A Trip to Hunza Valley under 1 Lac

[YeBeWarned]

Guys, as I have mentioned in my last post which got lost somewhere in this section and I am too lazy to dig it out, so Mods don't mind .. Anyway, my Wife is here, and as the Eid is Passed now we are planning our trip to the Northern Parts of Pakistan, unlikely for me that my wife has some bad teeth which needs to be fixed, so the budget i put for my trip which was around 130,000 - 150,000 Pkr is now only limited to 100,000 Pkr .. In 1 Lac I have to travel from Karachi to Lahore in Jinnah express as they have private compartments for 2 persons ,fare for that compartment is around 6500 pkr per person means 13,000 for 2 people for a single way trip . Than I have to travel to Islamabad from Lahore which I don't know which transport i should pick , Either daewoo , Taxi or Private cars ?

What i have in mind to stay in Northern Pakistan for 8-10 days , and I want to go all the way up to Hunza , that would be my last stop , some of my friends told me that you should not go to China border cause its just mountains and nothing much interesting there . Some of the places which i marked for us to visit are these .. ( Islamabad , Naran , Shogran , Siri&paye , Naltar Valley , Deosai Park , Gilgit and Hunza , Attabad Lake ) I want to cover all these places in 8-10 days , under the budget of around 70,000 ( Train ticket round trip excluded ) .

I am kinda worried that during this part of the year A lot of National and International Tourists visit these places, and Prices for everything just go up by more than 100% .and I am unsure if i will be able to pull this trip through in just 70,000 which include car , Hotel Rooms , Food . I don't want to take those cheap tour guides they costs some 30,000-40,000 per person depends on how many days , but their services sucks .

I want to know if anyone has similar experience in similar budget and how it went for you ? And if anyone knows any cheap but family Friendly hotel I can stay in , and someone who works in those areas and has contacts with some dude with a car for rent ? And I am open to any suggestions if I should skip anyone of those places i mentioned above .
I have highlighted the figures so it will be easier for the reader .

 

[Asimzranger]

you have to do lot of hiking but its doable especially if you have bike/car which you can rent otherwise fares will be quite high especially since its travel tourist season over there.

 

[YeBeWarned]

Here is how I plan my trip ..

Day 1 = take Train from Karachi to Lahore , than without staying in Lahore take some Bus from Lahore to Islamabad .

Day 2 = take a day in Capital , see around and rest .

Day 3 = Take a Bus called NATCO, I don't know much about it but i hear this is a Govt run bus service so it should be safe, than go all the way to Gilgit .

Day 4 = take a day in Gilgit and see around the nearby areas .

Day 5 = Take a car or bus to Hunza valley , reach there , stay at night , visit Attabad lake and return to Gilgit

Day 6 = Take a Bus or Car to Naltar Valley and Desosai Park spend some time there and return to Naran .

Day 7 = Take a day in Naran , Visit Saif-ul-mulk lake .

Day 8 = Take a bus or car to Shogran or Siri/Paye stay there for a day .

Day 9 = Return to Islamabad/Lahore depends on timing .

Day 10 = Return to Karachi by Same Jinnah express .

you have to do lot of hiking but its doable especially if you have bike/car which you can rent otherwise fares will be quite high especially since its travel tourist season over there.

Well I cant really walk or hike, because of 2 reasons ... 1) My Wife is American and I am not comfortable walking with her around the place ... and 2) well My wife is a little chubby so She cant walk much so ... either i take car or buses .

 

[ZAC1]

Here is how I plan my trip ..

Day 1 = take Train from Karachi to Lahore , than without staying in Lahore take some Bus from Lahore to Islamabad .

Day 2 = take a day in Capital , see around and rest .

Day 3 = Take a Bus called NATCO, I don't know much about it but i hear this is a Govt run bus service so it should be safe, than go all the way to Gilgit .

Day 4 = take a day in Gilgit and see around the nearby areas .

Day 5 = Take a car or bus to Hunza valley , reach there , stay at night , visit Attabad lake and return to Gilgit

Day 6 = Take a Bus or Car to Naltar Valley and Desosai Park spend some time there and return to Naran .

Day 7 = Take a day in Naran , Visit Saif-ul-mulk lake .

Day 8 = Take a bus or car to Shogran or Siri/Paye stay there for a day .

Day 9 = Return to Islamabad/Lahore depends on timing .

Day 10 = Return to Karachi by Same Jinnah express .



Well I cant really walk or hike, because of 2 reasons ... 1) My Wife is American and I am not comfortable walking with her around the place ... and 2) well My wife is a little chubby so She cant walk much so ... either i take car or buses .

