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Popular
Jeep Trek
Itinerary Slide Show
Dates and Prices
There
can be few areas in the world where mountains rise in such awesome splendour
as in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Towering above the Chitral valley, on
the northeastern border of Afghanistan,
Tirich Mir reigns as the highest of the majestic peaks of the Hindu Kush. Some 500 km further east, the magnificent
pyramid of K2, the 2nd highest mountain in
the world, crowns the violent spires of the Inner Karakorum. To the North the
remote Pamir plateau separates South from Central Asia,
two continents once joined by the caravan routes of the Old Silk Road which
sliced their way across the passes and through the central valley of Hunza.
To the south, the huge bulk of Nanga Parbat rises in splendid isolation as
the last great bastion of the Himalayan range, dividing the fertile plains of
Kashmir from the forbidding gorges of the Indus.
What
follows is a brief overview of our journey through this area. In our opinion
this is the best possible use of a top quality jeep/driver over 21 nights -
it is, however, only a guide, and may occasionally be changed by the group
leader in the face of adverse road or weather conditions. Moreover, even
though the locations are effectively fixed, KJTI prides itself on the fact that
no tour is ever the same, read Anna Wolton's account of KJTI'97 for the
details of what typically happens day to day. "It is often the 'getting
there' that is actually better than the ‘being there"'.
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Day 1: Rawalpindi/ Manshera:
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After about seven hours on a direct
flight from Heathrow you will arrive at Islamabad,
the capital of Pakistan,
where you will be met at the airport by your driver / guide. You will be
taken to twin city Rawalpindi,
only ten miles from the capital, but much more of a traditional bustling
sub continental city where the guide will deal with some trek paper work
and you will be supplied with your shalwar chemis clothing for the trip.
You have to reconfirm your return flights before heading to remote areas.
We will then head off on a relatively
short journey to the green and cooler hills of Manshera - your first taste
of the adventure yet to come…
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Day 2: Chilas:
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.Moving along the famous Karakorum Highway
out of the green valleys and travel into the Chilas desert the landscape
changes to a baron environment with fearsome mountains. We stay the night
at the important trading post of Chilas.
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Day 3: Karimabad, Hunza:
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The group continues up past Gilgit
towards the border with China
along part of the famous Karakorum Highway (KKH) - in an unprecedented feet
of engineering the 1300km long KKH crosses the Karakorums along the route
of the Old Silk road from Beijing, to
connect Islamabad to Kashgar in Xinjiang, China. As the highest tarmac
road in the world it offers a great chance to get right in amongst some of
the worlds highest peaks with relative ease. Karimabad is a small town in
Hunza surrounded by the most massive peaks of the Karakorums and the
Pamirs, including the unimaginably awesome spectacle of Rakaposhi
(c26,000ft). Many of the drivers originate from this area.
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Day 4: Passu:
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100km beyond Karimabad and the KKH
reaches the Passu glacier. Probably the most impressive stretch of the
roads it affords spectacular views of dozens of (20k+ ft) snow-capped
peaks, including 'Ultar I', 'Diran' and 'Golden peaked The glacier itself
is equally unforgettable, running 58km up into the Passu massif from
virtually the edge of the road. After a short stop for lunch and an
optional ramble up onto the glacier itself, we return by the same route and
spend a second night in Karimabad where we usually have enough time for a
quick tour of the local forts at Baltit or Altit.
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Day 5: Gilgit:
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Gilgit is the largest town in the
Northern Areas, and is the place to 'people watch' - from as far
West as Afghanistan and
as far east as Tibet
it is a real mix of traders, jeep drivers, farmers and trekkers
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Day 6,7: Tarashing:
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The next four days are far and away the
climax of the trip; after heading south on the KKH from Gilgit to Jaglot
our route leaves the main road and heads on a dirt track along the Astore
valley towards Nanga Parbat (5th highest in the world, 27,000ft+) and
finally to the tiny village of Tarashing which lies at 13,500ft and within
a few miles of base camp. There is, undoubtedly, no where else in the world
where an individual can get so close to one of the worlds greatest peaks
without trekking. Probably the most challenging part of the entire tour for
the drivers, it is extremely rarely frequented by westerners and yet offers
mind-bending images of the entire massif. Accommodation is in a traditional
log cabin in the middle of this friendly village.
