HINDUKUSH

It connects North West Frontier Province to Northern Areas (Gilgit). After departure from Islamabad by minibus or jeeps we experience the wild and remote areas of  NWFP, We visit Takht-e-Bai before crossing the Malakand Pass into the tribal district of Swat, and then crossing the magnificent Lowari Pass (3118 m) into the ancient kingdom of Chitral. Due to heavy snow fall it remains completely closed during winter (from November to 31st May). During winter Chitral remains closed from every side except by air, that also dependable on weather. The most interesting part of a visit to Chitral area is an excursion to the Kafir Kalash Valleys. These valleys are inhabited by the "unbelievers" related to the Kafirs of Afghanistan, who were forcibly converted to Islam just before turn of the century. The Kalash still cling to a mix of animism, ancestor and fire worship. Chitral is the main town of Hindukush Range, dominated by Trich Mir, the highest peak in the Hindukush range (7708 m). Every trek / expedition / jeep safaris either ends or starts from here. There are many passes between Chitral and Gilgit. A jeep able road connects Chitral to Gilgit through Shandur Pass (3734 m), Shandur Pass is one of them. It is a venue for the famous annual Polo tournaments between Chitral and Gilgit polo teams, which are held each year in the first or second week of July. It is the highest Polo ground in the world. There are 5 famous Passes which open to different valleys.

1. Thui-Ann Pass
2. Shah Jinali Pass
3. Darkot Pass
4. Broghil Pass
5. Chilinji Pass

HINDUKUSH TREK - ITINERARY

Total Period Involved - 26 Days

Trek days  ----  11
Tour days  ----  15
Total days ----  26

This is a combined program (Trek + Tour). By trekking it covers the remotest area of Northern Areas near Afghan Border, by tour the famous and old cities of Pakistan (Peshawar and Lahore). Thus there is a saving of time and money as well.

TREK & TOUR - ITINERARY

TIRICH MIR BASE CAMP

A winding jeep track takes to you Uthul from where the exciting trek begins. In a total of 8 days itinerary, trek over the Zani Pass to Shagram, down a steep path to Tirich River and on to Atrak. Camp at Jhungal before the Atrak Glacier with spring water flowing by. Enjoy views of Tirich Mir (7783 m) from Shogor before retracing your path.

ITINERARY
Day 1 - CHITRAL/UTHUL Pick up and jeep drive to Uthul. A prominent village at about 3,000 meters and the last village below the pass. The irrigated land ends immediately above Uthul, where the jeep trek becomes very steep, zigzagging up across the bare hillside for a further 3 km to the top. If climbing this on foot, it is a very hot two and half hours in full sun from Uthul to the top. Meals & overnight in the Camp.

Day 2 - UTHUL/SHAGRAM Trek over Zani Pass (3,886 m). After calling a brief halt to admire the view, descend steeply down towards Tirich Valley. The descent leads directly to Shagram 2,900 m.The village home to the high altitude porters on many of the expeditions up Tirich, Istor-o-Nal and Noshaq. Meals & overnight in the Camp.

Day 3 - SHAGRAM/ATRAK This day trek to Atrak (Jhungal) This is a short stage, useful for recovering from the considerable effort of the previous day. The route offers broad panoramas over the eastern slope of the Tirich massif. Continue along the valley, among fields and villages, until the valley branches up to Atrak (3400 m), the best permanent settlement in the Valley. Meals & overnight in the Camp.

Day 4 - ATRAK/SHAGAR This day is longer than the previous day's walk. This one takes you to the edge of the Tirich Glacier. There is a magnificent view of Tirich Mir up the Lower Tirich Glacier. The trail climbs up through increasingly barren terrain, offering increasingly fascinating views of the peaks; it then rounds the edge of the glacier. Finally, you reach grassy and sandy highland plain of Shogor-Barenis 4,000 m, an excellent place to pitch camp, with dry - masonry walls and little squares built by the porters of the expeditions up Tirich. Meals & overnight in the Camp.

Day 5 - SHAGOR Day at leisure to explore the area. Meals & overnight in the Camp.

Day 6 - SHAGOR/ATRAK Trek back to Atrak (Jhungal). The return back down towards the Valley of Atrak. The route is the same as on the way up. Meals & overnight in the Camp.

