Day 1
I am Ahmed from Lahore, My Journey started from Lahore on Saturday 7th July, entered M2 around 10:30 AM, my wife & 12 year old daughter were already in Islamabad, my plan was to get a complete checkup of My Honda City 1300cc automatic 2017 from Islamabad, so I rushed to Islamabad & entered Islamabad at around 1:30 PM, vehicle checkup took almost 2 hours, My family was in Bharia Town & workshop was in G6/2, as it got late in workshop I called my wife and asked her to get a drop anywhere near Motorway as it would have took another 2 hours to go to Bahria & to Motorway, I picked my Family from Daewoo Bus Stand at 3:40 PM.
Finally our dream journey started, I entered Motor Way at around 3:50 PM, it was really a pleasure to see the boards of E35 Hazara Expressway, as I was entering E35 I asked my daughter to see the new Motorway & than it took almost 20 minutes to explain her the political scenario of Pakistan, in 30-35 minutes & without any hassle,
View of Express Way E35
Toll Card E35
I was entering Hawalian, and the drama begins now, same old damaged single road, pathetic traffic, anyways, 05Km away from Abbottabad got stuck into a traffic Jam, took almost 40 minutes to cross Abbottabad, stopped at Sub Way at 5:45 PM, ordered a deal & went to washroom to get fresh and in next 15 minutes, was again on my way, Don’t know why but it is a fact that journey from Hasanabdal till balakot has always been hectic for me, it was almost 8:00 PM & crossed historic bridge of balakot and was heading towards Naran, night travelling in mountains is easy to day travelling, 2 reasons for that, first of all no sceneries to distract you & secondly you can see Lights of vehicles from distance, around 10:15 reached Naran. I came here first time in 1995, there were only 5/7 hotels, no lights & we were given 2 candles for each room to spend night, 2 restaurants, few jeeps, only 3 or 4 buildings on river side & 10 to 15 on the other side, after 1995 I hv traveled to Naran for almost 7 times, lastly I was here in 2015, it has always been a love for me, peaceful & calm, this was Naran for me from till 2015, & in just 3 years time things can change this much was un understandable, it was just like a fish Market or so, boys were dancing & hooting, lights all around, Jam packed crowd, my plan was to stay in Naran but all of a sudden I was feeling sorry for myself as this was not that Naran which I loved, so carried on with my journey to get out this city asap, with a broken heart & heavy soul I left Naran, the city of noise & lights at 10:50PM, it took almost 35 minutes to cross a 1 KM bazar, reached Batakundi in 20 minutes, stopped at the very first hotel which came into my way, Zain Guest House, it was good & food was excellent & above all it cost me only Rs 3500 for dinner, breakfast & stay, a journey of almost 11 hours came to an end for today, I was bit relaxed as I was beyond my 1st day target, total Km’s traveled on first day including a short visit of Islamabad was 678.
Day 2
Early Morning View of Butakundi
It was decided that we will get-up early in the morning & will try to leave Batakundi before 6:30 Am, so we were out of bed at around 5:00 AM, had breakfast & a bit of photography & we were hitting the road at 6:25 AM, crossed the bridge of Batakundi, development was evident all around in this small town, many new hotels are under construction & I think that it will be the destination next of all those people who visit these areas for peace & comfort, almost 20 years ago, Muree was hub of such people, it shifted to Nathiagali in some years & than it shifted to Naran, now Naran has turned into a place like Muree so I think the peace seekers will shift to Butakundi, crossed Butakundi in a blink, weather was a little bit cold but not as expected, left behind Jalkhand and was heading towards Lulusar Lake, mountains had already started changing as you cross Jalkhand, from green to Brown, less trees, more grass rocky & as you travel towards Chilass it all changes to a muddy mountains, anyways, reached Lulusar at 7:30 AM, it is a beautiful lake.
