Hunza Valley and the Khunjerab Pass

Arrive in Islamabad

We meet you at Islamabad International Airport and drive about 35 km to your hotel, which takes under an hour outside the rush hour. The rest of the day is free to recover from the flight. In the evening your guide goes through the plan and the flight arrangements for the next morning.

Overnight: Islamabad

Fly to Gilgit and drive to Karimabad

The morning flight to Gilgit takes about an hour in a small turboprop aircraft and only operates in clear weather. From Gilgit, at 1,500 m, it is about 100 km up the Karakoram Highway to Karimabad at roughly 2,500 m, a drive of 2 to 2.5 hours. We stop on the way at the roadside viewpoint for Rakaposhi (7,788 m) in Nagar.

Overnight: Karimabad

Baltit Fort, Altit Fort and Duikar

A walking day in and around Karimabad, the old capital of Hunza. Baltit Fort, restored with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in a project completed in 1996, is now a museum, and Altit Fort has been open to visitors since 2007; both are seen with the forts' own local guides. Late in the afternoon we drive 15 to 20 minutes up to Duikar for the evening light on Rakaposhi, Diran and Ladyfinger Peak.

Overnight: Karimabad

Hopar Valley and Ganish

We cross the Hunza River into Nagar and drive about 25 km, roughly an hour on a narrow road, to Hopar, where the village fields end at the edge of the Hopar Glacier. There is time for a short walk along the moraine. On the way back we visit Ganish, the oldest settlement in Hunza on the old Silk Road, with its watchtowers and small wooden mosques.

Overnight: Karimabad

Attabad Lake, Gulmit and Passu

North of Karimabad the highway runs through five tunnels, 7 km in all, beside Attabad Lake, which formed when a landslide dammed the Hunza River on 4 January 2010. We stop at the lake, at Gulmit, once the summer capital of Hunza state, and at the Hussaini suspension bridge, a 194 m footbridge over the river. Passu is about 52 km from Karimabad, so the driving adds up to little more than an hour and a half.

Overnight: Passu

The Khunjerab Pass

A long day by road: Passu to the pass is about 120 km and takes 2.5 to 3 hours each way. Passports are checked at Sost (2,800 m), the last town in Pakistan, and the road then climbs through Khunjerab National Park, home to ibex, marmots and the rarely seen snow leopard, to the border gate at 4,693 m. We stay at the top for less than an hour because of the altitude and return to Passu.

Overnight: Passu

Borith Lake and the drive to Gilgit

In the morning there is an easy walk near Borith Lake, at about 2,600 m, and a last look at the Passu Cones (Tupopdan, 6,106 m). We then drive 147 km down the valley to Gilgit, about 3.5 hours. If time allows we visit the Kargah Buddha, a 7th-century figure about 15 m high carved into a cliff 10 km outside the town.

Overnight: Gilgit

Fly to Islamabad

The morning flight returns you to Islamabad, leaving the afternoon for the Faisal Mosque, the Pakistan Monument and the Lok Virsa heritage museum. From about late June to early October there is a road alternative over the Babusar Pass (4,173 m): Gilgit to Naran is about 240 km and 7 to 8 hours, with a further 245 km and 6 to 7 hours to Islamabad the next day. See the notes below before choosing it.

Overnight: Islamabad

Spare day and departure

This day is kept free in case the Gilgit flight is delayed by weather. If everything has run to plan you have a free morning in Islamabad before we drive you to the airport for your flight home.