Day 7 - ATRAK/SHAGRAM Trek back to Shagrom.The reappearance of cultivated fields, apricot trees and houses is always cause for a sense of comfort, after the long days spent crossing the glacier. Meals & overnight in the Camp.

Day 8 - SHAGRAM/CHITRAL Trek back to Uthul and drive to Chitral.

CHITRAL VALLEY

Chitral has for almost all its history been isolated by passes high enough to be closed by snow for most of the year.  It is now a region of the North West Frontier Province - a name which has been retained since Partition in 1947.  Just two roads connect Chitral with the rest of Pakistan, the more important goes over the Lowari Pass (3,208m/10,528ft), closed by snow from late November until May, while the lengthy route from Gilgit on a rough jeep track over the Shandur Pass (3,734m/12,251ft) is passable for an even shorter period.   The Hindukush range is dominated by Tirich Mir (7,787m/25,548ft) and Istora Nal (7,327m/24,038ft) and marks the north-west roof of South Asia and the watershed between the valleys draining the Oxus and the Indus Basins. South and East, the Hindu Raj mountains separate Chitral from Gilgit, Swat and Dir.  Before the building of the road from Peshawar to Chitral by the British in 1895, troops leaving Islamabad for Chitral had to travel either via Srinagar and Gilgit, a grueling 1,000 km journey over 5 passes, or via Abottabad, Chilas and Gilgit (800 km).  Historically the Chitral Valley was one of the principal arteries of the Silk Road, across the Broghil Pass to Yarkand and Kashgar, but was later replaced by the more southern routes along the Indus and through Kashmir and Ladakh due to persistent banditry and feuding in the region.

The Chitrali people, who call their land, Kho, are not Pathan and their language, Khowar, although it belongs to the Dardic group, has strong connections with the languages of the Pamir and Wakhan regions to the north and with Iran.  In addition there are two minorities.  The Kafir Kalash, who number about 3,000, inhabit the valleys of Birir, Bumburet and Raumbur, just south of Chitral.  The Wakhi, a nomadic group occupy the Pamir (literally meaning upland grazing zone) and the neighboring Wakhan Corridor, a thin wedge of Afghan territory separating the Soviet Union and Pakistan.  The ruling clan, the Adamzada, trace their lineage back to Tamer lane, and are known to have ruled from the 1600s.

Some trekking is now allowed and official permission to take groups to the Base Camp of Tirich Mir was only granted for the first time in 1991.  This will be our sixth foray into the region and our other treks came back full of enthusiastic descriptions of a much un-spoilt area.  The people that inhabit the valley are a strange mixture of different races - some claim ancestry to Alexander the Great, 327BC, others to Genghis Khan, and at one time the area was invaded by the Chinese.

Our trek has the exciting objective of visiting the Base Camp of the highest mountain of the Hindukush, Tirich Mir, 7,787m/25,548ft, but besides this we will visit the Kalash Valleys and spend some time in Chitral itself.

The nine days of trekking are set at an easy, leisurely pace to allow plenty of time for visiting villages en-route and for interaction with the local people.

DAY BY DAY - ITINERARY

THE PASSES OF CHITRAL (21 Days)

Chitral forms Pakistan's norht-western border with Afghanistan, and is home to the precipitous (very steep) mountains of the Hindukush. This range is different from the Himalaya and Karakorum and since there are no 8000m peaks here, it is not as well known. However, Tirich Mir at 7708m and its accompanying peaks command respect. Alexander the great troops had to battle through the snows on their passage from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Additionally, a route of the silk road wound through the Boroghil Pass in Upper Chitral. Presently Chitralis are mostly Muslims, but in the south of Chitral there are three valleys inhabited by the Kafir Kalash. From the starting point of Chitral we drive to Sholkuch and walking through the Yarkhun valley we will get to the Boroghil Pass. From Boroghil Pass we walk over the Darkot Pass to enter the Yasin valley and then over the Ishkoman Pass to Ishkoman. The Darkot Pass is very steep on the south side so is best to approach from the north.

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NALTAR - ISHKOMAN TREK

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DAINTER / BALTAR BAR TREK  (16 Days)

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KALASH TOUR (05 Days)

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A SHORT STAY IN THE HINDUKUSH (14 Days)

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