Lulusar Lake
Lulusar Lake travels with you almost 3.5 KM along the road, situated at the height of 11200 ft, almost 1500 ft higher than the Saif-Ul-maluk, Greenish waters of Lulusar has always been a treat for eyes, We just stopped for 5 minutes & moved on towards Babusar Top, melting glacier were all around the road, in just 15 minutes crossed Gittidas & in next 15 minutes, around 8:00 Am, we were standing at Babusar Top, the expressions can’t be written in word, feels like standing on the roof top of the world, 13,700 ft, nearly half the height of K2,
Nanga Parbat View from Babusar Top
Babusar Top
A view of Valley towards Naran
A view of Valley towards Chilas
From Babusar we can view both Chilas side & Naran side valleys,views are stunning, one can easily spend a whole days viewing these sceneries on the both sides,View of Nanga Parbat was very clear & it was a treat to watch the 9th highest peak of the world, according to locals Rakaposhi could also been seen on the Chilas side valley, I am not sure about that, chilled blowing winds was giving a feel of sitting in a cold storage, Oxygen was quite less in the air & it was bit difficult to walk & breath normal, lips dried, Babusar Top is by all means a TOP.
Road till Babusar Top is good, have many bad patches because of land slide or snow fall but overall its OK & if your vehicle is fit and you are an above average driver you will have zero difficulty to reach here, it has some shops & restaurants, had a cup of Tea, got Chips, juices & a corn, took some pictures, stopped for almost 35 minutes, Journey again started at 8:35 AM. As you cross the Babusar you enter in GB, now road was on descend & it was a real slope, one have to be really careful during going down, the real thrill is to watch & drive on the zig zag road of Babusar Pass.
Zig Zag Road descending towards Chilas
It took almost 35 minutes to descend of almost 15 KM to reach the small town of Babusar, now the road got normal as it is in any such hilly area, around 9:45 AM I was at the check post of Chilas, my information & CNIC was entered in the register & I was allowed to go, after crossing the check post in just 150 meters, the Indus river welcomed,
A Bridge over Great Indus River
My daughter was watching Indus River first time & she was really surprised to see this mighty, Indus river travels along KKH for almost 85 KM’s till Indus-Gilgit Confluence, out of 45 Km’s road conditions in between Chilas & Raikot 30 Km’s are really bumpy, rough & very uncomfortable, at-last after an hour of a rough ride I crossed Shangrilla Resort Hotel & was on the historic Raikot bridge.
Raikot Bridge
Time was 11:05 Am, Mountains all around Indus River was looking like many giants standing & staring, the road conditions just got good, it was just like travelling on M2, weather since early morning was hot & i had to switch on the AC, We were somewhere around a village called Bunji, now Naga Parbat was like standing in the way & asking to stop.
A view of Nanga Parbat from KKH
Nanga Parbat View Point on KKH is somerwhere between Raikot and Jiglot, the beautiful snow covered Killer Mountain "Nanga Parbat" can easily mesmerize you, next coming stop was Jaglot, had read much about this, the house of three Mightiest Mountain Ranges, Himalayas, The Karakorum & Hindukush, It is also the junction where the ways of Gilgit and Skardu splits in different directions, this is also the meeting point of Indus & Gilgit Rivers, Jaglot Viewpoint is around 5/7 Km outside the Jaglot City, at around 11:45AM we reached the view point platform, weather was hot but the happiness was at its peak, I was standing in between the three mightiest mountain ranges of the world & thinking the Greatness of Almighty ALLAH Pak.
Jaglot Where 3 Giants Meet
My daughter was in a surprise & wife was busy in tacking pictures, had some packs & corns for brunch, after a stop of almost 20 minutes we were heading towards Gilgit, crossed Parri Tunnel & in just 35 minutes I was standing in a mobile shop of Gilgit bought SCOM Sim, Naran is the last town till where you get uninterrupted signals of all mobile connections, after crossing Naran you will get signals in only big towns like Chilas, Raikot Gilgit Karimabad etc, signals of SCOM covers almost every part of KKH till Sost, no signals from Sost onwards till Khunjrab, Got sim of Rs 300 & had a balance of Rs 200, it took almost 20 minutes for all this, Journey again started & now the destination was Karimabad Hunza, going on the KKH just spotted a sign board near of Old Silk Road.
