Chapter III · Regions

Destinations

Onecountry,
manycountries.

We work across all of Pakistan but only in the corners we know properly. These are the sixteen regions that show up in most of our trips, from the brick streets of Mohenjo-daro to the throne room of K2. The food, the language, and the light all change at the border of each one.

01Gilgit-Baltistan

Best · April to June, September to October

Hunza

Apricot orchards beneath seven-thousand-metre walls.

A valley of stone fortresses and poplar light, threaded between Rakaposhi and the Hispar Muztagh.

02Baltistan

Best · May to October

Skardu

Cold deserts and turquoise rivers at the foot of K2.

The threshold to the great Karakoram, a high, dry country of dune, river, and impossible scale.

03Punjab

Best · October to March

Lahore

Mughal red sandstone, courtyard suppers, qawwali after dark.

The cultural heart of the subcontinent, Sufi shrines, Mughal courtyards, and a kitchen tradition that runs deep.

04Gilgit-Baltistan

Best · July to August

Deosai

The Land of Giants, a high plateau above the clouds.

Four thousand metres of wildflower meadow, brown bear, and a horizon that doesn't end.

05Chitral

Best · May to October (festivals: Chilam Joshi in May)

Kalash Valleys

A pre-Islamic culture surviving in three narrow valleys.

Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir, the last three valleys of the Kalash, with their wooden temples and seasonal festivals.

06Balochistan

Best · November to February

Makran Coast

Sandstone cliffs, hammerhead rocks, and the Arabian Sea.

Pakistan's almost-empty coast, a geology of wind-carved sphinxes, fishing dhows, and warm Arabian water.

07Gilgit-Baltistan

Best · May to October

Fairy Meadows

Alpine pasture in the shadow of Nanga Parbat.

A green ledge at 3,300 metres facing the Rupal face of the world's ninth-highest mountain.

08Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Best · April to October

Swat & Kalam

Pine-forested river valleys once called the Switzerland of the East.

Conifer slopes, trout rivers and the layered Buddhist past of ancient Uddiyana.

09Baltistan

Best · April to October

Khaplu & Shigar

Restored Balti palaces above orchards of apricot and walnut.

Two side valleys of the Indus where the Yabgo dynasty's white forts have been brought back to life as guest residences.

10Karakoram

Best · Late June to August

Concordia & K2

The throne room of the mountain gods.

A two-week trek up the Baltoro glacier to the amphitheatre where four eight-thousanders meet.

11Gilgit-Baltistan

Best · May to October (pass open)

Khunjerab & the KKH

The highest paved border crossing in the world.

Eight hundred kilometres of the Karakoram Highway, from the Indus gorge to the Chinese frontier at 4,693 metres.

12Upper Hunza

Best · June to September

Shimshal

Pakistan's village of mountaineers, at the end of the road.

A Wakhi settlement above 3,000 metres that has produced more high-altitude climbers than any other place in the country.

13Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Best · Mid-May to October

Naran & Kaghan

Glacial lakes and pine ridges three hours off the motorway.

The easiest mountain valley to reach from Islamabad, and home to the fairy-tale lake of Saif-ul-Malook.

14Sindh

Best · November to February

Mohenjo-daro

Five thousand years of the Indus, in fired brick.

The best-preserved city of the Bronze-Age Indus Valley civilisation, on the plains north of Larkana.

15Gilgit-Baltistan

Best · May to early November (peak: October)

Phander & Ghizer

Turquoise river bends and golden poplar in autumn.

The quiet western valleys of Gilgit, where the Ghizer river runs the colour of glass through long avenues of poplar.

16Gilgit-Baltistan

Best · May to October (skiing: January to February)

Naltar Valley

Three coloured lakes inside a pine forest above Gilgit.

A short jeep ride from Gilgit reveals a forest valley with a string of impossibly coloured glacial lakes.

Combine any of them

Most trips pair two or three regions. We'll suggest a route.

Plan a trip

Onecountry,manycountries.