Skardu & Fairy Meadows in July 2022

[kailash.kumar1305]

Hello all..

We (group of 5 to 6 people) are planning to visit Skardu and Fairy Meadows in July 2022. We have 08 days (from ISB to ISB) and have made following tentative plan.
Day 1: Isb to Skardu by flight in morning (flight option taken to have a fresh start to journey)
Day 2: Skardu areas visit
Day 3: Full day visit of Deosai. Night stay Skardu
Day 4: Skardu morning visit, travel to Raikot at 1PM. Reach Raikot by 6 or 7 PM
Day 5: Travel to Fairy Meadows in morning.. Chill & relax at FM
Day 6: Morning chill at FM.. 1PM back to Raikot. Reach Raikot by 6 or 7 PM
Day 7: Raikot to Naran / Balakot.. Stay night
Day 8: Back to ISB

My questions for the Pakwheels experts / community are:
1. Is our plan alright? Or we need to make changes in it
2. Suggest day wise plan for Skardu (for day 1, 2 & 4)
3. We have chosen flight option for Skardu to have fresh start to journey. Although, we may have to pay double cost for transport by choosing this option as coaster / apv will charge us for fuel and day rent. Is it good option?
4. Suggest hotels to stay in Skardu
5. Any other suggestion / advise

[kailash.kumar1305]

@nagar1 @asifcae your expert advice will be appreciated as always

[adnan.shaukat]

Day 4: Skardu morning visit, travel to Raikot at 1PM. Reach Raikot by 6 or 7 PM
Day 5: Travel to Fairy Meadows in morning.. Chill & relax at FM
Day 6: Morning chill at FM.. 1PM back to Raikot. Reach Raikot by 6 or 7 PM
Day 7: Raikot to Naran / Balakot.. Stay night

Fairy Meadows including Bayal camp and surroundings need 1 full day to explore and enjoy
alteration should be as follow:

Day 4: Leave skardu early morning to reach raikot bridge, take jeep and trek to reach FM Cottages
Day 5: Explore Fairy Meadows and its surrounding area
Day 6: Trek to Bayal camp and Nanga Parbat Base Camp and view Point and back to fairy meadows cottages
Day 7: Leave Fairy Meadows in morning and reach raikot bridge and travel through babusar top and stay either at Batakundi or Jalkhad

[asifcae]

my advice is leave FM... u r spending so much on air ticket to skardu and r not exploring it to the full.... u must spend ur days in baltistan... u can easily visit shigar khaplu and kharmang vallys and also sites of skardu alone are not covered in one day.... ull be disapointed in FM

[kailash.kumar1305]

Adnan bhai, will it be good option to reach FM on same day from Skardu? Will we be able to reach by daylight? And are there good options of stay at Jalkhad?

[kailash.kumar1305]

Asif bhai we have 2 days in Skardu as we will be reaching in morning by flight on 1st day. So 2 full days plus 3-4 hours on 4th day.. Will you still suggest to stay for one more day?
One more question.. Why will we be disappointed at FM? Due to hectic travel or anything else?

[adnan.shaukat]

If you manage to reach Raikot Bridge between 11am to 12am and do not spend time in lunch/tea and just start Tatu village jeep travel so can reach "starting point of trek before 2pm" then you can easily reach FM cottages near sunset.
Note, If you are a good trekker and can trek 4-5 hours easily, then you should visit FM/NangaParbat BC/View pioint,
otherwise skip FM as suggested by Asif Bhai.
Day 4 can be adjusted in skardu and Day 5 for travel from skardu to FM and Day6 for FM+BayalCamp exploration and Day7 for travel from FM Cottages to Jalkhad/Batakundi seems another option.
In Jalkhad there are 1 or 2 average hotels. so you can check if that suits you, you can stay there otherwise Batakundi comes after 30-40 minutes, which is quite populated clean area having dozens of nice hotels.

I think that Asif bhai meant that after skardu exploration, probably FM travel/trek hectic makes you disappoint because FM cause you 2 full hectic days (Day 5 and Day 7). If you want to enjoy and relax then explore skardu/baltistan full in 7 days and return islamabad by Air from skardu

[farooq05]

you are neither giving enough time to Skardu nor to FM.. i think you should keep the trip just to Skardu and if you really need to add more places i will suggest to travel back via Deosai/Astore and add places from Astore..

FM requires good amount of trekking and with family it is never going to be less than 3 hours minimum with lot of fatigue involved. and also never attempt FM after lunch if you really opt going to FM, as you may end up reaching FM around maghrib..

[kailash.kumar1305]

@asifcae @adnan.shaukat @farooq05

Thanks for your valuable suggestions. Considering the advise by you 3 guys, I guess we need to stick to one side i.e., Skardu and keep FM for our next trip. Based on the suggestions by you all, I have made following revised itinerary

Day 1: ISB to Batakundi / Chilas
Day 2: Batakundi / Chilas to Skardu
Day 3: Full Day Skardu
Day 4: Full Day Skardu
Day 5: Full day visit of Deosai. Night stay Skardu
Day 6: Skardu to Naran
Day 7: Naran to ISB
1 day kept as buffer in case of landsliding / rain

Kindly advise or comment on revised plan.

[nabeel.anwer1]

can someone guide hows road condition frm skdu to deosai for an average driver and 4x2 car like corolla

[asifcae]

@asifcae salam sir inspired by your thread last time i went to shogran naran to babusar just before bakra eid and enjoyed a lot .this year planning to go same time till gilgit we just enjoy scenic drive. i can't afford more then 4 days if i stay in naran next day to gilgit stay there for two night there and return to naran .please want to know your thoughts and what to do in gilgit . don't want a tiring trip and cover many places.suggestions from all will be highly appreciated.

plz go thru this thread

[asifcae]

BBB,,,, Biwi ... Bachay ... Baltistan

sallam Pakwheelers.... had a wonderful driving experiece during Eid Holidayz... Eid may nay Family kay sath Khaplu may ke.... Baltistan ke Skardu, Ganche, Kharmang and Rondu Districs may gooma aur wo sab places jo trekking trips may miss ho jati theen daikh paya.. bht say nay trekske information and real time locations ka bhe idea ho gia.... Safeer's family was also part o this trip that took ur corollas 1800 kilometers round ..... expensive raha trip as we stayed in PTDC mostly and had to …

[kailash.kumar1305]

@asifcae I have one question to ask from you..

If I start my journey in morning from Skardu, is it possible that I cover sadpara, Deosai and then reach Minimarg for stay in night? And then come back in morning to Chilas? If yes, then which vehicle can cover this?
I know that I will need permission from Army for Minimarg

[asifcae]

yes iits doable in a jeep .....

[crossfirex]

Check ur PM