9-Day Nature Tour of Eastern Pakistan with Hunza and Karakorum Highway

• Arrive at Islamabad International Airport and transfer to a comfortable, centrally located hotel. The remainder of the day is free for you to relax and recover from your long flight to Pakistan.

• Take a tour of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, if you wish, and explore Rawalpindi's bustling bazaars.

• Visit Pakistan's monuments, including the Lok Virsa Museum, to learn about Pakistani cultures.

• Explore Damane Koh, a beautiful picnic point popular with Pakistani holidaymakers, where you can enjoy panoramic views of the capital city.

• See the Faisal Mosque and official government buildings such as Parliament House, the Prime Minister's House, the Supreme Court, and other prominent business towers. Admire modern Muslim architecture, then drive along Murree Road, one of the busiest roads in Rawalpindi.

• Enjoy a welcome dinner, where you will have the opportunity to meet your guide and the other group members.

Overnight stay at the hotel.

• Travel on the Grand Trunk Road and join the Karakorum Highway at Hasan Abdal, passing fruit groves of lychee, orange, and tobacco, as well as small crop fields.

• Continue to Abbottabad, a garrison city and hill station known as a summer escape from the heat. The winding route climbs to a high plain and then descends to follow the Indus River, surrounded by mountains and the foothills of the Himalayas.

• Pass through frontier-like towns such as Besham and Dassu before reaching Chilas, the gateway to Gilgit-Baltistan.

• Drive to Gilgit and stop at ancient rock carvings near the meeting point of the world's three great mountain ranges - the Karakorum stretching to China, the Himalaya crossing India and Nepal, and the Hindu Kush extending through Afghanistan and Central Asia.

• Visit the Kargah Buddha and have lunch in Gilgit's main bazaar.

• Then travel along the Ghizer-Gilgit River to Gakuch to explore the Ghizar Valley and Upper Gakuch, stopping in some of the six valleys filled with colourful fruit tree blossoms. Peach, apricot, and cherry trees make the mountains appear dappled in pink and white.

• Drive to Gupis, where you can take scenic photographs of Khalti Lake, then continue to Upper Gupis for views of the older, softer Hindu Kush mountain ranges and beautiful panoramas across the entire colourful valley. Step away from the usual tourist trail and take in the breathtaking scenery.

• Drive back to Gilgit and rejoin the Karakorum Highway. Enjoy local stops for delicacies and handicrafts before pausing at the collision point of the continental plates.

• Reach the Rakaposhi Viewpoint for views of Rakaposhi Peak (7,788 m), described here as the longest mountain in the world, and admire the Karakorum range.

• Visit the historic Altit Fort and continue to your hotel for the night, where you will once again be treated to excellent views over the Hunza Valley and the surrounding mountain peaks.

• Wake up to a beautiful sunrise over Diran Peak and see Golden Peak, Rakaposhi, Ultar 1, Ultar 2, the Hunza Valley, and Nagar.

• Drive through tall fields dotted with fruit trees being prepared for spring planting, then cross the long tunnels to Attabad Lake.

• Enjoy a boat tour on the lake, which was formed when a landslide blocked the Indus River and submerged a village and farmlands.

• Stop at the Hussaini suspension bridge before continuing to Borit Lake for lunch beneath the looming Shispar Peak.

• Look down onto the white crevasses of the Passu glaciers. Pass by the Ghulkin Glacier and admire the spectacular cathedral peaks above the Hunza River, along with the beautifully rounded river rocks.

• Travel back along the Hunza River and up to Hopper Valley. Walk on its Black Glacier before exploring Hopper Village, then return to the hotel for views of Lady Finger and Ultar 1 and 2.

• Visit the main Hunza Bazaar for dried fruits, oils, and handicrafts before visiting Baltit Fort. Guests may return at their leisure.

• Drive from Hunza to Gilgit and onward to Besham via the Karakorum Highway, taking in the spectacular mountain scenery and views over the Indus Valley.

• Stop to see ancient rock carvings along the way and make the most of natural viewpoints and waterfalls.

• Descend through the greener Himalayan foothills and stop at the World Heritage site of the Taxila Museum.

• Visit the Shah Faisal Mosque and other sights in Islamabad. Enjoy dinner.

• Transfer to the airport with many good memories of colourful culture and high mountains.