Hindukush Trekking
Itinerary:
| Day 1 | FLY TO GILGIT. Trasnfer to the domestic terminal at Islamabad airport for flight to Gilgit. If flight is not possible owing to the weather or other factors we will drive to Gilgit on Karakorum Highway. This is long two day drive, compensated for by the extraordinary en route. Overnight at hotel. |
| Day 2 | GILGIT: A free day in Gilgit to explore this old garrison town, with its bazaar and polo ground, all set in a valley of great beauty. If we do not fly this day will be spent on traveling by road. Overnight at hotel/p> |
| Day 3 | DRIVE TO GUPIS: We drive eastwards along the Gilgit river, passing through the old kingdoms of Punial and Gupis. The road here is only passable in four wheel drive jeeps and can be slow going. We camp on the Polo ground just past the village of Gupis. Overnight camping./p> |
| Day 4 | DRIVE TO NIALTI: From Gupis we turn north and head up the Yasin valley, known as the prettiest of all the valleys around Gilgit. A left fork on the jeep track brings us to Nialti. This track occasionally gets washed away in the summer months and we may start walking from here. Overnight camping. |
| Day 5-8 | TREK OVER THUI AN PASS: The first part of the trek takes us over the Thui An Pass at 14,760 ft. This is the highest point on the trek so we take time to acclimatize on the ascent, passing through the small villages of Musuk and Shotalling. There are excellent views over the Musuk Bar and Ghalasander- glaciers and of Thuizom Peak(20,200 ft). After crossing the Aghost Bar glacier we start the strenuous climb to the pass itself at 14,760 ft. The views from the top are magnificent covering many unclimbed peaks. We descend to our campsite a base of the pass at 13,200 ft. overnight camping. |
| Day 9 | We will now have our first view of the Barpu glacier and follow its path till we reach our camp site at Barpu Gram. |
| Day 10 | TREK TO GAZIN VILLAGE: We walk don the Gazin glacier to our camp at Gazin Village. Overnight camping. |
| Day 11 | TREK TO LESHT: Heading north out of the village, the trail leaves the river and zigzags up to a grassy col where we get excellent views along the valley. Further along, we pass through several tiny hamlets before camping at Lesht, only a few miles from Afghan border. |
| Day 12-13 | TREK TO ISHPRU DOK: We retrace our steps for a short distance before leaving the main valley and heading up an uninhabited side valley. A long climb brings us to the summer pastures known as Ishpru Dok, where we camp. Overnight camping. |
| Day 14 | TREK TO SHAH JINALI: Our path now takes us up the Shah Jinali(King’s Polo ground pass 13,790 ft.). This pass is only 12 miles from Afghan border and was until very recently off limits to trekkers. The top of the pass is a wide area of lush green meadows dotted with hundreds of Buttercups and we can spend sometime admiring the views and enjoying the peace of this remote place before descending to camp at the base of the pass. Overnight camping. |
| Day 15 | TREK TO ISTARO: We descend the Turikho valley, walking through the villages of Shah Jinali, Rabat, Shotkar and Shahgram. Tirich Mir the highest peak in the area comes into the view during our descent through this valley. Climbing peaks above 6000 meters. |
| Day 16 | DRIVE TO CHITRAL: We rejoin our jeeps for the drive to Chitral, a bustling small town that has grown in population with the influx of Afghan refugees. There are fascinating bazaars where we can hunt for jewelry and precious stones, and the famous Chitrali hats, and we can also visit Chitral Fort, set high above the Kunhar river. Overnight at hotel. |
| Day 17 | CHITRAL: The most interesting part of a visit to the Chitral area is an excursion to the Kafir Kalash valleys. These valleys are inhabited by ‘the unbelievers’ , related to the Kafirs of Afghanistan, who were forcibly converted to Islam just before the turn of the century. The Kalash still cling to a mix of animism, ancestor of fire worship. We have time to explore the area before returning to Chitral for the night. |
| Day 18 | DRIVE TO PESHAWAR: Drive to Peshawar and on arrival transfer to hotel. Overnight at hotel. |
| Day 19 | DRIVE TO ISLAMABAD: Drive to Islamabad., transfer to hotel. |
| Day 20 |
Fly to onward destination. Tours are custom tailored. However personalised tours can be arranged based on the client’s preferences. Rates will be prepared after confirmation of a tour by the client. |