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i have been there on motor bike , car and bus its amazing road :)

Iv only been from badgram to patan on a bike in march once. Its an amazing feeling. Its still cold and the mountains are lush green at that time. rest of the times its always been a bus or a car (hitch hiked many times too). But sticking ur head out of the window of ur car/bus is pretty awesome and fun too :p
 
Its refreshing ! World knows very little about the diversity of PAK. Promote the better side to the world.
 
Are KKH,deosai,fairy meadows and other beautiful places in Gigil Baltistan province accessable in december by road? i just retored by CJ5 and im thinking of visiting these areas during my winter vacation with 4 of my frnds>> any advice and can u guys kindly tell me the distance between Rwp-G/B? I have a budget of around 80,000...
 
Are KKH,deosai,fairy meadows and other beautiful places in Gigil Baltistan province accessable in december by road? i just retored by CJ5 and im thinking of visiting these areas during my winter vacation with 4 of my frnds>> any advice and can u guys kindly tell me the distance between Rwp-G/B? I have a budget of around 80,000...

That is a difficult question sir one laden with many variables. It all depends on the weather. Iv been up there almost every winter. But theres always a good chance of the roads being snowed shut. At times the second snow is late and the roads can stay open uptill early january. On the other hand at times they close before december. But in any case the roads dnt stay closed for more than 2-3 days on average. They have to keep them open, its a busy highway. One thing u shud do is constantly keep in contact with people of those places, hotel managers etc. They can update u on the situation of the routes. Also some places almost always get snowed in very early and remain so though out the winters e.g. Deosai and fairy meadows.

Gilgit Baltistan is quite big. Where exactly are you planning to go? The first major town on the KKH when you enter Gilgit Baltistan is Chillas. You can either reach it by the classic KKH route which would take you through Badgram, Bhesham, Patan, etc folowing the Indus all the way. Or you could take the route which shoots off from the KKH at Mansehra and takes you through Balakot, Kaghan, Naran and Babusar to Chillas. This route is shorter. But the road was barely jeepable from Jalkhad onward when I took this route a year ago (the road is unbelievably amazing from Naran till Jalkhad). A friend recently came from there and told me that its allot better a passable. But its still unpaved for long patches.

Id suggest you take the classic route following indus (A little less than 500 km if I remember correctly. It will take you around 15-20 hours, depending on how you drive and how may stops you make). It just has a different feel to it, its the KKH after all (Plus you'll get to see Kohistan). Its more majestic and regal. Also you can always go up till Babusar on a weekend trip. Now the real magic starts happening after Chillas. I could help you more if you could tell me where exactly you wanted to go and what you exactly wanted to do there.

ps: 80k will be more than enough for all of you. Unless your thinking of some serious trekking or climbing.
 
Id love to see the base camp of K-2 ... and climb some 6000 feet summit... what do u think it will cost me?


Also can u kindly tell me the best places to visit there?


I have heard alot abt rakaposhi,fairy meadows,deosai,hunza,chilla,besham,etc....
 
Id love to see the base camp of K-2 ... and climb some 6000 feet summit... what do u think it will cost me?


Also can u kindly tell me the best places to visit there?


I have heard alot abt rakaposhi,fairy meadows,deosai,hunza,chilla,besham,etc....

Do visit Deosai, its awesome. If possible do extend your tour to Gilmit and Khanjerab Pass.

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Id love to see the base camp of K-2 ... and climb some 6000 feet summit... what do u think it will cost me?


Also can u kindly tell me the best places to visit there?


I have heard alot abt rakaposhi,fairy meadows,deosai,hunza,chilla,besham,etc....

Sir have you had any trekking or climbing experience? For this postim going to assume that you dont. Please correctme if you do:

K-2 base camp is a very serious matter. The trek alone from Askole to the base camp will take 8-9 days of very difficult trekking. The base camp sits at more than 5500 meters high. That is some serious altitude. In the winters id dare not try it. Also it will cost you allot. My last estimate overran 50k per person. Iv planned for it twice and both the times Iv had to abandon it due to cost over runs and logistical issues. Its my ultimate dream. The second time I changed the destination to Snow Lake which too ended in failure after 5 days of trekking because one of the fellows i was with dislocated his shoulder. IMHO you should leave it for some time latter.

Now if you meant a 6000 feet summit then sir even in the valleys you'l be above that height. Skardu is at around 7500 feet and it sits at the bottom of the valley. If you meant 6000 meters then that is a very serious and daunting task again. Especially in the winters. Iv tried three 5000 meter peaks in the winters and Iv failed two of them (one by only 60 meters). Once we were stuck in Khaplu for two days because the local authorities deemed it too difficult for us to climb HomBroq peak (around 5800 meters) in the winters. It was only after we had proved them that we had climbed Saling Peak (5080 meters) in the winter of the previous year that they allowed us the attempt. In short climbing 4000 meters and above is serious business. At these altitudes physical strength doesn't count for much. Its all about experience, technique and sheer mental resolve. Another thing which makes climbing more difficult than usual in these parts is the sheer gradient. Our Karakorum has the most precipitous mountains in the world. They just shoot straight up. I have a climb planned for Manglik Sar (6050 meters) coming January and even though its one of the easiest six thousanders in Pakistan im still scared as hell. Again id humbly suggest that you reconsider.