The Old Silk Road Introduction
Old Silk Road
“Kinu-Kutto” was actculy a pony track converted into a single Jeep Track in 1958 & after construction of KKH this route fell into disuse, had a stop for a minute or two at the view point for photographs and moved forward, in just 100 meters the road turns & the Gaint Rakaposhi is in-front of you like a huge ship, stunning & gorgeous, one may fall in deep love with these sky high mountains.
View of The Giant Rakaposhi from KKH
Rakaposhi viewpoint was there, there are many points known as Rakaposhi view point but this is the first point from where you can enjoy the excellent view of this huge “ship”, had a stop of almost 10 minutes, captured many photographs, praised Almighty ALLAH Pak of his Mightiness & moved forward, time was 2:30PM, changing views of Rakaposhi were now going to be our companions till Karimabad & even further, after a drive of almost 2 hours from Gilgit I was Entering Karimabad, the capital of Hunza Valley, had a short round of this town, saw beautiful Biltit Fort from road side, it was almost 2:45 PM, we were feeling hungry, sat on a road side hotel & ordered Chapshoro, a local dish & for myself & Chicken Shashlik for wife & daughter, on our left side we were enjoying a clear view of Lady Finger Peak.
Lady Finger from Karimabad Road Side
Around 3:40PM I left karimabad & was again on KKH heading towards Ganish, a small but historic town on KKH, reached Ganish in next 2 minutes,
Ganish Village
Ganish Village View
1000 year old town also known as the first settlement of Hunza People, its a must visit place, Guides are available & is a sort of must hire thing, Rs 300-500 is normally to show you the town, it takes 45-60 minutes for a quick tour of Ganish, in next 20 minutes after crossing a small town called Ahmedabad, we were viewing Attabad Lake.
Pak China Friendship Tunnel Attabad
Attabad Lake
Static Green waters & huge mountains looks like you are watching a painting made by a world top artist, we entered Pak China Friendship Tunnel, a set of 5 tunnels along Attabad Lake, its almost 7 Km’s, took around 9 minutes to cross all 5 tunnel, it was an excellent experience to drive in these tunnels, no suffocation, fully lighted, two way & road, in next 5 minutes on our right side, down the road was Hussaini Suspension Bridge, it is known as the one of the dangerous bridges in the world, we were already short of time it was already 5:30 &, I continued my journey, form Attabad lake onward this area is known as Gojal Valley, Passu is a small but beautiful & famous town of this valley because of 2 reasons, 57 KM long Batura Glacier which is considered to be the 5th largest glacier outside the polar region on earth & secondly because of its golden peaks known as, Passu Cones, Passu Cathedral or Tupopdan (The Sun Drenched Mountain) above 6,000 meters high, this village is surrounded by some big peaks like Passusar, Shisparesar, and Batura, it is also was known as Baturasar, with height of 7,795 meters, it is the 10th highest peak of Pakistan and 25th highest on Earth.
