Pony Trek on the Gujar Trails
Ride the summer trails of the Gujar nomads through the high lakes and meadows of the Kaghan valley, then on to Fairy Meadows.
On the trails of the Gujars
The Kaghan valley is well known, but most visitors stay near the road. This trip takes you into areas seldom visited by outsiders, where the only people you meet are the Gujars — nomadic sheep and goat herders who use these valleys as summer pastures and sell their animals and woollen handicrafts in the cities.
You follow their trails through lush meadows, over passes no higher than 4,100 m, and camp beside clear, snow-fed lakes. In July and August the valleys are full of wild flowers, and the streams and lakes teem with brown and rainbow trout.
Ponies carry all the equipment and luggage, and our cooks prepare every meal. You sleep in comfortable two-person tents, with kitchen, mess and toilet tents.
Babusar Pass & Fairy Meadows
After the trek you drive over the 4,137 m Babusar Pass and down to Chilas on the Indus, with its rock carvings from the 4th to 6th centuries AD.
Then it is up to the green pastures of Fairy Meadows, at the foot of the north face of Nanga Parbat (8,125 m), for a day hike to the base camp beneath the biggest mountain face in the world.
Day-by-day itinerary
- Day 1
Islamabad
Arrive and transfer to the hotel. Afternoon visit to the old bazaars of Rawalpindi, Faisal Mosque and Daman-e-Koh.
- Day 2
To Naran
Via the Taxila Museum, Sirkap, the Dharmarajika Stupa and Jaulian monastery, then through Balakot and Kaghan along the Kunhar river.
- Days 3 – 5
Dudipatsar, Lulusar & Besal
By jeep to Lalazar, then on ponies to Dudipatsar Lake. On through flowered meadows past Gujar summer settlements to Lulusar Lake and Besal.
- Day 6
Babusar Pass to Chilas
By jeep over the Babusar Pass (4,137 m), with the rock carvings at Thalpan in the afternoon.
- Days 7 – 9
Fairy Meadows
Jeep to Tato and a three-hour walk through pine forest to the log huts of Fairy Meadows. A day to Nanga Parbat Base Camp, and a free day to explore.
- Days 10 – 11
Back to Islamabad
Down to Raikot Bridge and through Indus Kohistan to Besham, then via Battagram, Mansehra and its rock inscriptions to Islamabad.
- Day 12
Departure
Transfer for your onward journey.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Shogran, Kaghan valley — Almazi at en.wikipedia, Public domain
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