Nanga Parbat and Hunza

You are met at the airport and taken to rest. In the evening you meet the rest of the group at a welcome dinner and go over the plan for the mountains ahead.

Night at Hotel, 540 m.

You head up the Karakoram Highway and decide at Mansehra whether to take the Naran and Kaghan road or the Indus road through Besham. Lunch is at Naran or Besham, and the afternoon follows the Indus into Diamer. You reach Chilas late in the evening for dinner.

Night at Chilas, 1,250 m.

After breakfast you drive to Raikot Bridge and transfer to 4x4 jeeps for the rough road up to Tatu village. From there you walk for two to three hours through pine forest to Fairy Meadows, a high green meadow facing Nanga Parbat. You make camp, and the rest of the day is for short walks and tea with the locals.

3 hours on foot. Night at Fairy Meadows, 3,300 m.

You continue to Beyal, a quieter camp with an even better view. Past Beyal the trail leaves the forest for open moraine and ice, and you reach Nanga Parbat base camp within a few hours, where the silence is broken only by far off avalanches. You spend time under the 8,126 m face and then return to Beyal to camp.

6 hours on foot. Night at Beyal, 3,500 m.

A short walk down brings you back to Fairy Meadows, with the rest of the day to yourself. It is a place to write in a journal, sketch, rest or photograph the mountain, with sunrise, sunset and full moon each giving a different light.

3 hours on foot. Night at Fairy Meadows, 3,300 m.

You walk down to Tatu, take the jeeps to the highway and drive on along the Indus until the Hunza river joins it. The valley then opens into Brusho and Shina villages, bridges and orchards. The day ends in Karimabad, the Hunza capital, with Rakaposhi across the gorge.

2 hours on foot. Night at Karimabad, 2,500 m.

The morning begins with Rakaposhi from the terrace. Baltit Fort, seven hundred years old, comes first, then Altit Fort, older still, with coffee in the royal garden. In the late afternoon you climb to Duikar, the highest viewpoint over Hunza and Nagar, for the sunset on the snow peaks.

Night at Karimabad, 2,500 m.

North along the Karakoram Highway past Ganish village and the Silk Road rock carvings, along Attabad Lake and through the Pak-China Friendship Tunnels. You enter Khunjerab National Park at Dhe, watch for marmots, and climb to the border at 4,693 m, the highest paved border crossing in the world. The night is in Passu.

Night at Passu, 2,500 m.

An easy day after the long drive. You walk out to the Hussaini suspension bridge or up toward Passu Glacier, depending on what the group prefers. There is time to visit family homes and orchards in the village, and taste local fruit and food.

3 hours on foot. Night at Passu, 2,500 m.

The drive south goes through Chilas and Dassu along the Indus to Besham, or when the weather allows by the Naran road. You follow a different stretch than on the way up, with Nanga Parbat showing itself again from the highway.

Night at Naran or Besham, 2,409 m.

The final run of the road down through Mansehra and Abbottabad to the plains and into Islamabad, with the afternoon free to rest.

Night at Hotel, 540 m.

A day for the twin cities. Islamabad is the modern capital with parks and museums, and Rawalpindi is the older British era city with crowded bazaars and busy lanes. It is a good day for gifts and a relaxed final dinner.

Night at Hotel, 540 m.

You are taken to the airport in time for your flight home.

540 m.