LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: Karakoram Highway
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TWO TO FOUR WEEKS / RAWALPINDI TO KASHGAR
Travel 1300km through spectacular mountain scenery into Central Asia, and allow yourself at least two weeks to savour the highlights and meet the locals.
The high road to China is a road of many moods that can be biked, bused, jeeped or walked. Most people take the ubiquitous minibuses that zoom up and down the highway for ridiculously cheap fares.
It’s a short hop from bustling Rawalpindi to Havelian, the official though nondescript start of the KKH. Continue on to Abbottabad, or Mansehra, gateway to the gorgeous Kaghan Valley. Though the road spectacularly hugs the Indus River gorge, the initial stretch to Gilgit is frequently done without a stop to avoid the sometimes frosty reception of conservative Indus Kohistan. From Gilgit, the valley and the options open up. Detour to Skardu in Baltistan, the base for the Karakoram’s best trekking, or head up the Gilgit River valley to more trekking, and the road to Chitral. After catching a polo match in Gilgit head north to Hunza headquarters at Karimabad, the popular hangout for travellers with trekking, sightseeing and good food.
From Karimabad it’s only a short hop to Gulmit and Passu; these friendly villages, touched by glaciers and surrounded with good trekking, are not to be missed. Organise your cross-border transport at Sost (Afiyatabad) and head through wild Khunjerab National Park to the high point of the journey – Khunjerab Pass . Greet China in earthy Tashkurgan, before staying in a yurt at Kara Kul Lake on the way to Kashgar – home to one of Central Asia’s most colourful bazaars and the famous Sunday Market.
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