12 Days & 11 Nights Tour to Northern Pakistan.

<p>Depending upon the flight arrival time at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore we will welcome our distinguished guests and transfer them to hotel. (Normally most of the international flight arrive late night in Pakistan).</p><p>In case if the guests will arrive at Lahore airport late night then after hotel check-in, they will go to the rooms to take rest. </p><p></p><p>In case if the flight will arrive early morning then after hotel check-in, they will be given have breakfast and later we will depart for a short city tour of Lahore, during this tour we will take you to the parts of Lahore which were developed during the British Era. This will cover the Lahore Museum which was founded in 1865 and has many galleries having artifacts of Buddhist, Hindu, Mughal, Islamic, British and others eras. After Lahore Museum we will go through famous and busy Mall Road Lahore, Mall Road is a commercial hub of Lahore which was developed during the British Raj and still have many buildings showing the grandeur of this era. Our next stopover will be Bagh-e-Jinnah formerly known as Lawrence Garden. This 141 Acre Botanical Garden was named after John Lawrence who was a viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869. Later after Pakistan came into being this garden was renamed after the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah and now known as Bagh-e-Jinnah. This garden has a beautiful library and lots of different species of plants. After this we will come back to our hotel to take some further rest. In the evening all group members will go out for Lahore City Night Bus Tour for traditional Food Street. At around 7:00 PM. Food Street is famous for its traditional food & building beautifully renovated. </p><p>After dinner we will be back to hotel at around 10:30 PM. This will be the end of the day 1.</p><p></p>

<p>Breakfast will start at 08:00 AM, after breakfast, group will move out to explore the Lahore of Mughal era & before. History of Lahore, on the banks or river Ravi, dates back thousands of year, when this city was founded by the Raja Lava or Loh who was the son of Hindu god Rama (According to Hindu Mythology), even though this city was ruled by Hindus, Jains, Muslims from Afghanistan and Central Asia and lately by Mughals, Sikhs & Britishers before Pakistan, but the Mughals & Sikhs, have left profound effects on its history, architecture, culture traces of which are still found and preserved here. </p><p>We will take the group to the Greater Iqbal Park from where on colorful Rickshaws we will start taking the tour of Walled City of Lahore and will see all the surviving gates, out of all the 13 gates of Lahore, Shahi Hammam (Royal Bath), Masjid Wazir Khan, Streets of Walled City having the architectural touch of its old Hindu & Sikh inhabitants, but after Pakistan came into being in 1947 this whole area is now inhabited by the Muslims. After this we will go to see the Splendid Mughal monument “Lahore Fort” and “Badshahi Masjid” which were built in 1556 and 1673 and are wonderful piece of Mughal architecture. Lahore Fort is now a UNESCO Heritage site. </p><p>After completing this phase of our city tour, we will move to the Tomb of Emperor Jahangir situated on the other side of river Ravi. Jahangir’s tomb (built in 1637) is a wonderfully preserved Mughal monument tile work and utilization of jade stone is something which makes it unique from the other extemporary buildings of its time.</p><p>From here we will rush towards Wahaga Border to see the colorful flag ceremony, which is basically a British Colonial tradition in all countries which were under British rule, but the animosity between India & Pakistan has given the additional touch to this ceremony and border security forces of both countries are practicing this ceremony daily before dusk time. Parade by the guards on both side and enthusiastically charged public on both sides enchant slogans in favor of their countries make this ceremony as the world’s most colorful flag lowering ceremony. </p><p>After this we will go for dinner at around 8:00 PM we will be back to the hotel at around 09:30 PM.</p><p></p>

