Nabeel Amin

The day had finally arrived to go to Khunjerab, the final destination of the trip. Khunjerab meaning Blood Valley in Wakhi is the highest paved international border crossing in the world with an elevation of 1600 feet. Khunjerab Pass connects Pakistan with china and a passenger bus service runs daily from Sost.

As we left from Sost, the weather started to get colder and sudden high steeps made the way to Khunjerab difficult. This was the biggest test from the whole tour so far. Oxygen levels declining and so was the temperature. By the time we reached Khunjerab, the temperature was -7 and travelling on motorbike meant -10. There came a point when even our motorbike started to show signs of high altitude break down. Therefore, we had to stop after every some kilometers to give the bike some rest. The road to Khunjerab from Sost is not paved but construction is underway. Hopefully, the road would be constructed in the next 2 years. But so far small patches of paved road makes some respite for the travel to Khunjerab. On the way, we reached our first check post near Khunjerab National Park. The Park is well known for snow leapords that are found there.

As we reached Khujerab we were greeted by the border guards who were amazed to see us there on motorbike. A friendly chat with them and then the picture session was all the time we had as we had to be back in Sost before it became dark. The weather was not helping either as we were finding difficult to even talk because of sudden decrease in temperature. The guards were very friendly with us and one of them went inside the guard post and brought us delicious pears. They must have figured it out that we would be hungry. Yes, there are no shops or food stops on the way from Sost to Khunjerab and the pears offered to us were very precious and timely.

After saying good bye to the guards we kicked our bike to rush back to Sost. As night was approaching, the temperature level began to decline even further and driving the bike became more difficult. The temperature just numbed my fingers and using the clutch and accelerator proved to be a challenge. Going upwards towards Khunjerab was a challenge for the motorbike and going downwards to Sost was a challenge for the driver. On the way, we saw a post of the Khunjerab National Park. The people there were very friendly and offered us tea. We stopped there for a break and a hot cup of tea. After tea, we started our journey towards Sost and reached PTDC motel by evening, ending a very thrilling and challenging day. Finally, we had conquered Khunjerab on motorbike!

Next destination, Sost!

In order to reach Sost, we had to cross the Atta Abad Lake by boat. Atta Abad Lake was formed 2 years back when a landslide blocked the Hunza lake. We reached Atta Abad and started to negotiate with the boat owners. The price per person is 100 ruppees but the bargain was of the bikes. It started from 500 and came down to 200 per bike. We shifted the bike on to the boat and waited for the boat to leave. The boat takes around 4 hours to cross the Atta Abad lake and reach Hussaini. There used to be the KKH which drowned and now the only method of transport are the boats.  Getting off at Hussaini, we had lunch at one of the make shift hotels where the food was the worst ever. Never eat anything there is my humble advice.

After lunch, we moved on to our destination which was PTDC SOST. This 50 km drive was not at all pleasant with no metal road anywhere in sight, I knew I was heading towards the extreme remote north of Pakistan. We reached PTDC Sost around 4 pm and the manager Sost awaited us. We had already met him in Gilgit PTDC and while he was there he told us that he had been informed by the tourism ministry of our arrival in Sost. He left with us for Hunza and we met him in Hunza PTDC too, but left a day earlier than us for Sost. When we reached Sost, he just knew what we need as a welcome. Hot water to take a shower!

After placing our luggage in our rooms, we took a stroll of the market. Sost is nothing worth mentioning though. Some motels, rest house and a small market, Sost is a resting point for the transporters coming or going to China.

As we were planning for the next day, I got the most disappointing news of the tour. We had been stranded in Sost with no money. An immature thing done by Raza, one of our travel partner with whom we had entrusted with the finances. He brought us all the way to Sost to reveal that he was short on money and now had 2 options. Option 1 was to go to Khunjerab and be back in Sost or go back to Hunza. Either way, the money would not be enough except for the fuel. This put our next day’s schedule on hold and our immediate concern was the money needed to do any of the two options given. Fortunately, there is a bank in Sost whose manager was a very hospitable person. Our friend in Lahore sent us some money to the bank in Sost that would be enough for us to go to Khunjerab and then back to Hunza. The manager of the bank after speaking with the manager of the bank in Lahore about the money he had received gave us the money. Sost branch would receive it after a couple of days. We took the money and headed to Khunjerab, while I made up my mind not to count on Raza for the rest of the tour as he had proven to be incapable for the task. Stranded in Sost with no money would be the last thing imagined while planning for the tour!

“If there is any paradise on earth, this is it, this is it!” Well, these are the words of Akbar when he visited Kashmir and mine when I saw Hunza!

Hunza is a combination of small valleys ending with “Abad” like, NasirAbad, MumtazAbad, HassanAbad, HaiderAbad, AliAbad, SadiqAbad and KarimAbad. The most well built and tourist friendly valley being KarimAbad, where you get all sorts of hotels, motels and rest houses for every budget. There are a good number of restaurants on the KarimAbad bazar offering every kind of food from the commercially known ones to the specially made local recipes. You can get every thing imaginable in KarimAbad, and I do mean everything. From hotels, motels, rest houses, net café, food and beer! Yes, you read it right. Every type of beer from the local to the foreign brands available and displayed openly in almost every store in KarimAbad.

