5 day trip to Naran, Babusar, Chillas, Hunza and Khunjerab from Lahore

[camshaft]

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Screenshot pasted above.

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first two ptdc pictures are visible please check

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[Mohd.Waqas]

i am using web and i cant see them - really want to see ratelist please share it again

[camshaft]

PTDC rate list

[camshaft]

i am using web and i cant see them - really want to see ratelist please share it again

I have re uploaded the PTDC rate list i hope you are able to see it now.

[4friends]

wonderful trip yar ........................zbardast yar

[camshaft]

wonderful trip yar ........................zbardast yar

Thank you mate

[camshaft]

We woke up at 6.30am and had a breakfast from PTDC, prathas, fried egg, omelette and tea. One of our friend had to go back to Lahore due to some personal circumstances, so we checked out from PTDC and after dropping him in Naran Bazar we left for Hunza at 8.30am.

Road from Naran till Batkundi was fine except some spots having melting glaciers. Bridge near Jalkhad is still wooden and is very bumpy, it is an almost 500 meter bad patch after which metalled road starts again. So we reached Lulusar after crossing Jalkhad, apart from some local jeeps we were alone on the road as it was Wednesday morning. We stopped by Lulusar and took some pictures, Lulusar lake was much better and cleaner than Saiful Muluk and was a very pleasent for eyes. Road remained good until 3 or 4Km short of Babusar top. It was under construction, one has to drive carefully or with 4 persons and a lot of luggage your vehicle will bump into rocks. So drive slow and carefully, it just takes 15 to 20 mins to cross this patch.

We reached Babusar top 70Km from Naran at around 11am and stopped there to take some pictures.

Lulusar Lake

A jeep passing by Lulusar

Babusar top

Walking back to car

A picture with GB Scouts

Some local kids enjoying tea

So after checking in at Check Post we rolled on with our plan and started our descent towards Chillas.

[camshaft]

It was very steep descent on the other side of Babusar pass. It was the steepest metalled road i have ever driven on to, so as a precautionary measure make sure your brake discs are perfectly fine because it would require a lot of braking and it is normal for your brake discs to get hot. One should always use engine braking by driving in lowest gear possible but it was so steep even in first gear engine revs up to 6k. As per my experience use 2nd gear with occasional braking, do not engage brakes for longer period of times to avoid over heating.

So it was almost 10-15km of steep descent, road levels off after that and apart from some patches road is otherwise fine. It would take you around 1 hour to reach Chillas zero point. As sugggested by Police i would advice you not to stop unless necessary in this leg of journey from Babusar to Chillas as it is not safe. This area is really underdeveloped and backward without any tourism or other ways of living. You can easily spot beggars at every bumpy patch on this road.

As imposed by local security forces if you are coming from Chillas to Babusar you have to cross Chillas zeropoint before 4PM and Babusar top not later than 6PM due to security concerns.

We reached Chillas zero point after one hour and checked in at Checkpost.

Wooden houses on roadside

I still dont understand the use and logic behind this structure

Chillas zero point

Mighty Indus, at last on KKH

[camshaft]

After filling up our Rolla's tank we headed towards Raikot bridge at around 1230PM. KKH looked promising but after some KMs its condition started to deteriorate. At some points it was not even metalled, and had large bumps even on metalled part which is very bad for your vehicle's suspension especially if you are carrying load. I would advice to drive slow and carefully till Raikot, you can make up for the lost time once you cross Raikot bridge that is where the newly built KKH starts and remains with you till Khunjerab. We were still following our schedule and were determined to reach Hunza by evening. We drove faster than required as the condition of road was worsening with progress and it seemed difficult to reach our destination but all of my perception was changed after we crossed Raikot.

Mighty Indus

On KKH

Non metalled patch of KKH

Beautiful KKH

Scenic KKH

A good patch

[camshaft]

We reached Raikot at around 1.30PM, All of your misery and pain was taken away when we crossed Raikot Bridge, KKH felt so wonderful to drive at, it was an awesome experience.

What an engineering

Marvellous KKH

Road branches to Astore

[camshaft]

We kept on driving and then there came the moment we were waiting for, it was Killer Mountain on our right side. We were lucky enough that there were no clouds over it and we were able to see it clearly. It looked so fabulous covered with snow kissing the sky.

9th Highest peak of the World.

Clear shot

A closer look

[sshanu]

Nice bro <3

[Wanderlust]

We decided to take my Corolla Altis 1.8 M/T 2010 to this trip as we were 5 persons with a lot of baggage and what i believe is that Corolla is more reliable and consistent on this type of journey with better ground clearance . (P.S I dont want to start another Honda vs Toyota thread this is purely my own personal experience).

This car is 5 years old with more than 185k on its Odo and it has never disappointed me throughout its life. I changed its oil and plugs with tuning and paid a visit to alignment guy to make sure everything is fine with the vehicle itself.

Yes....corolla is a gem and it has never disappointed me. But your altis gave low average based on the fuel cost and distance that you have indicated. Mine is xli 2010 and after a couple of years its average has stabilized. In my May kkh trip, it gave me 15.2 average.

BTW, what is that puncture kit?

[camshaft]

Yes....corolla is a gem and it has never disappointed me. But your altis gave low average based on the fuel cost and distance that you have indicated. Mine is xli 2010 and after a couple of years its average has stabilized. In my May kkh trip, it gave me 15.2 average.

BTW, what is that puncture kit?

Yea Altis is 1800cc and on motorway i had an average speed of 130/140 with 5 people and a lot of baggage with AC all the way on in trip. In mountainous area we only travelled at daytime so 90% of the time AC was on. It gives 13-14kml normally but it was 12 in this trip. All that matters is your load and how you drive. I can even get 18km/l if i drive in 5th gear on 90km/h.

I dont know how you got 15+ on XLI in mountains, as far as i have experienced XLI gives around 14km/l on motorway at 120km/h and AC on.

Here is puncture kit.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tubeless-Tire-Tyre-Puncture-Repair/dp/B0031Q198W

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[camshaft]

[QUOTE=sshanu;4894362]

[camshaft]

After stopping at Nanga Parbat view point we hit the road again and continued our journey towards Hunza.

Some more pictures of scenic KKH.

[camshaft]

Then there came a sign board of Junction of three highest mountain ranges in the World. It is a unique geographical location which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. We stopped by to take some pictures.

Mighty Indus

Confluence of Gilgit and Indus river

Our rolla

[camshaft]

It was very hot out there due to very bright sunlight, i would advise you to carry Sunglasses and Sunblock with you in these areas. They protect your eyes and skin against Sunburn. Anyway, we rolled on KKH and after crossing Pari Tunnel and Jaglot we reached Gilgit at around 3PM as per our schedule.

KKH

Pari Tunnel Outside

Pari Tunnel inside

Near Gilgit