Help For Travellers of Gilgit Baltistan

[izeeshanali1]

1- traveling with family and kids.
2- Yaris ativ x
3- yes
4- some past experiences and some observations from other people's experiences. (I have mentioned the optimum/relaxed time in the drive time column but in the journey column I have tried to give myself more extra).

I know the first day has a little too much of driving but I am some what used to it whenever I got out with family I try to have a good sleep on preceeding night and then drive all night and reach somewhere till afternoon/evening. The back seat would be converted into a bed for kids for sleeping.
However, I would welcome if you suggest curtailing some driving time to have a more enjoyable time. I have seen your travel posts from past as well and I would appreciate your input

[izeeshanali1]

Sambaksar and Dharamsar might probably be skipped from day 7

[imran2155]

Aoa,

Hope you're well.
Instead of typing a long reply, I've recorded a couple of voice notes and uploaded on Gdrive. Please take a look

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Uty6UwsyxChvqTnt2JloFZNTcVjwtZuj

Hope it will help
Thanks

[izeeshanali1]

Thank you Imran bhai for your suggestions.

Regarding the trip, I will try to do some rescheduling where more spreading is needed. Like your suggestion, my day 3 had almost no driving and even on day 4, I added Sost night stay to give myself less driving time (nothing else special about sost stay there). Day 1 is definitely too much and I would have to curtail it and add that into day 2.

Regarding other tips, thank you for mentioning them. Alhamdulliah everything you mentioned is covered. I have been traveling with kids for past 4-5 years and I have learnt a lot in this time.

[amirbilal]

Salam Everyone,

I am planning to visit Skardu this summer (IA) with family (2 Adults and 4 kids (7-12 years )). I have created the following itinerary after doing some basic research. I prefer to drive my car (Honda City) to all those locations where possible.

I need advice from experts on how I can make this trip more exciting for us.

Day 1 - Saturday, June 25, 2022

  Lahore -> Naran 
  Night Stay in Batakundi

Day 2 - Sunday, June 26, 2022

  Batakundi -> Skardu
  Visit Shangrila Lake and Upper Kachura Lake
  Dinner and Night Stay in Skardu

Day 3 - Monday, June 27, 2022

  Skardu -> Shigar Valley - Travel time 1 hour (Car)
  Visit Shigar Cold Desert
  Visit Katpana Lake
  Visit Shigar Valley and Shigar Fort
  Dinner and Night Stay in Skardu

Day 4 - Tuesday, June 28, 2022

  Skardu -> Deosai Plains- Travel time 3 hours (4x4)
  Visit Sadpara Lake
  Visit Sheosar Lake, Bara Paani etc.
  Dinner and Night Stay in Skardu

Day 5 - Wednesday, June 29, 2022

  Skardu -> Mantokha Water Fall (Car)
  Drive through Kharmang Valley
  Mantokha -> Khaplu (2.5 hours drive)
  Visit Khapulo. Explore Khapulo valley
  Visit Surmo Brooq village 
  See Masherbrum peak from a small hill in Surmo Brooq village
  Dinner and Night Stay in Skardu

Day 6 - Thursday, June 30, 2022

  Skardu -> Basho Valley **(Car or Jeep??)**
  Explore Basho Valley
  Dinner and Night Stay in Skardu

Day 7 - Friday, July 1, 2022

  Skardu -> Islamabad
  Night Stay in Islamabad

Day 8 - Saturday, July 2, 2022

  Roam Around in Islamabad
  Islamabad -> Lahore

@asifcae @nagar1

[asifcae]

i think plan is ok.... but u must add a rest day in it daily ke traveling is hectic with family..........

[radiationboy]

Bro me with family traveling from mianwali to skardu in same days as u suggested ....
We have almost same plan except ur day plan is not upto the mark because i thnk upper and lower kachura is so beautiful that we need to spend a complete day at upper and lower kachura ... this is my plan read it we can discuss in detail ... You can sms me at 0346920312 if u r intersted ... we are basiccaly two family going to skardu 4 adult and 4 kids....
1: Start Traveling at night around 3am from mainwali and reach mansehra
almost 4~5 hour and do nashta and then Reach upto Batakundi and night
(If any one know good hotel and batakundi please let me know thanks)
Day
2: Start around 10Pm in the morning and reach Lulusar and babusar top
and have some tea... Reach Kachura and night stay their...(If any one
know good hotel and kachura please let me know thanks)
Day 3: Visit
shangrila in the morning and then visit Upper kachura spend whole day
almost at upper kachura and reach skardu main city at night (If any one
know good hotel and skardu please let me know thanks)
Day 4: Start ur journey early in the morning visit Manthoka water fall plus cold desert and some forts and reach hotel at night.
Day 5: Get a jeep and visit Satpara lake plus desoai plains and enjoy view and reach hotel at night
Day 6: Start early in the moring and reach almost to balakot (night stay at balakot)
Day 7: Return Mianwali

