Gilgit To Hunza

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