<p>After having breakfast at around 08:00 AM, we will check-out from the hotel and move out towards Islamabad at around 09:00 AM, via Motorway (M1). Islamabad is the modern capital of Pakistan which was founded in 1960 by the Field Marshal Ayub Khan. The way to Islamabad is also a very scenic road winds through green fields and Salt Ranges, which gives soothing effects to the travelers. We will make a stopover at Bhera service area for lunch at around 12:00 PM, here our stopover will be 1 hour. After lunch we will resume our journey towards Islamabad.</p><p>Finally, we will reach Islamabad at around 03:00 PM. After hotel check-in and some rest, we will move out for a short city tour of Islamabad at around 05:00 PM. During this short tour we will visit Faisal Mosque which was built in the 1987 is the second largest mosque of Pakistan. After visiting Faisal Mosque, we will go to Saidpur Village, which is a traditionally preserved village within Islamabad city limits. In Saidpur Village we will visit an old beautifully decorated Havali where we can see an abounded Hindu & Sikh Temple along with a Muslim Mosque side by side. There are many high-end restaurants which offer local and international cuisines. Here we will have our dinner at around 08:00 PM. After dinner we will get back to our hotel. This will be the end of 3rd day of our journey.</p><p></p>

<p>This will be the start of our exciting days of our journey towards north of Pakistan. After breakfast at around 07:00 AM we will check-out from the hotel and start moving towards a small village of Kaghan Valley in Himalayan Range, named Batakundi (8607 feet). During our journey we will pass through Abbottabad, Balakot, Kaghan, Naran along the Kunhar River. Whole valley is known as Kaghan Valley. Route is full of beautiful pine trees, glaciers, waterfalls & water streams. After lunch at Balakot, at around 01:00 AM., we will resume our journey towards Batakundi. On the way we will make few stopovers at the scenic spots, and ultimately, we will reach Batakundi at around 06:30 PM. After hotel check-in we will take some rest and gather again for dinner at around 08:00 PM. Here 4th day of our journey will be over.</p>

<p>This will be a long tiring day, in which we will face many geographical and weather variations. Here we will take an early start and check-out from the hotel at around 07:30 AM. Will have breakfast at Bhesar at around 08:00 AM and will resume our journey at around 08:45 AM. Our next sightseeing stopover will be Lulusar lake (11200 feet) which is the basic source of Kunhar River, here our stop will be for 30 minutes and later we will move towards Babusar Top (13700 feet). Babusar Top is a mountain pass that connects Kaghan Valley with Gilgit Baltistan. Its offers beautiful views of long valleys winding streams and snow-covered peaks. From here we will start descending towards Chilas and within next one and a half hour drive we will reach Chilas which is in contrary to Babusar is totally opposite. Here the mountains will be rocky barren and hot, this terrain will continue for the next three hours, but here we will be able to see some great views like the view of Nangaparbat mountain (26660 feet) which the 9th highest mountain of the world, and the point where world three great mountain ranges named Himalaya, Hindukush & Karakorum meets. So, this will keep your interest alive. Once we will enter into Nagar Valley whole scenery and weather will be changed and become pleasant. Here we will visit another point where we will see the world (25551 feet) 27th highest mountain of the world named Rakaposhi. From here we will move to our final destination of the days Minapin. Minapin (7999 feet) is located on the bank of two streams one is flowing from Rakaposhi and other one is flowing from Diran Peak both streams are merging at this point and making this a beautiful place to stay. After hotel check-in at around 06:00 PM we will have a time to take rest or to enjoy our remaining time on the banks of stream or garden.</p><p>Dinner will be served at around 08:00 PM and after dinner our 5th day journey will come to an end.</p><p></p>

<p>This will be an exciting day because today we will see many beautiful snowy peaks, lakes and will go to the highest boarder in the world that is Khunjerab Pass (16000 feet).</p><p>After having breakfast at around 08:00 AM we will check-out from the hotel at 09:00 AM and move towards Khunjerab Pass which connects Pakistan from China. On the way we will make stopover at Pasu Cones. Pasu Cones is a unique formation of mountains which are piercing through sky like big needles. From Pasu Cones we will resume our journey towards Khunjerab Pass and will reach there at around 01:30 PM. Khunjerab Pass will be the highest point of our here we can see glaciers and big yaks grazing on the meadows. Whole area is surrounded by the big snowy mountains & cold winds. Our stopover at Khunjerab Pass will be 30 minutes. At 02:00 PM will start descending back and will make an hour stopover at Sust for Lunch at around 03:00 PM. From Sust we will go to the final destination of day 6 and will go to Borith Lake where we will reach at around 06:00 PM. After hotel check-in we will have time to take rest or to explore salt water of Borith Lake (8500 feet).</p><p>We will have dinner at around 08:00 PM, after dinner 6th day of our journey will come to an end.</p><p></p>