[amirbilal]

Really appreciate your reply brother.

I do agree that a partial day is not enough for Kachoora lakes. My plan is a little bit modified based on feedback from a family member and I have replaced Basho valley with Soq valley. While visiting Soq valley, I will cover upper and lower kachoora lakes.

I will call you shortly to discuss details about hotels (I can recommend a few places).

[mumbojumbo]

Salam all,
@nagar1
Update needed regarding Jaglot Skardu road. We’ll be travelling on coming Thursday. I am seeing updates on Twitter that it's been closed due to landslides?

[SAV123]

Just to share my experience. We visited Skardu in 2019 and we went to Soq valley (also called Soq nala), but we were disappointed to see that it was not an ideal picnic spot neither that picturescue. I would keep it as only the last resort if I cant make it to any other place. Better reconsider.

[amirbilal]

The current rain spell will end by tomorrow or maybe Thursday IA. Thursday on Skardu road might not be a good plan but if you will get on Skardu road on Friday/Saturday then hopefully you should not have any problem.

[mumbojumbo]

ok JazakAllah Khair for the input. Request to all to kindly keep updating this thread so that we get timely information.

[drimranarif]

Roomy hotel in batakundi

[imran2155]

Aoa,

Soq is pretty serene and good place to relax by the stream. It is just around 15-20 minutes drive uphill from shangrila Skardu. Any car can take you there. Spend a couple of hours there with tea and camera and you'll find it worth the time. Here are some pictures of soq village from two days ago.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gUMF9Z4L8cVbiHAjmi0ITjBWl2HIMNAw

[imran2155]

If you can, you should try to visit minimarg and domel/rainbow lake. It's the best of all without a second thought. The route, burzil pass, the place itself, it's just worth it.

There is no DC or Army permit required any longer. All you'll need is a Cnic and a valid covid certificate for every adult wanting to visit minimarg.

Important thing is that you should be a chilam chowki by 10AM max and get your info registered. After 10AM, army officers at checkpost won't allow entry to minimarg route. Also, they allow entry of 4x4 only at this point. So hire a prado or something.

This is valid for single day visit. You will still need army reference if you want to stay there overnight.

Again, if you can manage to visit it, you won't regret it.

[imran2155]

Mashabrum view point is 10km after khaplu. It's right there on khaplu road. Just park your car at roadside and the spot is there. Just like nanga parbat viewpoint on kkh.

On your visit to khaplu, try visiting Crystal lake in Saling Valley. This is located exactly opposite to khaplu on the other side of river. Around 30 minutes from khaplu.
It's a small lake with prestine crystal clear water and lots of trout in it. You can see the bottom of Lake without any effort.

See below. The pictures don't do justice to the actual place. Will post videos too if you need.

[amirbilal]

We are in Skardu now. The weather is fine, mostly sunny outside. JSR was a good drive to do. Overall is a decent experience but we are missing cloudy weather which adds a lot of value to the trip typically.

[sajidahmed]

Kindly share hotel information and recommendations based on your stay experience
Thanks

[mumbojumbo]

salam

Came back from Skardu on 1st July. We spent 4 nights in Skardu and the weather remained sunny and hot (during the day at least). The highlight for me was Basho Valley. We spent the last night of our tour there and camped near the stream. Amazing place to be honest. JSR indeed is amazing but I have heard they are going to close it for a few days for some repairs.

[pwuser152725461176]

Hello

I am traveling with family to Islamabad from Karachi. Need help on below points

Coaster new model daily rental with driver expense (10 days , ISL to ISL)
Prado for Deosai, rama and minimurg ,(3 Prados for 3 days)

Camping in Rama, Deosai and Basho.

We are 17 adults and 4 kids