Back ater an 11-year hiatus, the
direct British Airways light to
Islamabad — plus a new tourist
e-visa system — is making entry
to Pakistan simpler and faster.
Independent travel is possible,
but it’s by no means easy. Most
visa applications require a Letter
of Invitation (LOI), so it’s far easier
to book with a specialist tour
operator, such as Wild Frontiers.
The vast vistas and clean air
of the north is the best place
to start. It’s a wrinkled blanket
of valleys peopled by rural
communities that can be shy, but
eager to welcome travellers again.
Rumble over the 12,250t-high
Shandur Pass. Closed by snow for
six months of the year, in summer,
the pink, lower-studded plateauQ // Pakistan has been
on my radar since
British Airways
started lying there
late last year, but I’m
not sure where to go
or what to see. Any
suggestions?
is home to the world’s highest polo
ield, which featured in the BBC
series Himalaya with Michael Palin.
Spend time with the Kalash
people on your journey. Said to
be the descendants of Alexander
the Great, they’re famed for their
colourful embroidered dresses
and headdresses, as well as for
their pagan ceremonies.
Then follow the roads east to
Skardu, a pretty area, snuggled
away in the far northeast of
Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan
region. A stay at the timber and
mud-brick Khaplu Palace, the
inely restored timber and mud-
brick residence of the Raja of
Khaplu, is a lingering highlight.
wildfrontierstravel.com
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ABOVE FROM LEFT:
Lower Kachura Lake,
Skardu Valley, Pakistan;
interrailing178 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel