was carved in the 7th century and its workmanship reveals a talented master. After lunch drive to
Karimabad, the former capital of Hunza Valley, a princely state. The natural
beautify of the Hunza valley and hospitality of its people is beyond description.
We will rest in the afternoon at our hotel.
Day
6-Visit to Altit& Baltit Forts, hike to Duiker. After sunset drive to
Gulmit for overnight:
We will start our day by visiting fairy-tale like a castle of
Baltit, above Karimabad, is a landmark built about 900 years ago, in 2004
tentatively enlisted UNESCO’s World Heritage. After the visit of Baltit Fort, we
will walk along the Barbar irrigation channel with a striking view of Karakoram
mountains adds more essence to our journey. After lunch at a traditional Hunza
home, we will visit Altit Fort and Duiker. We will witness the mesmerizing
sunset view at Eagle’s Nest Duiker and an awe-inspiring view of Hunza. Duiker
is situated at an altitude of 2935 meters high above sea level. Drive to
Gulmit for overnight.
Day
7-Gulmit-Passu – Gilgit, overnight in a hotel:
Gulmit is the
capital of Gojal, is a small village at about 2400m, well above the flooded
river. Much has changed here since the rise of the new ‘Attabad Lake’. There
are also many superb days walks near the Karakoram Highway from Gulmit. The
Gulmit Museum, full of traditional ethnic artifacts, is in a room of Raja
Hussain Ali Khan’s house, beside the Marco Polo Inn, and is well worth a
visit. Old Gulmit is at the north end of
the polo ground. Here you will find the Mir of Hunza’s summer residence, which
is no longer used, the old Shia mosque with carved woodwork, the Tomb of Silum
Khan III, water mills, and old houses. Drive to
Passu,
offer some of the best day walks and longer
hikes in the area. The village is over 150 years old and owns the grazing
rights up the north side of the 56km long Batura Glacier, so is able to support
large herds of yaks, cattle, sheep, and goats, but is less fortunate with its
agricultural land. Drive back
to Gilgit for overnight in hotel.
Day
8- Sightseeing around Visit
to Khujerab Pass 4700m: sightseeing around Gulmit, if wish to
visit Borith Lake and have two hours to the viewpoint of Passu Glacier and
surrounding mountains worth visiting (instead of the visit to the Chinese border
between Pakistan and China, it is 7 to eight hours driving on the 8th wonder of the world Karakorum Highway along Atta Abad Lake, Gulmit, Passu and
the dry port Sust is a fascinating day. We leave early in the morning from
Gulmit and visit to the pass drive back to Gulmit for overnight stay.
Day 9-Drive to Ishkoman Valley: 2 hours
driving on KKH to Gilgit
which is the administrative headquarter of Gilgit Baltistan formerly known as
Northern Area, after Lunch we will drive to Ishkoman Valley it is 3-4 hours
on the Shandur Road to the west of Gilgit The Ishkoman valley,
running north to south to join the Gilgit Valley, divides the Karakorum Range
from the Hindu Kush. It was once the principality of Chitral when there was the
Kingdom system before 1972. It incorporated to Pakistan by the same year. The valley is a junction of numerous trekking routes with beautiful landscape and
amazing natural sceneries. The people here mostly speak the language of Chitral
named Khowar. Some parts of it the people speaking Shina the language is spoken in Gilgit and Punial. There are Wahki speaking people in the valley, in
Ishkoman we can walk around different villages, experience the living standard
and culture of the region, being a female tourist you will be warmly welcomed by
the people to visit homes and talk with the families everywhere you will see someone speaks English. We have
spots of hiking for a day too there hopefully you will enjoy it. Overnight stay
in the evening you will enjoy a local musical show with dancing and singing in
your guest house.
10-Drive to Yasin Valley:
Like the Ishkoman
Valley, the Yasin Valley is to the northwest of the Ghizar District. It lies
to the east of Ishkoman at an altitude of 2100 meters to 2800 meters. In its the lower part of the valley is wide flat and well-watered, making it completely
fertile, with irrigated fields on either side of the Yasin River
The people here
speak the original language of Brushaski which is also spoken in Hunza and
Nagar valleys. It has played a leading role in the history of the region
continually fought over by the rulers of both Chitral
It has played a leading role in the history of the
region continually fought over by the rulers of both Chitral and Gilgit, the
history of the ruler of Yasin reads like a catalogue of patricide, fratricide and
avanculicide.
