Kashgar marks the end of the 1,300km Karakoram Highway and the end of our journey. We’ve completed one of the classic travel journeys, following in the footsteps of the many traders, warriors, pilgrims and poets that have gone before us on this remote branch of the ancient Silk Road, through the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and … More 1,300kms later – The end of the Karakoram Highway
Crossing the Pakistan/China border is a long and interesting process. We arrived at the bus ticket office 9am sharp as instructed. After a 10 minute wait one of the bus guys walked us down to Pakistan’s customs/immigration. There we waited outside a small hall for 20 minutes before being invited in to take a seat. … More Crossing the world’s highest border – to China we go
Sost is Pakistan’s border town, even though it is 84km from the actual border. We knew it is only a small place so hadn’t rushed up there, even thought we know morning is when the only public transport there is would have gone. Instead of plan was stay in Passu for the morning and then … More Hitchhiking to Sost
Passu is a small isolated village, with just one shop, one cafe and a few hotels. It is dominated by the very photogenic 6100m high jagged peaks of the Cathedral Range. The locals speak Wakhi, the same as in the Tajikistan and Afghanistan Wakhan Valley, which we figured must literally be not far over the … More Losing ourselves in Passu
The Hunza Valley is said to be the inspiration behind the mythical valley of Shangri-La in James Hilton’s 1933 novel ‘Lost Horizon.’ It’s really not hard to see why. Rehman is infamous in the Pakistan traveller network for hosting foreigners at his family’s home in Ghulkin, a small village in the Hunza Valley just 15 … More Shangri-La? Exploring glaciers in Ghulkin
We were woken at 5am by water gushing out of the tap. All the hotels had water issues and amid many apologies our bathroom bucket had been being filled for us with big bottles of water. The water in Karimabad comes from the glaciers so what comes out of the taps is black/grey and we … More Peaceful Gulmit
We’d planned to be up early to catch a minibus to Karimabad, being a 3 hour journey we really didn’t fancy suffering it in the heat. It was another hot night, we’d tried to keep our room as cool as we could by using our sarongs as curtains during the day, that helped but the … More Mountains and Forts – Karimabad
The journey from Rama Lake back to Gilgit can best be described as stinking hot. We suffered badly for the lack of A/C. The scenery was stunning, again following a rough road that used to be an ancient trading route, next to the Indus River. It travels through a big gorge until eventually opening up … More Back to Gilgit
We arrived in Astore, a Himalayan village perched on the mountainside, to find access to our guesthouse blocked by a polo match. It was on the edge of the field, on the other side. We were stoked, polo is the best audience participation sport there is and we’ve only seen a game once before in … More Hanging in the Himalayas – Astore and Rama Lake
The Deosai Plains are a National Park established to protect the Himalayan Brown Bear. The second highest plateau in the world, it is only open in the summer, linking Skardu and Astore for a few months a year via a rough 4WD track. Covering 3000 sq kmit is vast and is carefully managed by Park … More The 2nd highest plateau in the world – Deosai National Park
Marie & Emma's Travel Journal 