Aslam-o-Alykum,
Dear Pak Wheelers,
I had toured Gilgit Baltistan in 2016 and 2017 by air but this year i wanted to go by road (link of previous tours attached). Initially plan was to go on my motorbike YBR 125 with a friend on GS 150 to Rama Lake, Tarashing and Deosai. I had not done any sort of bike touring before so I decided not to go on bike.
So the only option left was to go on my Wagon R with my family because I wanted them to take a refreshing break from hectic daily routine. Previously, I had driven on car till Naran but driving till Gilgit Baltistan seemed to be a huge task. The biggest issue in my mind was crossing Babusar pass. Ascending from 8000 feet to 13700 feet and then descending from 13700 feet to 4500 feet and vise versa on return journey. I wasn't sure that my car could easily cross it. I decided to ask from a Wagon R driver who has crossed babusar pass. The only person came across my mind was @haroonmcs26 bhai جولائی 2017 اور گلگت بلتستان walay whose thread I had been following since two years on this forum. Haroon bhai encouraged me and said you can manage it and also gave helpful advice even @nagar1 bhai also encouraged me. So on 26.08.2018 just two days before I decided to go on car with my wife and 3.5 years son. Plan was to go to Rama Lake and Hunza side to eat appricot and fresh fig (anjeer) and return back.
The itinerary is as follows:
Day 1: 28.08.2018
We left Lahore at 9:30 am and reached Abottabad at 3:00 PM via M2, M1 and Hazara express way. We stopped at Usmania restaurant for lunch and decided not to go further and stayed at Abottabad as we felt tired and we had decided to travel all journey in day time and hassle free. So we stayed in air conditioned room in a hotel close to exit of city to avoid city traffic in morning. Road Condition was very good but weather was hot in abottabad.
Day 2: 29.08.2018
Left Abottabad at 9:30 and reached Balakot at 11 AM stopped at PTDC Balakot for breakfast which was very good. At 1 PM we departed for Naran stopped for tea in Paras and reached PTDC Naran for lunch at 3:30 PM. After lunch we had left with an hour of day light so we decided to go further. We stopped at a Waterfall just close to Naran. Just before sunset we reached Battakundi village and stayed there. The night was peaceful without any mobile signals and internet. We spent some time on terrace of hotel and then got asleep.
Road condition upto Naran was ok with some minor bad patches. After Naran bad patches became more frequent but these were manageable one of them near battakundi was quite bad where some cars were struggling due to low ground clearance. Weather was sunny a little warm in day time but night was quite cold.
Day 3: 30.08.2018
We got ready and left battakudi at 9 am and moved towards babusar pass after one hour we crossed Jalkhad. Here onwards valley is wide open and mountains are green and very beautiful then we reached basel and here we stopped for tea. Then we stopped at lulusar lake for half an hour, the view of the lake was good but it was very crowded place, weather was quite cold the sky was mostly clear with very few clouds.
After Lulusar lake the road starts ascending but it isn't much steep upto gitidas. After gitidas the road become very steep and car had to be driven in first and second gear. I saw some cars struggling and passengers traveling on foot and calling for lift. Alhamdolillah, I managed to reach at the top with ease at 1pm. We stayed at babusar top for 20 minutes. This place was also crowded like other places of naran and a lot of dhabas and smoke from stove was all over the place. There were so many dhabas that there is no place left for photography. The only good thing was the weather which was very cold. We started our journey towards Chilas the road was continuous downward with a lot of hair pin turns. As you go down the weather also becomes hotter. Here driving is done through engine braking principle in low gears but even then one has to apply brakes to control RPM. I stopped twice to let the brakes and tyres cool down. Road condition from Basel upto Chilas was very good no bad patch at all. Then we reached the N15 and KKH junction point near Chilas. Road became quite bumpy after Chilas but speed upto 50-60 could be maintained on it. Weather of Chilas was very hot and the mountains were very barren. Just before Tattapani there is a PSO Filling Station from where we filled the car tank. We got tired and stopped at a nearby truck hotel and ate their Daal roti which was quite tasty. At Tattapani area there were two major land sliding points where road was badly damaged so we crossed it on dead slow speed. There were small stones on road and they bounce off the tyres if driven fast. Finally at 5 pm we reached Raikot Bridge, Driving on KKH from here onward is a treat for traveler no jumps, bad patches, pot holes, steap climb etc. We crossed Juglot, Bunji (three mountain junction) and reached gilgit city. Here we took AC accommodation with very nice and clean room also they had proper car parking, restaurant and internet facility and fare was quite reasonable, instead of roaming here and there we decided to stay in the same hotel for next three days. Next day my plan was to go to Rama lake so I called my old taxi driver to come in morning at 8 am.
