Hunza & Nagar, 6-11 July, 2011

[Ace]

After some snacks and refreshments we continued our journey towards our final destination Karimabad, Hunza... now by road.

Gilgit Cantonment

Geting diesel from an old fashioned retro styled petrol station

Crossing Gilgit river

Jinnah Bridge over Gilgit river

Jinnah Bridge

Gilgit river and River View Road on its left bank

Old route to KKH.. the single lane tunnel crossing

Hunza river..

Going towards Nomal..

Hunza river looking back towards Gilgit

..and finaly joined the mighty KKH

Men at Work.. KKH is in terrible shape these days

Spotted: a NCP Toyota Corolla Station Wagon

An old track on the other side of Hunza river

Jagged rocks

This old man was making a living by making clay utensils. Water was running down the slide behind him and was turning a turbine used in moulding the utensils. Ingenious indeed.

Condition of KKH..

A tunnel under construction by the Chinese..

A Chinese camp..

A random shot

[conflicted]

great going bro

[Ace]

Zorro was here..

First view of the majestic Rakaposhi from the KKH

The mighty Rakaposhi

Rakaposhi and Hunza river

Rakaposhi View Point

Mighty Rakaposhi viewd from the View Point

Another shot..

An abandoned ancient village in Nagar

First view of the Lady Finger peak, Karimabad, Hunza

Our welcome basket at Hunza Baltit Inn... fresh cherries

View of Karimabad valley from our hotel

Terrace outside our room

Our room..

Day-1, Part-2: Gilgit to Hunza, ends here...

[3hm3dKhAn]

bot aaalaaaaaaaa....w8ing anxiously for more to come

[ranasherdil]

On which side of plane one should take the seats for enjoying scenes of kaghan valley/nanga parbat from plane? I think from right side???

[Ace]

Day-2 was spent on exploring Karimabad itself. Visited Karimabad bazaar, Baltit Fort, Altit village and Altit Fort etc.

A Jamaat Khana. Hunza is almost 100% Ismaili.

Ultar Sar, 7388m (24239 ft) above Karimabad, Hunza

The 700 year old Baltit Fort, the former seat of Mirs of Hunza.

A musket at display.

Steep path to Baltit Fort.

Karimabad from Baltit Fort.

Ultar Sar, 7388m (24239 ft) above Karimabad, Hunza

A gun position on top of the Fort.

A mineral lamp on the entrance gate of the Fort.

View of Altit Village from Baltit Fort. Altit Fort can be seen on the extreeme right.

[Ace]

On which side of plane one should take the seats for enjoying scenes of kaghan valley/nanga parbat from plane? I think from right side???

From Islamabad to Gilgit take seats on the right and from Gilgit to Islamabad take seats on the left.

[Ace]

Altit fort viewed from Baltit Fort

Our hotel Hunza Baltit Inn and Hunza Darbar hotel viewed from Baltit Fort

Markhor marhoom

Mir of Hunza and his wife

Fort interior

The Agha Khans

Another trophy

Swords..

Traditional Hunza royalty suiting

Mir of Hunza.. hehe.. Nope! thats just me.

View of Karimabad valley

A portrait of Mir of Hunza with his family in Baltit Fort, 1968.

A crib.

The kitchen.

A banner.

[HTZ]

@ACE, Good trip man, I replied to your email about Hunza but i believe it was little too late. In fact i was travelling to Abu Dhabi therefore i could not do it any earlier. Nonetheless it is clear from the photographs that you made the right choices. I am sure Hunza Baltit Inn was the right choice and you enjoyed your stay there.
Thanks for sharing the photographs, reminds me of the good times that i had there.

[HTZ]

And i must add that you have been very lucky to be able to fly out to Hunza in these days. My father was there at the Islamabad airport this morning to catch a flight to Gilgit but the flight got cancelled. He is now coming back to lahore.

[Ace]

@HTZ

Yes brother thankyou for your mail. I just read it. Ironicaly it matched with my trip arrangements. Yes Baltit Inn was an excellent choice. Lot of hassle avoided by staying there. Friendly staff and clean environment. Hunza was magnificient as always. We were stuck too in Gilgit for a day due to bad weather but luckily made it out on the second day.

[060276]

very nice.keep the pictures rolling with little description
....

[Ace]

Me again..

Ancient musical instruments

Underground prison chambers

Prison cells

A restored passage

Indiana Jones? Nope! me again.

Exterior of the Fort.

Fresh apples anyone?

Natural freezer

Our ride.

Going down towards Karimabad bazaar

Lunch was a traditional Hunza dish called Hoi Garma, Spinach cooked with local butter and chappati. Very delicious.

..after lunch we moved onwards to the nearby 950 year old Altit Fort.

Pool at the entrance of Altit village. This pool was created when mud was excavated for constructing Altit Fort. Nowadays it serves as a swimming pool as well as providing waters for the village vegetation and the Royal Gardens besides the Fort.

Me at the entrance of Altit Fort.

The Royal Kitchen. Pot was made of stone. Tempratures inside the pot reached more than 400 celcius, melting even the bones and making soup of them. Notice the sun roof.

Some engravings.

Wooden cabinet used to store flour and sugar etc. Notice the Hindu Swastika signs all over it.

[Ace]

Ancient clock. Time was judged according to the shadows created by sunlight.

Hunza river view from the Fort.

KKH and Nagar viewed from the Fort.

300m drop straight down to Hunza river, from the top of Fort. War prisioners and traitors etc. were thrown to there deaths from this point. Scary.

A passage.

600 year old mosque.

The tower on top of the Fort. It was used to store food and as a watch tower.

Altit village.

A woman drying appricots.

Entrance to the tower.

View from the Tower.

Me, the Markor, Ultar-1 and Ultar-2 in the background.

Ladyfinger peak and Ultar-1

Ultar-2

The entire Fort was being restored by women, funded by Royal Norwegian Embassy.

No its not the real Beacon House. Its a local community school.

View from our hotel terrace.

Baltit Fort, Ultar-1 and Ultar-2 viewed from our hotel.

Our hotel Hunza Baltit Inn.

The valley beneath the hotel.

The spotter.

Fresh Apples

Trees.. notice their straightness and height.

Day-2: Karimabad, Hunza, ends here...

[Wanderlust]

very well documented thread! thx for sharing

[nomi1234]

beautiful pictures and nice narration. reminds me of my trip there last year. IJC summer camp 2010

[asifcae]

nice tour. great pics of sat siri mala and other lakes in kaghan valley

[aesiege]

Zabardast trip mashallah!!!!!!!

I just loved the Kaghan valley pics from air

Eagerly waiting for more pics. Keep it up !!!

[gemini85]

What is the PIA fare from ISD to GILGIT

[Ace]

What is the PIA fare from ISD to GILGIT

Rs 4,300/- one way.