Passu Cones
Passu is a town with magical beauty, better be very careful as the sceneries won’t let you drive at all, Passu cones changes its view after each single meter, I got the first view of these cones anywhere near Hussaini, now it’s almost 30 minutes & I am staring these view changing cone mountain range with open mouth, beautiful, mesmerizing, fabulous, splendid, stunning, you can use all the words of the world but will not be able to define the actual beauty of these cones & glacier, in next few minutes I have entered Sost Bazar, it was around 6:30 on the dial when I entered PTDC motel praying to get a room, thank God, I got one, paid Rs 5,000, requested for a cup of tea & came in the room, today was a hectic day, 12 hours travel time, covered almost 400 KM with lots of stops, I had forgot to mention 1 thing, I was having severe throat infection & flu in Lahore when I started my journey, after stretching my body for 2/3 minutes I sat on the sofa to get bit easy, untied my shoes & all of a sudden I started shivering with cold & the weather was not so cold, I laid down in the bed & asked my wife to get a blanket on me, she did so, but it made no difference, I asked her to put on 2 more blankets on me, got a jacket & a woolen shawl also but all in vain, I was feeling fever, I asked my wife to call any one from reception & ask them for a doctor, he was not available so I called a doctor friend in Lahore for advice, he asked me to take a Panadol & Amoxil, I requested the hotel staff to get me medicine & a thermometer from the market, fever was 104, I got worried about my journey & just fell into a sort of deprecation, reason was simple, I was sitting in Sost & will I be able to go to Khunjrab or not. Anyways I had my medicine, in an hour or so having 3 blankets, a jacket & a shawl I was sweating badly, fever has come down to 100, & within next hour I was in bit normal condition, Thanks to ALLAH Pak, around 10:00 PM before going to sleep I was discussing tomorrow’s plan with my wife who was quite reluctant to continue with the journey & asked me serval times that I should take a full day rest, I knew that I am short of holidays, If I am not able to manage it tomorrow I will not be able to do it in future also, so I decided to stick with my plans, let’s see what happens tomorrow morning.
Day 3
I was out of bed in at 5:30 AM, feeling quite good, asked my daughter & wife to get out of the bed & went to washroom, took a bath with hot water which I was really missing & now I was as fresh as ever, we were ready right before 6:30 AM, the kitchen of PTDC opens at 7:00 so it was already decided that we will have breakfast from any road side hotel from the way, the most awaited & last segment towards my destination started with empty stomachs, PTDC Motel is in the last of the bazar, just opposite to the entrance of Sost Dry Port, huge container trucks were standing on KKH for almost 2 KMs and after crossing these trucks I was on my way to Khunjrab Pass. After almost 30-40 minutes’ drive I had to stop because of a road barrier, Rs 300 was charged as entrance fee of Karakorum National Park, around 7:50 AM I was driving on the zig zag road of Khunjrab Pass, beautiful views were all around, snow covered mountains, attractive green landscapes & eye catching sceneries were not letting me pay full attention on driving, in just next 10 minutes I was parking my car in a designated parking area, So that’s it, I was at Zero Point, a dream has come true for me, traveled almost 1160 Km’s, my approximate driving time was almost 28 hours with various stopovers, I was the first to reach here in morning, cool breeze was adding a chill factor in the air, had to get my Jacket as I was not feeling 100% well, walked for almost 200 meters to reach the Zero line, now I was standing in-front of the Gateway, unlike Indo-Pak border there was only a single unarmed security person was standing on our side & 2 unarmed personals were standing on the China side of border, a ribbon was tied up almost 20/25 feet away from the Pak-China entry gate or Zero Line to restrict people from getting to the gate, on request we were allowed to cross that ribbon, now we were having pictures standing just in-front of the gate, it was all most 8:20 Am & we were the only tourists on the both sides of the borders & we were enjoying this loneliness as my wife & daughter were moving freely & talking pictures all around, in next 5/7 minutes arrival of tourists started on the both sides of the borders.