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Day 8: Deosai:
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"Covering an area of 400 sq km, all of it above 14,000ft, the
Deosai plateau is stunningly beautiful. In Shina the word translates
literally as 'Giant's abode', and it is not hard to see how a landscape on
such a massive scale could have inspired stones of giants. In Balb the
region is known as 'Bbear Sar', meaning 'place of flowers: an apt
description during summer. Closely resembling the Tibetan plateau in its
topography and environment, it contrasts sharply with the ring of jagged
rocky mountains that surround it on all sides. Gently rolling hills extend
into the distance as far as the eye can see, clothed in a soft cladding of
vegetation and carpeted with brightly coloured flowers in the summer. The
plateaus rivers flow past crystal clear and icy cold. There is an
unmistakable sense of the elevation in the huge expanse of horizon, the
wide open space and the clarity of light and colour typical of such high
altitudes."
Ivan
Mannheim, "Pakistan
handbook"
The night is spent under canvass by the
famous bridge over Bara Pani.
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Day 9: Skardu:
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After a long and steep descent that
passes the tranquil Satpara lake we arrive in Skardu, the capital of
Baltistan and home of the greatest concentration of 8000m+ peaks on the
globe, including K2. Baltistan means
'Little Tibet'; populated by descendants of Genghis Khan, both the language
and the landscape are indeed distinctly Tibetan. The view from the hotel
over the Indus is appropriately wild, dry,
and inhospitably magnificent.
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Day 10: Khupalu:
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The 100km drive east of Skardu to
Khupalu is perhaps the easiest way to see Baltistan; complete with truly
unforgettable stacks, vertical gorges and at Machalu 60km from the Indian
border it is possible to see Masherbrum I (27000ft), the southern wall of
the Inner Karakorums. Khapalu village is also probably the prettiest in
Baltistan. We return to Skardu, the same day.
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Day 11: Gilgit:
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The road from Skardu is in many ways
more impressive than the KKH itself. In places not much more than a notch
in the side of a gorge 1000s of feet above the Indus,
the road reputedly cost more lives per mile than its more famous sibling.
It also presents the jeep trekker with belittling views of the 'Naked face'
of Nanga Parbat, that drops almost vertically for 6km from the peak
(27000ft) to the bottom of the Indus gorge; no snow can stay attached to
it.
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Day 12,13: Gupis, Shandur Pass:
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The trek takes the road west for three
days to Chitral. Again from Hopkirk's "The Great Game"...
"...a hair-raising, 200 mile drive by jeep, most of it in
bottom gear, along a narrow track just one vehicle wide, and with sickening
views of the valley floor hundreds of feet below...the rewards are great,
however, for the journey takes one through some of the most stupendous
mountain scenery anywhere. In winter the road - if it can be so described -
is closed unless one is prepared to struggle waist deep through the snow
which blocks the 12,500ft Shandur
Pass, the highest
point on the route. "
Despite the remoteness, there are basic,
clean hotels peppered along the route; although we may camp on Shandur itself,
especially as in July the huge open pass is the site of the highest polo
match in the world. It is also perhaps the best chance of the whole trip to
see village life up close, as the route is rarely frequented by tourists.
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Day 14: Chitral:
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Arriving in the Chitral valley
demonstrates the diversity with a new scenery, people and culture asking to
be explored.