First thing bro routes are still not open...
If u want to visit these areas plz wait 10 days atleast...am also doing the same thing.
Step 1:first come to islamabad
Step 2:take a NATCO bus.which will take u gilgit.stay there visit hunza altit fort,attabad lake by taking rent a car service.
Step 3: from gilgit to naltar valley bus stop is not so far it will take 2 hours apprx to reach there.from their hire a jeep costs u 1000 for each.n then stay in naltar valley for 2 days atleast.
Step 4:again take a natco bus for Astore.then go for domail ...burzil TOP.Army recently opened this spot for tourist.u will reach astore on Natco bus.but from onward jeep.fares are not so much if u travel on local jeeps.when u will return from burzil top u can then visit deosai....deosai ma bohat thand hoti hai bhai...no resturants no hotels only two camping sites.
Step 5: return home safely.
Meri advice hai naltar na jana...sidhay islmabad sa passu otarna...rasty ma attabad lack wagra aiym gi wo rastay ma dakh lena they stay for an hour r hunza valley bi.so sidha passu jana...wahan sa jeep la kr china border khunjarab.phir wapsi sa natco pa hunza aik rat stay karna r wahan altit fort ..eagle nest dakhna.
Hunza sa astore ki natco bus lo r burzil top dakhna r deosai next day...phir chahy jeep pa means local ..pa skardu chalay jana wahan sa flight la kr sidha karachi...nai tu natco zindabad
Sab sa pyri jaga deosai burzil top r astore hai...i have visited all these areas...hunza end of august ma jana chahy

I visited all these areas on bike.

Astore bohat pyra hai u should stay there for atleast two days.rama lake etc.deosai bi atleast 2 days.we camped 26 days.covered alot kashmir.kpk.gilgit,skardu deosai,naltar,astore,domail(burzil top) etc
Cannt forget last year...also cnnt forget the pain in my .... for traveling on bike

 

[YeBeWarned]

First thing bro routes are still not open...
If u want to visit these areas plz wait 10 days atleast...am also doing the same thing.
Step 1:first come to islamabad
Step 2:take a NATCO bus.which will take u gilgit.stay there visit hunza altit fort,attabad lake by taking rent a car service.
Step 3: from gilgit to naltar valley bus stop is not so far it will take 2 hours apprx to reach there.from their hire a jeep costs u 1000 for each.n then stay in naltar valley for 2 days atleast.
Step 4:again take a natco bus for Astore.then go for domail ...burzil TOP.Army recently opened this spot for tourist.u will reach astore on Natco bus.but from onward jeep.fares are not so much if u travel on local jeeps.when u will return from burzil top u can then visit deosai....deosai ma bohat thand hoti hai bhai...no resturants no hotels only two camping sites.
Step 5: return home safely.
Meri advice hai naltar na jana...sidhay islmabad sa passu otarna...rasty ma attabad lack wagra aiym gi wo rastay ma dakh lena they stay for an hour r hunza valley bi.so sidha passu jana...wahan sa jeep la kr china border khunjarab.phir wapsi sa natco pa hunza aik rat stay karna r wahan altit fort ..eagle nest dakhna.
Hunza sa astore ki natco bus lo r burzil top dakhna r deosai next day...phir chahy jeep pa means local ..pa skardu chalay jana wahan sa flight la kr sidha karachi...nai tu natco zindabad
Sab sa pyri jaga deosai burzil top r astore hai...i have visited all these areas...hunza end of august ma jana chahy

I visited all these areas on bike.

Astore bohat pyra hai u should stay there for atleast two days.rama lake etc.deosai bi atleast 2 days.we camped 26 days.covered alot kashmir.kpk.gilgit,skardu deosai,naltar,astore,domail(burzil top) etc
Cannt forget last year...also cnnt forget the pain in my .... for traveling on bike

Thanks for telling me some new places, honestly this Astore , burzil are places i hear first time in life .. now bro i can delay my trip because my wife will be going back to US in mid July , and i don't know if i could manage to do all that in just 70k .

 

[ZAC1]

https://www.natco.gov.pk/

Bro book natco hunza special ...

Thanks for telling me some new places, honestly this Astore , burzil are places i hear first time in life .. now bro i can delay my trip because my wife will be going back to US in mid July , and i don't know if i could manage to do all that in just 70k .

You can manage...easily.just go for hunza passu n khunjarab then return back home.easily ,anage h jaye ga...

My family will be leaving for canada this mnth r rastay bi saff nai...so am waiting ka dno rasty saff hn tu ma jaun...bachy nana nani ka pass visit pa r routes yahan clear hn

 

[YeBeWarned]

https://www.natco.gov.pk/

Bro book natco hunza special ...


You can manage...easily.just go for hunza passu n khunjarab then return back home.easily ,anage h jaye ga...

My family will be leaving for canada this mnth r rastay bi saff nai...so am waiting ka dno rasty saff hn tu ma jaun...bachy nana nani ka pass visit pa r routes yahan clear hn

you have the luxury of time my friend, i don't but thanks .. I can push this trip all the way to 25th june .