Now for my suggestion id advise you something simpler. One thing you can do is pick any major town up north e.g. Skardi, Gilgit, Karimabad, etc. The drive to these places alone will blow your mind away. Ill post this in detail so that everyone gets to know about the trips. This is going to be very long! Sorry :p

1) Skardu:

Firstly the road connecting Skardu with the KKH is breath taking with views of many high peaks along the way. Secondly you can do allot in Skardu. For example you can go see the hundreds of years old Kharphocho Fort (Skardu fort). Its built on the hill just behind Skardu. On one side its gives you the view of the valley and Skardu right beneath you and on the other side you can see the perma white peaks of Siachin. You can also go see the famouse Skardu desert. Its a sand desert (with dunes and everything) in the middle of snow capped peaks. Then there are the famous lakes around Skardu. You can reach Satpara lake in 30-45 min from Skardu. Its a good place for trout fishing. Then theres the upper Kachura lake and the lower Kachura lake (Shangrila lake). You can take a 2-3 hour jeep ride down to Shangrila lake. Then you can also go further north to Shigar village. Shigar village lies on one of the routes to K2. Its a beautiful place and there it too has an old fort (Shigar fort). Then for a little trekking you can go check out Narsok village. Theres a beautiful spring there. I havent seen the place but iv been told about it by the locals.
Next, if you really want some serious fun, get back in your car and start driving further on the Gilgit Skardu road towards Hushe. Its a good days drive, 10-12 hours. You'l pass through Ghanche village, Barrah village, Khaplu and many other places which are a must see. You'l see trinity peak (6700 meters) on your way too. Hushe valley itself is beautiful! Standing in the middle of the village you'l see Laila Peak (6096 meters) right infront of you.

Hushe village:

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Laila Peak:

Laila_Peak.jpg
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You can spend the night in Hushe or come back. In Hushe and in Skardu you can easily hire a local guide to take you on one of the many day treks available there. The guides there, for such treks, will charge from 1000 to 2000 rupees for a day, depending on your bargaining skills. Thus far iv only barely scratched the surface. There are too many beautiful places there to see. In short no matter where you point your nose and start walking/driving you wont be disapointed.
 
Thanks bro... n kindly stop embarassing me by calling me sir...

Hahaha sorry bro :p

2) Karimabad:

This town is a gem. The views you get from your rooms window in this town are phenomenal! You can take a 1 to 1.5 hour jeep ride or just hike to the eagle's nest where they have a hotel and camping grounds. The eagle's nest looks right down upon Karimabad. From here and the town you can see the likes of Rakaposhi (7788 meters), Ultar Sar (7388 meters), Drina (7266 meters), Lady finger(6000 meters) and Spantik (Golden peak- 7027 meters--This peak is considered one of the most beautiful peaks in the world). You can go visit the Baltit Fort too which is a beautiful ancient fort. Further more there are many medium difficulty treks that you can hire from here. For example Rakaposhi base camp, Hoper glacier trek and Rush lake trek. These are all 3 to 4 day treks and climbs. Rush peak attempts are also organized but the difficulty is not easy at all. Also these treks most probably would not be available during the winters. Damn facebook is down otherwise I would've uploaded some of the pics I took on all of these treks and the Rush peak attempt. There are many day treks available here too. The porters will cost you around 1-1.5k/day and the guides will cost you around 2-2.5k/day. There are many more things which you can do here. Ill add them later right now Im too sleepy to type. Below are some of the picks taken from in and around Karimabad and the Eagle's Nest:

Rakaposhi:

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rakaposhi.jpg

Lady Finger:

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Diran:

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Spantik:

spantik.jpg


**Ultar Sar in the next post**
 
Ultar Sar:

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You can see the Baltit Fort below the mountain in the following pics:

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Views from the Baltit Fort:

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ultar.jpg


View of the Hunza valley from the eagle's nest:

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View of the Hunza valley from Karimabad:

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***Ill add more for Karimabad and then add Gilgit tomorrow. Hope you guys found my posts useful***
 
This is beautiful... i saw a prog on PTV where their host climbs spuntik... one day id climb K-2.<< ultimate wish.
 
This is beautiful... i saw a prog on PTV where their host climbs spuntik... one day id climb K-2.<< ultimate wish.

Sir K2 is where world class climbers die left and right. Honestly it scares the cr*p out of me. For now I dream of K2 base camp and just touching the mighty monster on its feet. I wish you the best of luck. Some of my favorite K2 quotes by different climbers:

"From Everest Base Camp, you can walk four hours and you're lounging on grass, drinking beer with trekkers. K2 stands absolutely on its own. The approach is hard. The base camp feels like the moon. The mountain itself looks utterly impregnable, and there's no easy way up the thing. And all this hits you between the eyes when you see it for the first time. It's like that famous Munch painting. You know the one &#8212; The Scream &#8212; Except, of course, you're the one doing the screaming." &#8212; Jim Curran.


"No photograph can do justice to 13,000 feet of vertical relief." &#8212; Jim Wickwire about K2

&#8220;...just the bare bones of a name, all rock and ice and storm and abyss. It makes no attempt to sound human. It is atoms and stars. It has the nakedness of the world before the first man &#8211; or of the cindered planet after the last&#8221;
&#8213; Fosco Maraini

I doubt anyone who knows anything about mountains would be unfamiliar with the name Reinhold Messner. Below is a pic of the front and back covers of his book on K2. The title reads "K2 Mountain of Mountains".

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