In KarimAbad we met a lot of tourists and this was the only place we had seen any so far. Chinese, Germans, British, New Zealanders and American too. The Hunza area is the most peaceful place in Pakistan, at least this is what I think. The first day in Hunza, we headed to Baltit Fort. This beautiful fort was built some 4 hundred years ago and faces another fort called Altit. This multi-story fort had everything for the “King” of the region from rest house to wheat storage to family quarters to a personal jail. Presently this fort is under the custody of Baltit Heritage Trust after being restored by the Agha Khan Trust for Culture. A very well run fort with a café shop and a guide to give you the complete details of the place, this is certainly a must see when in Hunza.

After visiting Baltit Fort, I had to see Hopar Glacier as my brother had recommended me not to miss it. Hopar Glacier is in Nagar about 40-50 Kilometers from Karimabad. The road to Hopar Glacier is the best ride I had so far and would take it again and again. Zig Zag road and calm locations is just what you would vision when thinking of going to the North of Pakistan and this road gives you exactly that. Although 60% of the road is of mud, but the thrill and enjoyment of the travel leaves you thinking nothing about the road but everything about the place. A true paradise on earth, Nagar is a very clean and well built valley, where I would love to stay if presented with a choice.

When I was in Baltit Fort, I had a chat with the manager in-charge of the antiques displayed inside the fort. He shared a lot of information about the fort and the locality with me. Hunza has its own festivals like Ginnani, a time of the year when wheat is reaped. Bhophao, before the wheat harvesting. Nauroz, the new year of the people which falls on March 21^st. Another festival if the area is “Thumo Shelling”. In this festival, cleaning of the house, carpets and all household equipment is done and special food is cooked to celebrate the event. This festival takes place on December 21^st. During this festival, people of the area buy animals and store their meat till March. 11 July, 23 October and 13 December are also celeberated by the people. These dates relate to Prince Kareem Agha Khan of his “Takht”, birth and visit to Hunza respectively.

Gayailine and Hoilo Garma are the local dishes of Hunza usually cooked during festivals.

Had heard many beautiful things about Hunza and knowing that my next destination was Hunza itself put some extra energy and excitement in me. After breakfast and a few bye’s to the PTDC staff we kicked our bike for the beautiful Hunza. Of all the people we had met in Gilgit, we would enquire about the road conditions to Hunza and almost everyone told us that it is a dangerous track for motorbikes and that we should avoid it. Not giving serious thought on their suggestions my next question would be, which is the best way to reach Hunza? I was told that I should take the Nomal valley if I wish to see the beauty of the area, which I did. As soon as I crossed Nomal, a small wrong turn put us on the road to Naltar. After about a few kilometers my instinct told me we were not going in the right direction, so we asked the first person we met on the road as to where the road was leading us and he cleared my doubt that we were going to Naltar and not Hunza. So, we turned around and went back to Nomal and then took the right turn, initially we had taken the left which took us on the Naltar road.

Nomal is a beautiful valley on the Gilgit-Naltar road. The original road from Gilgit to Hunza is the KKH, but since we wanted to have the maximum of our trip we were advised to take the Gilgit-Naltar road which would also take us on to the KKH near Nomal. This gave us the opportunity to also see the beautiful Nomal and then get on the KKH. But, my advice is that the original KKH road from Gilgit to Hunza is a much better option if you only plan to reach one destination to another. The newly built road is fantastic to travel upon rather than the mud-brick carpeted Nomal road.

On the way to Hunza, there comes a small stop where almost all the transports stop for tea or snacks. The place is near Chalt Nagar having a small bazar and a bus stop for the valley of Chalt. A small break from the drive meant a cup of hot tea. After tea, the ride started again for Hunza. The KKH leading to Hunza is a beautiful road with scenery view all around.

We reached Hunza around 6 pm and since it was already dark we just looked for our hotel. We had been provided PTDC Motel in Aliabad by the Tourism Ministry, Gilgit Baltistan. The hotel manager was waiting for our arrival as he had to leave for a marriage ceremony of his cousin. The manager was a local and lived in AliAbad. As we introduced ourselves, he was quick to hand us over the keys and show us our rooms constantly asking us if there was any other thing he could do to make our stay comfortable. Hot Water was our reply because a hot shower would get us fresh from the long ride. He assured us that it would be in an hour and excused himself to leave for the marriage.

The PTDC motel Hunza is the best I had seen so far. Magnificent building structure and design connecting rooms and beautiful view from the balcony. The rooms are spacious with an equally spacious washroom. The water, well, it’s mixed with mud which was confusing at the start but got used to it. About an hour and a half later, there was hot water and a quick shower refreshed me. After having dinner, bed was the only thing on my mind and a sound sleep in an amazing motel just took away all the tiredness and I awoke fresh and energetic the next morning.

Gilgit – Nomal 28 Km
Nomal – Chalt 26 km
Chalt – Karimabad 53 Km

Gilgit to Hunza 107 km