Planning a trip from Karachi to Khunjerab pass

[rajamansoors]

Assalam o alaikum,

I am planning a trip with family from Karachi to Khunjerab Pass in first week of August
Is it feasible to do it during covid19 situation?

My plan is
Karachi to Bahawalpur want to explore Bahawalpur for a day too.
Bahawalpur to Islamabad. One day for sightseeing in Islamabad too.

Islamabad to Naran . Stay and explore Saiful Muluk lake ansoo lake , babusar top , lalusar

Naran to Hunza Valley
Need recommendations about both places, Hunza and Gilgit, what to visit there?

Hunza to Khunjerab pass

Khunjerab pass to Gilgit

Gilgit to Muzaffarabad (not sure if it can be done on one go, google map is showing 8 and half hours) and i dont know if it could be tiring to drive this long on hills?
Can stop again in Naran if needed.

Muzaffarabad to lahore and
lahore to khi

Car is Vitz
Car is in very good condition.

I want to know if my route is fine ?
Need some recommendations about places to visit and nominal hotels or guests houses for family.
My main concern is it is allowed nowadays to go to tourist points

Thank you

[burhanahmed1]

WS

How long a trip are you planning? In my opinion one whole day for Bahawalpur is probably too much. Actually, I would recommend skipping Bahawalpur, Islamabad and Muzaffarabad from your tour and spend these days in exploring further areas in the mountains.

• You can plan your overnight stay in Bahawalpur, get up early, and visit places you want to visit in Bahawalpur and move to Islamabad. It would be better if you can visit Faisal Mosque on the same day.

• Leave Islamabad for Naran early morning. If you can manage, try to visit Paye meadows. Park your car at Kiwai and get 4x4 Jeep. Visit to Paye Meadows can take you approximately 4-5 hours. If you can't spare that much time and don't want to keep the tour hectic then you can either stay the night at Kiwai or Shogran, or skip Paye from the tour. If you decide to visit Paye (and by extension, Shogran), then leave early morning for Naran. Visit Saiful Muluk lake on the same day.

• Leave Naran for Hunza early morning. You can spend some time at waterfall and Lulusar Lake, but in my opinion it's better to spend some time at Jalkhad and have lunch at Moon Restaurant Besal (not related to them in any way ). Get to Babusar top as early as you can. After spending some time at Babusar top, start your descent to Chilas. You'll think many times when the descent is going to end and why did you even decide to come here . Road from Chilas to Raikot bridge is not good and weather will be very hot (yes, as Chilas area is as warm as Karachi ). I would not recommend spending night in Chilas and its better to get a move on now. Road from Raikot bridge onward is extremely good and you'll be able to get to Gilgit in a couple of hours easily or to Hunza in another couple of hours. I would recommend going straight to Hunza as weather is more pleasant there while Gilgit weather is pretty warm and there aren't as many places to visit either. In Hunza go to Karimabad for overnight stay.

• In Hunza (Karimabad) you can visit Altit and Baltit forts, Eagle's nest (at sunrise, or at sunset) and the surrounding areas as well as eat Walnut cake (again, not related ).

• Leave Hunza early morning for visiting China border. You can spend some time now or on your way back at Attabad Lake (I'm personally not a fan, probably due to its history as well, but some people like boating there). You can manage to visit Khunjrab pass (China border) and return to Hunza or even Gilgit on the same day. But if you don't want a hectic day of driving then you can spend the night either at Sost or Passu (I would recommend Passu. Passu cones, river, glacier, fruit trees, it's an amazing place. Different from everything else). You can visit Hussaini bridge near Passu if you want

• You can use the same route for your return as well. Road from Kohala bridge to Lower Topa (Muzaffarabad to Islamabad) is not in good condition and you'll have to use Khaqan Abbasi road (PC Bhurban road) which is pretty narrow and full of traffic, not a pleasant journey.

• If you do have a couple of days more, I would recommend you to add Deosai national park to your itinerary. One day visit from Gilgit can be managed by hiring a 4x4. You can leave from Gilgit early morning and get to Sheosar Lake or even Kala Pani (Chota pani) by mid day (from Astore side) and return on the same day.

• Or you can also visit Fairy Meadows (from Raikot bridge) as well (but this will require some hiking).

• In my opinion don't add Muzaffarabad to this tour and plan a dedicated visit for Neelam valley. True beauty of Neelam valley starts after Kel (towards Taobat). Many people make mistake of planning a tour up to Keran, Sharda or Kel and are disappointed as the vision of Neelam valley (blue river water, lush greenery) that we have in our minds is not realized. That all starts after Kel and continues up to Taobat.

[rajamansoors]

Thank you for detailed answer

I am planning for a 10-12 days tour not counting the days from Karachi - islamabad - karachi

I am more interested in going places in my car and will avoid 4x4 as much as possible

Like your idea of staying only for a night in Bahawalpur and Islamabad.

Will definitely stay and visit Passu as it sounds a better idea.

So can I add Kel and Taobat if I skip Muzaffarabad?

Also any idea about current situation hotels etc are open?

Thanks again

[rajamansoors]

Now thinking about this route

Islamabad to Naran
Visit Lalusar , saif ul mulook , Babusar , Jhalkhand
Naran to Hunza Karimabad

Hunza to Khunjerab and back to Passu

Passu to Gilgit
Will visit Deosai park or Fairy meadows

Gilgit to Kel

Kel to Islamabad or Naran depends on how much time it takes.

[khurramj.1981]

brother i think yous should rather do hunza and skardu instead of going to muzaffarabad/....too much traveling...u can take your car to deosai as well as all the way to khunjerab...

[burhanahmed1]

You can't reach Kel without going through Muzaffarabad, unless you go through Chillam Chowki (near Deosai), Minimarg, Taobat. But that requires permission from military as this route is not open for general public and requires 4x4.

Just skip Kashmir side for this trip and plan a dedicated trip next time to that area. Rest of the itinerary looks fine

If you feel that you have more day to spare then required for currently planned areas then you can add Naltar valley (4x4 from Gilgit) and Rama meadows (from Astore) to your plan. Just forget Kashmir side during this trip

[homayoon]

Any ideas about road and weather conditions nowadays and covid situation?

[rajamansoors]

Road conditions are fine mostly.
I am also interested in knowing about Covid situation.

Let’s see if someone give any information about it.

[burhanahmed1]

Just heard from a friend today that DC Mansehra and DC Gilgit have announced a more strict ban on tourism and given deadlines to tourists currently visiting to evacuate. Better to wait for more clarity before visiting.

A friend visited Kalam this weekend and according to him not all hotels are open and few which are open are charging more than normal rates.

[rajamansoors]

Yes just saw these in different Facebook pages