Day 4: 31.08.2018
At 8am Taxi driver came and we started moving towards Astore. Near Juglot there is a turn on KKH which leads to Astore. The road towards Astore was really bad the road was very bumpy and very tiring for passengers. I had traveled on the same road in 2016 while travelling towards Deosai and Skardu but the road condition has worsen since then. I thanked Allah that I made right decision to hire taxi. After nearly two hours of travelling we reached Astore city. Rama is 10 KM away from Astore and road is continuous upward climb and at many places very steep. Cars can go upto rama but 4X4 is advised. As we were nearing rama the weather started to become cold and greenry also increased. There were patato and wheat fields all around. We stopped at ground near PTDC which was very beautiful and lush green it had pine trees all around. Cows and sheeps were grazing and a fresh water stream was flowing. Nanga Parbat could be clearly seen from Rama meadows which made the scene more beautiful. From PTDC we hired a jeep for PKR 1800 for Rama lake.
The jeep took us directly on the lake in just 15 minutes. The lake is small but very beautiful its color is deep blue and Nanga Parbat could be seen in background. The weather on lake was quite cold. There were very few tourist at Rama Lake and Rama meadows at this part of season. Overall we enjoyed a lot at Rama. At 5 pm we went back to Gilgit.
Day 5: 01.09.2018
After four days of hectic travelling we kept fifth day as a rest day. So we planned to visit hunza valley just to enjoy a peaceful long drive and taste raw fig (anjeer) and apricot. We have been visiting Hunza valley for last three years so we didn't explore any place just we planned to go on KKH as far as we could and return back to Gilgit before sunset. We stopped at Rakaposhi view point but Rakaposhi was covered in clouds we stayed there for some time and then moved towards Attabad lake. We stopped on Attabad lake friendship tunnel location for a while then went further till Hussaini village. While returning to Gilgit we stopped near Chalt Nagar at a fruit shop and bought some appricot and dried mulberry. I requested shop keeper to bring some fresh fig he went immediately and bought some half kg fresh fig for free I was very thankful to that nice gentleman. The fig was very juicy and tasty really the trip to hunza paid off after eating these fruits.
Day 6: 02.09.2018
In morning we left Gilgit city and moved towards Naran. We crossed Riakot bridge on 11am and reached chilas at 1pm. Weather was clear that day and Nanga Parbat could clearly be seen there was not a single cloud over it. That white beast was really looking beautiful that day surrounded by brown mountains. Weather was clear upto Chilas but as we started ascending towards babusar weather become cloudy. The roads towards babusar top is a continous hike of almost 30-40 min and here almost every petrol engine car struggles due to high altitude and thin air. Driver should be patient while driving uphill and do not put stress on engine. Finally thanks to Allah SWT we safely reached Babusar top with comfort. We took break of fifteen minutes and then started to travel towards Naran as dark clouds were all around. When we reached near Batakundi rain started and we stopped there immediately. In mountain regions mostly it rains for a short time so it is not wise to take risk of driving in rain. Rain stopped after 15 minute and we reached Naran at 5PM and stayed there in a hotel near main bazar.
Day 7: 03.09.2018
We left Naran at 9 am stopped at Arcadian Khanian for snaps and then had lunch at PTDC Balakot. In evening we reached Islamabad via Hazara Express way and stayed near Blue area, and had dinner at a good restaurant in Islamabad
Day 8:
In afternoon we woke up and went to shopping mall in blue area market and had lunch in its food court. In evening left for Lahore via M2 and reached home safely at 9;30 PM.
Road travelling on own car is very economical it costed Rs. 60,000 only all expenses included but at the same time road travelling that far away is also very tiring. Due to tiredness we focused on driving and stopped at fewer places and we took less photographs in Hunza and Jalkhad area but overall we all enjoyed the journey a lot.
Pictures shall be sent shortly.
Tour of GB 2017
Tour of GB 2016