 

[Asimzranger]

Dude I asked my friend who traveled from Karachi to gilgat & Naran he told me he along with his brother covers whole trip under 50k excluding coach they took from Karachi to Lahore in 2017 so I think you could comfortable enjoy your trip with your wife. Mind you they rented Suzuki 150cc in Islamabad.

you have the luxury of time my friend, i don't but thanks .. I can push this trip all the way to 25th june .

 

[YeBeWarned]

@krash
No problem bro , you might be busy with Eid and all

Well bro I don't know how to drive a car , I never had a personal car and I never really try my brothers car . So I have no other option but to take a car , and the best way I see is that I take the Jinnah express which is very good train and they have compartment for two , and I reach Lahore , than took either a Daewoo from.lahore to Islamabad. From there my actual trip will start .

I am trying to contact the same guy who took me to balakot and kaghan in December 2018 when I was in capital for my interview , that guy was nice he has a mehran car , he took 5000 per day , and that's it ,his patrol and we don't have to pay for his food or stay .but somehow I lost his number.

And yes because of my wife's teeth treatment here my budget got limited now to 70,000 to mostly 80,000 ..this season the prices would be high that I am sure off.

 

[bananarepublic]

Go by renting a car usually you can book a car for 13000 from Islamabad to gilgit including Driver
I would also recommend that you go directly to Hunza or skardu as there is nothing interesting in gilgit
I believe by 16 June babusar pass will be open so travel through there .
Book a hotel in Hunza or passu,gulmet now or you won't find any
Always keep spare change and valuables safe
And finally care for the environment by safely disposing your trash.

 

[zulu]

@Dubious see people still looking for such services check the data i also find such rent a car services from ISB to upper areas.First need to check than put all services under one

 

[YeBeWarned]

Go by renting a car usually you can book a car for 13000 from Islamabad to gilgit including Driver
I would also recommend that you go directly to Hunza or skardu as there is nothing interesting in gilgit
I believe by 16 June babusar pass will be open so travel through there .
Book a hotel in Hunza or passu,gulmet now or you won't find any
Always keep spare change and valuables safe
And finally care for the environment by safely disposing your trash.

I think spending 13,000 on just on road trip is too much for me, I have very limited budget , in which i have to take care of food , rent a car for other places , and hotels .

 

[Army research]

Guys, as I have mentioned in my last post which got lost somewhere in this section and I am too lazy to dig it out, so Mods don't mind .. Anyway, my Wife is here, and as the Eid is Passed now we are planning our trip to the Northern Parts of Pakistan, unlikely for me that my wife has some bad teeth which needs to be fixed, so the budget i put for my trip which was around 130,000 - 150,000 Pkr is now only limited to 100,000 Pkr .. In 1 Lac I have to travel from Karachi to Lahore in Jinnah express as they have private compartments for 2 persons ,fare for that compartment is around 6500 pkr per person means 13,000 for 2 people for a single way trip . Than I have to travel to Islamabad from Lahore which I don't know which transport i should pick , Either daewoo , Taxi or Private cars ?

What i have in mind to stay in Northern Pakistan for 8-10 days , and I want to go all the way up to Hunza , that would be my last stop , some of my friends told me that you should not go to China border cause its just mountains and nothing much interesting there . Some of the places which i marked for us to visit are these .. ( Islamabad , Naran , Shogran , Siri&paye , Naltar Valley , Deosai Park , Gilgit and Hunza , Attabad Lake ) I want to cover all these places in 8-10 days , under the budget of around 70,000 ( Train ticket round trip excluded ) .

I am kinda worried that during this part of the year A lot of National and International Tourists visit these places, and Prices for everything just go up by more than 100% .and I am unsure if i will be able to pull this trip through in just 70,000 which include car , Hotel Rooms , Food . I don't want to take those cheap tour guides they costs some 30,000-40,000 per person depends on how many days , but their services sucks .

I want to know if anyone has similar experience in similar budget and how it went for you ? And if anyone knows any cheap but family Friendly hotel I can stay in , and someone who works in those areas and has contacts with some dude with a car for rent ? And I am open to any suggestions if I should skip anyone of those places i mentioned above .
I have highlighted the figures so it will be easier for the reader .

https://instagram.com/baydaartravels?igshid=1936u5yiyze5z
One of the best and most friendly people , with all exclusive trips , I believe if you want a sharing room for 2 people and everything else included too this about 30k , good quality trips

 

[YeBeWarned]

Does anyone know that if Army has a quota in Trains ? I can't find Sleep compartments in any date up to 30th June does anyone know any train i can have a 2 person sleeper compartment ?

@war&peace @ghazi52 @krash @DESERT FIGHTER @Zibago @Dubious @Tps43

 

[ghazi52]

They have quota.