Tour De Khunjerab on Mehran (Karakoram Highway)

Road Trips / Vacations / Hiking / Trekking

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fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-12 08:49:40 +0500 #1

Driving through the end of Karakoram Highway was a dream for me. Though I have traveled a lot and visited many beautiful places of Pakistan but couldn't get a chance to visit Gilgit Baltistan. Reading about the road trip stories of Pakwheelers to Karakoram Highway and Khunjerab made me wonder about these places.

Finally I made a plan with my friend to visit Northern Areas and to travel all the way to Khunjerab Pass. The crazy part.... We were only TWO and we decided to make it all the way on the mighty SUZUKI MEHRAN! Yes a Suzuki Mehran.....

We departed on 31st July 2015 and we came back on 4th August 2015. The details are given below:

Day 1: Haripur to Naran (Departure: 1430hrs - Arrival: 2045hrs)
Day 2: Naran to Gilgit (Departure: 0900hrs - Arrival: 1700hrs)
Day 3: Gilgit to Khunjerab and Back to Hunza for Night Stay (Departure: 0830hrs - Arrival: 1815hrs)
Day 4: Hunza to Fairy Meadows (Departure: 0900hrs - Arrival: 1700hrs)
Day 5: Fairy Meadows to Haripur (Departure: 0800hrs - Arrival: 2200hrs)

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-12 09:02:59 +0500 #2

We started our journey from haripur after Jumma Prayer. Target of Day 1 was to spend night at Naran. We didn't opted for Besham Dasu on Karakoram Highway as route of Naran - Babusar was 150kms short.

It was a bit boring in the start as it was a long way to our actual journey. However we went to make it somehow to Naran by 2045hrs.

ifoo_786 (ifoo_786) 2016-04-12 09:32:24 +0500 #3

wooow... Mehran on ultimate journey.. Waiting for more pics

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-12 10:09:55 +0500 #4

On a new fresh morning, we woke up early as we had to make up till Gilgit or Hunza. So after breakfast we start our journey at 0900hrs from Naran towards Babusar Top. It must be noted that there is no fuel station between Naran and Chillas. For someone travelling on this route, don't forget to fill your tank in Balakot if u want to proceed to Karakoram Highway as in Naran during peak season there is shortage of fuel.

aasifjaved (aasifjaved) 2016-04-12 10:12:09 +0500 #5

great starting,
please do not underestimate mehran as its performance much better on high altitude.
I always found this creature better then some fake beasts.

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-12 10:20:33 +0500 #6

At about an hour after Naran some where near Jhalkad, during crossing a water stream we hit a steel rod or something and the tyre of our little champ was burst. At this moment, I started feeling isn't it too harsh for this little car to travel. But we didn't loose hope. Changed the tyre and started proceeding further. Now we had a slight fear in our minds about not having a spare wheel and travelling through mountains having no tyre shop. Well the journey continued as the beautiful valleys, lakes and Babusar National Park was amazing us with its sceneries.

tintin1 (tintin1) 2016-04-12 11:06:48 +0500 #7

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fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-12 12:22:24 +0500 #8

The lush green valleys from Jhalkad to Lulusar Lake.

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-12 12:44:27 +0500 #9

After the Lulusar Lake, road was under construction. In most patches there was no road at all while some patches were recently carpeted. There was a recently land slided region on which a Corolla got stuck. But the mightly Mehran crossed the patch with flying colors Babusar Top is not less than a heaven on earth. On that day the weather was simply awesome and the whole valley was blossoming.

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-12 12:48:30 +0500 #10

Thanks for the correction.... yes it was typo mistake "4th August".... And I'm posting the story late because didn't get time to post it in time. At least I'm sharing it now

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-12 13:03:24 +0500 #11

After having some pakoras on Babusar Top, we started our journey at 1330hrs and decended further to Chillas. The road till Chillas was carpeted with very few under construction diversions.

When we reached Chillas, saw mighty River Indus, Karakoram Highway and dry mountains with hot temperature, we were like ye kahan agaye? But we proceeded further in pursuit of lovely sceneries of Hunza and Karakoram Highway.

Note: Don't forget to fill the tank when you just join the Karakoram Highway in Chillas (if required).

alkandar (alkandar) 2016-04-12 13:12:03 +0500 #12

Wow.....Mehran nay kar dia Hayran. ja kay sab say onchay maqam. Wonder full Narration and Nice Pictures.

Exubery (Exubery) 2016-04-12 14:25:14 +0500 #13

No such thing as the Karakoram river...did you mean the mighty INDUS river or the Karakoram HIGHWAY?

You also mention in your opening post that you went from Hunza to Fairy Meadows on day 4 and then from Fairy Meadows to Haripur on day 5...how on earth did a Mehran made it to Fairy Meadows? or did you park the vehicle at Raikot bridge and trek to Fairy Meadows?

Otherwise, a nice and courageous trip. Hope you enjoyed it a lot and please do share as many pictures as possible and details about the yet to be reconstructed section of KKH.

ali_77 (ali_77) 2016-04-12 15:43:40 +0500 #14

Excellent adventure janab. waiting for more pics.

sgk111 (sgk111) 2016-04-12 18:08:19 +0500 #15

Nice pics. Do share more

imrannust (imrannust) 2016-04-12 18:23:48 +0500 #16

Nice tour

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raheelarshadh (raheelarshadh) 2016-04-12 23:02:37 +0500 #17

Nice Pics and Narration please post further complete details Fuel Consumption on mehran and important points for refilling petrol as i am also interested to visit this area on my mehran

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-13 01:34:24 +0500 #18

I meant both.... Indus River, Karakoram Highway and Mountain Ranges. However I mixed them up in a hurry. Secondly I haven't yet reached to the details of Fairy Meadows. So wait for the travelogue of DAY 4 and DAY 5!

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-13 01:45:15 +0500 #19

The fuel consumed for the entire trip was around Rs: 6000/- for 1550kms round trip. In those days, petrol was around Rs: 83/ltr. Instruction for refilling are mentioned in different posts where required.

fawadrauf1 (fawadrauf1) 2016-04-13 02:02:31 +0500 #20

Moving ahead of Chillas feels a little tiring because of hot weather. Its boring as well as the road condition is not up to the mark in this 60kms patch till Raikot Bridge. The road was under construction in some areas and few patches were freshly carpeted.

Around 30kms ahead of Chillas, we finally found a tyre shop at Gonar Farm. There was no new tire available with them however we managed to use a tube for the torn tyre (as the tire was torn near Jhalkad during a water stream cross) and make it working for us as a standby spare tire.

From Gonar Farm we moved ahead to Raikot Bridge. We reached there at 1330 hrs.