Until the twentieth century, Yasin was an important Kingdom controlling the shortest and the easiest route between the Oxus and Indus Valleys. In the early centuries AD, it
was the capital of the Little Bolor, which ruled Gilgit, the early in the
eighth the century, the Tibetans, who controlled Great Bolor (Baltistan) tried
to gain access through Yasin to the Oxus Valley in order to join forces with
Arab and attack China. With Chinese help, Yasin kept the Tibetans at bay until
742, when the Tibetans persuaded the king of Yasin to marry a Tibetan princess
and align himself with Tibet.
The Chinese
retailed by attacking in747. With 10,000 troops they crossed the Pamir and
defeated an equal force of Tibetans on the Wakhan side of the Broghil pass,
then chased them across the Broghil and Darkot passes. The Chinese then took
Yasin and cut the birch-rope bridge across the Gigit River at Gupis which was
a source of access, it took one year to rebuild. Thus blocking the advance of
Tibetans reinforcement coming from Gilgit, as the Gigit River cannot be forded
in the summer and there is no route along its north bank. Chinese rule proved
to be short lived, however, as a defeat in 751 near Tashkent at the hands of
Arabs lost control of Central Asia. The Chinese returned in 1749. In the
eighteenth century, the king of Mastuj controlled Yasin and at times Gilgit as
well. The Ghizar Valley west of Yasin smooth as the Shandur Pass is making it was easy
for Mastuj to communicate with Yasin.
Yasin has playe
pivotal role in the history of Gillgit Baltistan. It came to the attention of
Victorian Britain following the murder of British explorer Goerge Hayward in
Darkot village in 1870 (will describe in the next pages about this).
Russian advanced through Darkot and Broghil pass in order to capture
Gilgit but they were stopped at Darkot pass. The British took an interest in
the valley and opened its agency at Gilgit in 1877, British and Russian
continued to jostle for control. Russian spies stood at the top of the Darkot
Pass at 1890, peering down into Yasin, but retreated unseen. Five years later
the Pamir Boundary Commission crossed the Darkot Pass with 600 ponies to survey
the frontier. The Russian threat subsided, and in the twentieth century, Yasin
became another small kingdom ruled by raja. It was absorbed by Pakistan in
1972.
Geographically, Yasin
Valley of Gilgit Baltistan is the meeting point to the Central Asian countries
in the Hindukush range of great mountains Gilgit Baltistan, to the Northeast
its borders connect with Ishkomman Valley which has a long border along the
Korumbar and Wakhan Corridor and Chilinji Pass to Chupusan upper Gojal, to the
South its border connects with the Yarkun Vally of Chitral district of NWFP
now KPK to continue to Afghanistan. Because of this geographical importance, ancient invaders and conquerors used these passes to proceed to the
Sub-Continent.
It was
considered one of the remotest regions in Gilgit Baltistan but the modern
technology and sacrifice of martyr (shaheed) Lalik Jan Nishan-e- Haider made it
accessible in a short time by improving the road to Yasin, once it took eight
hours from Gigit to reach there, but now it takes only four hours. The valley
is very beautiful with spectacular views of the snowcapped mountains of Hindu
Kush and passing through the beautiful villages of Punial and Gupis on the
Shandur road leads to Chitral. The people of Yasin are unique in their
hospitality as compare to any other part of Gilgit Baltistan. There is unique
beauty for travelers to enjoy their holidays. It has camping spots simple
reasonable hotels to stay and easy and challenging trekking routes for trekkers
and mountains for climbers (most of them are unclimbed yet). You can go on a
day short trek or a month long trek from the valley crossing passes from a part
to another part of the district. The detailed itineraries and descriptions of
the trekking routes will be shared in the next posts. Some of them have been
described already in the previous posts.