Khunjrab
Tourists on China Side of the Border
A group 4/5 young boys & girls arrived on the China side, we were waived hands to each other, had a small conversation too which was a surprise for me as they all were speaking very good & fluent English, my daughter was very much excited watching all this, it was 8:45 am, unfortunately we couldn’t found any hotel or shop open from Sost till Khunjrab as we were traveled through that area in early morning, a pack of chips & some biscuits were only edible available to us, so we decided to get back to Sost, one way of a dream journey ended & now we were ready to descend, at 9:00 am we were on the road, viewing the beauty of KKH, on way back every scene of our journey got changed, we had viewed all this area just an hour or two ago but now while descending I got a feel that everything was new & I had never seen this before, as our angle or viewing was change to 180 degree so all this happened & we were enjoying absolutely new dimensions of our journey, reached PTDC motel at exact 10:30 AM, we were feeling badly hungry, it was almost 5 hours & we hardly had anything proper to eat, ordered breakfast in the motel, Paratha Anda, tea & Juice cost us only Rs 650, at 11:15 Am we were again hitting the road, going towards opposite direction every single scene was changed, all the peaks were showing new angles. One thing which I always use to think was that one cannot get bored in while visiting hilly areas got more firm, changing view from a different angle of Cone Mountains was mesmerizing me more, around 12:00 Noon I crossed Passu & now having a beautiful view of Rakaposhi, in next 30 minutes I was crossing the Attabad Tunnel, stopped again for almost 15 minutes on one of the bridges in-between the set of 5 tunnels, had some photographs, enjoyed the Green water of the Lake, I was travelling bit fast now as I had some plans in mind which I wanted to fulfill, crossed Ganish & entered Karimabad, parked my car & now we were walking towards Baltit Fort, Fort is situated at the tip of a cliff, Fort bazar started with restaurants & shops all around, selling local food items, dry fruits, local herbs, antiques, handicrafts, local dresses, beautiful streets build with stones, traditional old houses, we had to hike on almost on steep streets for almost 500 meters.
Road to Baltit Fort
Baltit Fort
People living in cities are not habitual of doing this so it took almost 20 minutes to reach the fort, had to sit there for another 5 minutes to normalize ourselves, got tickets for Rs 400 each and had to wait as assemble a group of atleast 20 people, Guide for the group was provided without any extra charges, a young educated boy was our guide who started with a detail introduction of Nagar & Hunza Valley, it took more than 5 minutes for the first intro which carried on till last, he showed us almost every corner of the 700 year old fort & explained the usage of each & every things hanging on the walls of fort, influence of Tibtan & Ladakhi culture can be seen in the fort, small room with low roofs, paintings, pictures of rulers.
Tour de Baltit Fort
Balcony View
Roof Top of Fort
History of Fort
Flag of Hunza Valley
Musical Instruments
It took almost 45 minutes to complete the tour of the fort, it was a wonderful experience, got loads of knowledge about this part of land, especially the views from the roof top the view of Rakaposhi, Diran, Peak, Golden Peak, Ultar 1&2, view of Rakaposhi & Diran peak from inside the balcony of fort is really a treat to watch.
View of Rakaposhi & Diran Peak
View of Ultar Peaks 1 & 2
I can spend hours sitting & watching this view, didn’t want to leave this place so early but had to go, came out of the fort & saw the historic canon, took some pictures & in another couple of minutes we were on our way back, now we were in a quite easy mode as we were coming down, saw local homes and local people performing there daily work. Elderly women sitting just outside their doors doing embroidery & selling them, stopped at a small shop & bought some local dry fruit, local tea & a small bottle of apricot oil for hairs.
An old woman doing Home Embroidery
While talking to the shopkeeper I got to know that the average age of the people living in this valley is over 90 years, this was quite surprising, while coming down, saw a small restaurant with lots of local dishes mentioned on a board hanging outside, it was hardly a 10x10 shop with a live kitchen & a lady around 35 years old was cooking local food, ordered Chap-churro & another local dish, it took almost 30 minutes as the lady cooked the food for us, the lady kept on talking with my wife about local life, our food was packed & we were again on the street walking towards our car, reached there in no time & was on the road, while coming out of town saw a board pointing towards Eagle Nest, so instead of going right I turned to left & was going towards Eagle Nest Duikar village, a place much heard, single & narrow, steep ascending road was awaiting for me, reached their in 20 minutes, had a beautiful view of Rakaposhi, Diran, Peak, Golden Peak, Ulter 1 Ultar 2 & the stunning beauty Lady Finger Peak.
