Ok so the details..
Weather
This year the pass opened on 15 Apr and while we were there the weather was great. Sunny with spectacular view. Obviously there was snow on the Khunjerab top but it wasn't very cold.
Law & Order
The law and order condition on kkh greatly depends upon the condition in gilgit as it is a sensitive town with almost equal ration of sunnis and shiites. If there is problem in gilgit the kohistan area becomes very critical because of that as has happened in the past similarly aliabad in hunza is also a sensitive town. But thanks to Allah as there is peace nowadays so there was no problem for us. We once had to walk for two hours after ten pm becuase we couldn't find a cab there was no problem (still not a very wise thing to do). unnecessary risks should not be taken and avoid talking on sensitive issues and respect the local norms.
The Public Transport
NATCO and other buses leave for Giigit, Huza, Skardu and other places from pir wadhai main adda. The last bus leaves at around 9 in the evening. The fare for NATCO from RWP to GILGIT is 1900 other services charge in range of 1000 to 1200. The buses start from about 6 - 7 pm and leave every half hour but all the buses have to gather at Mansehra; from there they travel in the form of a convoy because of a few past unfortunate incidents of sectarian violence. We left RWP at 830pm reached Mansehra at about 12 midnight but had to wait for more than two hours for the other buses to arrive. From there on wards it is a very tedious journey. the buses stopped at Beshem, Dasu and Chillas. We reached Chillas at about 3pm and Gilgit at around 7pm.
You can easily find HiAces for aliabad hunza from gilgit for 250 rs per person. from aliabad you can get public vans but they are few they will take you to the edge of atta abad lake. form there you can find boats. these boats charge 100rs for a single person and take an hour to get you to the other edge (Gulmit) if you want you can also transport your car i dont know how much that costs. From Gulmit you will find vans/jeeps for sost for 180-200rs per seat. From Sost if you want to go to the top and do not have your own convince you can find cars/jeeps. It will cost you about 7-8k for Khunjerab top and back to sost.
Buraq Service
Because of the amount of time it takes for local buses(22-24hrs) a private car taxi service is also available from RWP to GILGIT. They charge 4000 per seat and 16500 for the whole car. They have new model Corollas in excellent condition. The journey is very comfortable as compare to the bus(believe me we tried both). But most importantly as these cars do not travel with the convoy they will get you to your destination in 12 to 15 hrs.
If you want to save time choose evening time to travel from hasanabdal to mansehra. Mansehra gets blocked because of great traffic in this season. It took us about 2 hrs to get from mansehra to abotabad because of the traffic.
The road Condition
The road is top notch until thakot but when you cross thakot bridge the road is in very bad condition. It is ok sometimes and then gets very bad then improves a bit this continues all the way through kohistan(a very depressing ride). the road after chillas is good but the good patch finishes before the start of raikot. This is the about the area for diamir bhasha dam and the road here is just awful. I think it continues to be like that till jaglot. Then it improves a bit gets to A class sometimes and then bad uptill Gilgit. From Gilgit to Aliabad the road is just perfect with a few bad patches. Its a very enjoyable ride if you have your own car. Stopping for a few snaps at Rakaposhi view point is a must if the weather is good and the mountain is visible. After Aliabad when you near attabad lake that patch is almost no road. Work is in progress but it will take time. From attabad lake you need a boat till Gulmit. From gulmit the road starts but it is very poor because it was once under the lake water. After Gojal (i think) the road is just perfect till Sost. After Sost till the Khunjerab Pass the road is also great and a pleasure to travel on with work happening on a few places.
In your own car one can get from RWP to GILGIT easily in 18 hrs earlier if you drive faster. 2-2.5 hrs from gilgit to aliabad. 30-45 mins aliabad to attabad lake.1 hr to cross the lake. 2-2.5 hrs from gulmit to sost and 2.5 - 3 hrs from sost to khunjerab top.