I hope you will find this article interesting and
comment on it. As the Ishkoman
valley, Yasin is also an interesting village with hospitable people and some
hiking resorts you will enjoy visiting there. This will be an interesting shooting along the Phunder River,
through Gupis, Khalti lake is one of the attractive spots on the way which is
full of trout fish. Beyond Khalti passing through charming villages and fantastic landscape with rock
carving on the roadside. These art forms illustrate the lives of pastoral
nomads who may have moved here in early Christian times and show great
continuity with similar designs found in the Pamir region. Many shows mounted
horsemen, solar motifs, hunting scenes, and long-horned ibexes Furthermore
Bathrath River flowing from Swat Kohistan and leads South towards Tangir Valley
that needs to be explored. Chashi, the
valley widens greatly, and augmented by tributaries by both the N and S, which
provide access to Tangir and Darel Valleys. The main Phunder Valley has
loveliest scenery in the whole Pakistan. The blue Phunder Lake is magnificent with
the Ghizar River. The lake situated at an altitude of 2800 m full of trout
fish. To the west of Phunder Valley a side valley leads to South Hundrap Lake,
also renowned for its trout fishing. There is a possibility to trek South from
here across the Dadarilli Pass into Swat Valley it takes 4-5 days easy trek
from either side.
The roads up to Shandur Pass (3737m) to Chitral a jeep road
between the two regions of Pakistan Gilgit and Chitral interesting. The Shundur
Polo ground is famous for the Shandur Festival which is celebrated every year
with different events. The polo match between the teams of Chitral and Gilgit
is famous in the world. There are numerous tourist attractions in this valley
as Yasin and Ishkoman need to explore more and bring to the map of tourist
attraction. The day will be ended with trout fishing experiences in the Phunder
River and having for the dinner to enjoy the last dinner and overnight. Guest
House or PTDC MOTEL
Day-12 Drive to Gilgit/Astore for overnight stay: We will visit the upper Gahkuch above the district quarter is a great
viewpoint of the Ghizar River and the valleys around if you interested in
history will pay a visit to historical Gahkuch Fort. There are some of the
remains of the Fort. En-
route visit Kargah Buddha, a rock carving beside the Kargah Nullah
(stream) 6 km west of Gilgit along the old road to Punial, is the most popular
short outing from Gilgit. The Buddha figure is about 3 m tall and looks down
protectively over Gilgit. It was carved in the 7th century and its workmanship
reveals a talented master. Overnight at Serena Hotel. If we have enough time in
the after will drive to Astore valley to the South of Gilgit to make the next
day shorter.
Day-13
Drive to Skardu via Deosia Plateau: Eight hours drive via Astore and
stunning road via Astore and Deosia Plateau it is one of the highest Plateaus
in the world, a lifetime experience along a beautiful landscape one of the
world largest Plateaus. It is only possible if the tour scheduled from mid-June
to mid-October.s. Skardu
city is a major trekking and expedition hub in Gilgit–Baltistan. Visit its many
bazaars known for their hand-woven woolen cloth and elaborate, colorful embroidered
local gowns, or take a stroll up the hill to the ancient Fort overlooking the
town. The awesome sight of the mighty Indus twisting beneath you. Overnight stay in the hotel.
Day
14-excursion to Shigar Village: 32 KM to the North of Skardu Shigar the village is an interesting village with Shigar Fort once it was the center of the kingdom and there is an old mosque of 700 years old with the Mughal architecture we
can have two hours' walk to Thale Valley to enjoy the beauty of Shigar Valley.
We will have lunch at the Shigar Fort Hotel which is running by Serena groups of
hotels in Pakistan you can also see the real culture of Baltistan most of the
villagers live in simple houses. We will
be able to meet some local population to experience the living standard of the
people. In the afternoon drive back to Skardu/ overnight stay in Serena Shigar
Fort.
Day 15-Day
excursion to Khapulu District Ganche:
Khapulu under the shadow of Masherbrum Peak is a gateway many peaks
and glaciers like Siachin 103 Kilometers three hours drive mostly along the Shyoke River.
Khapulu Fort Palace and Chaqchan Mosque are interesting places to
visit. The mosque built around 1500 AD is the oldest mosque in Baltistan. The
building shows Buddhist influence and Tibetan architecture. If you have enough
time can overnight stay there or drive back to Skardu.
Day 16-Fly
Islamabad: One hour exciting flight to Islamabad it always depends on
weathers’ condition in case of no flight it takes two full days to drive to
Islamabad. You need to courageous to travel on the astonishing Karakorum
Highway again as came up to Gilgit.
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