"Even today Chitral has lost little of its remoteness. In the
great empty valleys surrounding it, the only sounds to be heard are the
melancholy cry of the eagle, the occasional whine of a jeep, and the
perpetual thunder of the glacier-fed torrents as they race through the
precipitous gorges. Just getting there is still something of an
adventure... from the south, via Swat along a road which cost 500 lives to
Construct. Even so, in winter, the telegraph poles are sometimes buried in
snow to within a foot of the wires. But whichever way he comes, the
traveller is in no doubt that he has reached his destination. For there set
dramatically on the bend of the river, is the great fortress of Chitral,
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Peter
Hopkirk, "The Great Game"
The richly fertile Chitral
valley lies ensconced in the heart of the Hindu Kush and is dominated by
its highest peak, Tirich Mir (25,200ft) to
the North.
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Day 15: Garam Chashma:
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Even further north the track winds its
way along 'Lutkho Gol', a superlative gorge which, in places is nothing
more than a 5,000ft vertical slot.
The road eventually opens up a little at
Garam Chashma ("Hot Springs"),
where Northerners come from miles around to bathe in the superheated spring
water and trade in Lapis Lazuli, fresh from Afghanistan 30 miles up the
road. The only hotel in the village is pleasant but would otherwise be
unremarkable were it not for the fact that it has its own blissfully
pleasant outdoor hot spring swimming pool, complete with views of Afghanistan
down the valley.
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Day 16,17: Rombir/Kalash:
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After returning to Chitral,
we head to the valleys of the Kalash. Extremely isolated, and accessible
only by a recently constructed and barely jeepable road, it is unsurprising
that these peoples remained undiscovered for more than a millennium. After
a tour of Brum (by the Kalash leader), the main village in the Rombir
Kalash valley, there is a traditionally Kalash meal and an early night in a
simple cabin in the middle of the village.
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Day 18: Dir:
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Further south we descend into the
highest part of the Chitral valley. The descend from Lowari pass is an amazing mountainside view. We
spend the night in a small village Dir.
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Day 19, 20: Peshawar / Khyber pass:
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We head south over the 10,500ft Lowari
pass. From the top you can look forward over the green Peshawar
valley and backwards to the distant outline of the Hindu
Kush.
"Peshawar is the largest city
of the North west
Frontier province. The Pathans just call it 'Shehr' The City'. There are
others, but from Turkey
to China this is 'the'
city of central Asia... Like the cafes of
the Champs Elysees in Paris, if you sit long
enough in one of Peshawar
Old City's
teashops the whole world passes by."
Christine
Cottam.
Peshawar, with its tiny side streets and ancient bazaars
is romantically, the best place on the route, to go shopping. We also stay
two nights, which should go some way to helping you recover from the rest
of the tour! An optional day trip will take you west to the border with
Afghanistan at head of the famous Khyber pass (subject to the permits
granted by the Government of Pakistan), from here it is possible to see the
Afghan town of Torkham - the site of countless invasions the journey is as
much one of history as a trek through the foothills of the Hindu Kush.
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Day 21: Rawalpindi
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Initially constructed in the 4th century
BC, and completed by the Moghuls in the 16th, the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) is the
very backbone of the subcontinent. It runs from Kabul
in Afghanistan to Calcutta in Bengal.
"All castes and kinds of men move here. Look! Brahmins and
chamars, bankers and tinkers, barbers and bunnias. pilgrims and porters -
all the world going and coming. To me it is a river from which I am
withdrawn like a log after a flood. And truly the GT Rd is a wonderful spectacle. It
runs straight, bearing without crowding India's traffic for fifteen
hundred miles such a river of life as nowhere else exists in the
world."
from
Rudyard Kipling's "Kim"
Mid-way along the GT Road between Rawalpindi
and Peshawar we stop for lunch at Attock,
where the great Indus
turns through 90 degrees and heads south. We continue along the GT road to Rawalpindi for the
final night stay of the trip.
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Detailed Diary of 28 days Shears’
Tour
Adventure Travel in North
Pakistan
http://www.kjti.co.uk/
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