Help For Travellers of Gilgit Baltistan

[mrdeejay]

Bridge Location: https://goo.gl/maps/VBggVFjiYQC8DWU18

[chinyoti]

I am in Islamabad, planning to do a 3 day skardu tour by air.

Any leads Whats do able, where to stay.

[chinyoti]

I have managed to get flights to skardu from Islamabad

11 to skardu
14 back to Islamabad

I had in mind to stay
1 nite at Shangrilla
1 nite at Glamping at Katpana
1 nite byasra hotel

I have made an advance booking for Glam at Katpana but I am skeptical about Shangrilla, 1st and 3rd nite

A little help would be appreciated, where to stay what to do.

A bit of bazar and eateries in walking distance would be appreciated

[khurram.mumtaz133]

If any one has any idea of opening of Shounter pass (connecting Neelam valley to Astore) in May end?

[farooq05]

Requesting for some updates about Astor?

road condition for car from KKH to Astor and Rama meadows?
road condition for car till chillium?
suggestion for hotels for family stay?
place to visits for a trip of 3/4 days in Astor?

[Rizvisyeda.rs]

Astore road is dangerous but no path holes this is good luck
KKH lower Kohistan to Dasu is still in progress but even a good road like M2
Rama Meadows we’re quite lonely and amazing but the lake was frozen hopefully due to heatwave it could have melted now
and good news is this MINIMARG is open
I have referred Mr Habib ullah at Astore with my son

[farooq05]

which month you visited Astor? is road also good for Cars till Rama meadows?

[bilal.tariq.18041]

Rama meadows road is quite steep but you can reach there on your own car with difficulty because road is quite steep on 4-5 points. I advise you to go till astore on your car then hire jeep till rama lake. Remember if you manage to go on your own car till rama meadows then still you have to hire jeep till lake so please avoid misadventure.

[Rizvisyeda.rs]

May 2022 First week Eid celebration at Astore Planning for Minimarg again inshalla

[izeeshanali1]

I am planning an 8 day visit of Hunza.
Need advice from experienced people to fine tune the itinerary. I usually like to drive the most on first day to cover as much distance as I can

[chinyoti]

Lahore to islamabad is 4/4.5 hours.

Islamabad to Naran is around 9 hours.

Naran to Chillas is atleast 7 to 9 hours.

Naran to Karaimad is 12 to 13 hours.

No decent places to stay at Sost.

[izeeshanali1]

Islamabad to Naran is not 9 hours in any possible way unless there are road blocks. It is doable within 7 hours easily.
Naran to Chilas is less than 120km. It should be doable within 4 hours if roads are open.

In sost, @nagar1 Hassan bhai recommends Tibet motel I guess which is quite decent for family

[chinyoti]

Their is a roomy in Sost aswell.

I did this trip in August last year. Google maps show 7 hours for Islamabad to naran, but just before naran their is dam construction going on you have to change sides with the river bed, from right to left single lane bridges and bad roads.

It takes atleast 9 hours if you don't get stuck in traffic.

We left naran around 9.30/10, reached eagle nest hotel 15 minutes away from karimabad bazar, at around 10.30/11 at nite.

We had a 2012 Prado.

Maybe my post wasn't very helpful, but I wanted to say keep margins of time. Me with family I was driving all day reaching everywhere at nite. It gets very tiring.

[izeeshanali1]

Murtaza bhai its definitely helpful.
Thank you for your insights I will keep these things in mind and plan with more margins

[drimranarif]

Sost has roomy ...decent place to stay

[chinyoti]

Yes I mentioned in my second post. Thankyou for correction

[izeeshanali1]

I contacted multiple people who have visited Naran in last few days, the consensus is that if you leave Islamabad in early hours like 3/4am then it will take 6 to 7 hours max for Naran. As the day progresses, things get tough

[imran2155]

Aoa,

Bro it appears that you're trying to adjust too much travel and places in the time frames that you mentioned.
Also, you didn't mention certain parameters which are important to consider before answering. These parameters are:

1- Are you traveling with family i.e. Are there kids who will be traveling along?
2- What car will you be driving.
3- Are you going to be the only driver?
4- Have you used Google maps to identify the distance vs time calculations? Or is it based on past experience?

If you can please provide some clarity on the above, I would be able to respond better.

Thanks

[Moderator]

[chinyoti]

See if you can contact hotel 1 on hazara express way. Stay the night there. Don't stay in Islamabad.

You'll save 2 to 3 hours to reach naran, the next day.

Also instead of staying in Naran, try to stay in batakundi.