Eagle Nest View Point
Lady Finger Peak
Had a stop of hardly 5 minutes, took some photos & rushed back, time was around 4:15 PM, in next 10 minutes I was on KKH crossing Aliabad, amazing views were again my companion going towards Gilgit, after an hour of travelling on KKH, a board was indicating Chalt village to my right across the Hunza river, right after 2/3 KM of crossing this board just noticed another board & I had to stop, the board says “Here Continents Collided” This seem to be the most exclusive place on earth with a geological significance, It is believed that about 55 million years ago.
Where Continents Collided
The Indian plates drifted & collided with the Eurasian plates and the collision resulted in formation of Karakoram Ranges, even though stands among the youngest mountain ranges in the world, I had no idea that how did I missed this board while going upwards, anyways good luck for me, I got some pictures & moved on, it was 5:35 PM on the dial, in next 40 minutes I crossed Gilgit, in next hour at around 7:20 PM I was on Raikot bridge, beautiful views of sunset was infront of me as I was heading chilas.
Anywhere between Raikot & Chilas
Drive become rough as I crossed the bridge, around 8:30 PM I was in Chilas hotel, again it was a tough day which came to an end, everything went according to my plans & achieved my todays target, Hotel room was good with 3 beds, weather was quite hot even at this time, a room cooler & a fan was making room temperature normal, ordered Chicken Khari for dinner, food was good, after dinner had a cup of tea while sitting in the lawn just in-front of my room, had a detailed discussion with my wife & daughter regarding our todays journey, 405 KM were covered today, it was almost midnight, time to sleep & that was the end of day 3.
Day 4
Unlike last 2 days we were late by almost 30 minutes, left hotel after having a breakfast around 7:00 Am, first stop came after just 45 minutes, a beautiful stream was flowing along the road side, had some photos, steep ascend towards Babusar Top had started & it’s a Oppression & cruelty on your car if you don’t have short breaks while going upwards, so it took almost 1 hour & 30 minutes to reach to the top, decided to have a short stop at Babusar & get chips, juices & corn, my wife was busy getting these things & I was standing alongside of the famous milestone of Babusar & trying to have a complete & clear picture when a person came near me & called me by my name, Ohh My Goodness, never thought of this to happen, an old office colleague & a friend Illyas was standing next to me, we were meeting after almost 17 years & it was really a surprise cum pleasure for me, he was also with his family, so we had a little chit chat with each other, he was heading towards Hunza, so we said goodbye to each & I moved towards Naran, as I started descending towards Naran from Top, I saw a rough path going towards Nanga Parbat & the beautiful valley which fascinates everyone form Babusar Top, a stream is flowing down their looks like a snake, so I decided to explore this valley & get a bit close view of Nanga Parbat, in the start of the rough track, saw some local boys & asked them about valley & the path conditions, according to them conditions are not good by all means but I shouldn’t miss the chance if I have decided to do so, I was warned that I will have to be careful from stone and have to show some courage regarding my car, I was also told that down there is a polo ground, I was fully in the mood of this adventure, so the journey started towards the Polo Ground, path was really in a very bad conditions.
Ground Zero Babusar (Valley towards Naran)
As I was going downwards the beauty of the valley was coming near me, because of going down Nanga Parbat disappeared behind other mountains, after travelling for almost 5 KM I was watching a local Polo Ground, I was done with my adventure & in next 20 minutes I was on the main road, heading towards Naran, stopped at Lulusar Lake for pictures, reached Naran around 01:00 PM, no stop in Naran as I was bit angry with this City, kept on moving, reached Abbottabad around 5:00 PM, had a rest & food, I was in Islamabad motorway toll plaza at 8:00 PM & reached my final destination, Lahore just before Mid Night, The classic journey came to an end but it will live in my mind forever. I traveled around 2300 Km in these 4 days, approximate travel time was 56 hours including stops.
Thanx for your time
Ahmed