<p>This will be a relax day for travelling, therefore after breakfast at 8:00 AM we will have some further time to explore Borith Lake till 10:30 AM. At around 11:00 AM we will check-out from the hotel and will start our journey towards Hunza. On the way we will make a stopover at turquoise blue Attabad Lake which was formed in 2010 as a result of a massive landslide. This place is now a famous picnic point for the tourists where they can do Jet Skiing & boating, so being tourists we will also do boating here. From here we will move to Hunza which is known as the “Heaven on the Earth”. Hunza formerly a princely state till 1974 after which it joined Pakistan federation. Hunza is rich in culture, traditions and nature. Literacy rate of Hunza is 95% which is the highest literacy rate in Pakistan. </p><p>We will reach Hunza at around 01:00 PM, and after hotel check-in and lunch we will go to visit centuries old forts of Hunza named “Altit Fort” and “Baltit Fort”. Both forts were constructed on elevated ridges and offer beautiful views of whole Hunza Valley and snowy peaks of Rakaposhi, Diran Sar, Ultar, and Lady Finger. After visiting both forts, we will have a time for the shopping of traditional Hunza handicrafts. In the evening we will go to “Eagles Nest” which is considered to be the highest view point of Hunza from here we will be able to experience beautiful sunset. From Eagles Nest we will come back to hotel at around 07:30 PM. After dinner at around 08:00 PM 7th day of our journey will come to an end.</p><p></p>

<p>This will be another relax day where we will not have to travel much and will enjoy nature in the nearby areas. Our day will begin after having breakfast at around 08:00 AM. After breakfast we will move to Hopar Valley at around 09:00 AM. Hopar Valley is almost one and a half hours drive from Hunza. Hopar is a lush green valley with big glaciers around and offer amazing views and soothing effects to its visitors.</p><p>We will spend almost 4 hours here and will have our lunch. After lunch we will move back to Hunza at around 03:00 PM and will reach Hunza at around 04:30 PM.</p><p>After reaching Hunza we will have free time to take rest or to roam around.</p><p>Dinner will be served at around 08:00 PM. After dinner 8th day of our journey will come to an end.</p><p></p>

<p>This will be another beautiful and bit adventurous day when we will be going to Naltar, which is a skiing resort during winters.</p><p>After having breakfast at around 08:00 AM, we will check out from the at around 09:00 AM we will depart towards Naltar. Journey to Naltar will be in two phases. In the phase one we will reach Nomal in our van and lease out van there. In the second phase we will get onto the jeeps to go to Naltar. Road to Naltar is a jeepable rough road which will take us there after one hour, journey. We will reach Naltar at around 11:30 AM. After hotel check-in we will have some time for rest and lunch. After lunch we will move towards Naltar Lakes. Jeep trek towards Naltar Lakes is bumpy but the whole trek is through a beautiful jungle full of pine trees, there are three beautiful lakes in Naltar and each lake quite distinct in colors, one is totally green and other two are blue & turquoise. Lakes are known as Bashkiri I, Bashkari II & Bashkiri III and are located at an altitude of 10395 feet. After visiting these lakes, we will be back to our hotel in Naltar at around 06:30 PM. After reaching hotel we will have some free time for rest.</p><p>At around 08:30 PM we will start BBQ & Bon-Fire and will share our experiences about this journey. After BBQ & Bon-Fire 9th day of our journey will come to an end.</p><p></p>

<p>This will actually be the start of the day of our return journey.</p><p>After having breakfast at 08:00 AM we will check-out from the hotel and leave Naltar at 09:00 AM and will reach Nomal at around 10:00 AM. From Nomal we will get onto our van and resume our journey towards Batakundi. On the way we again stop at Lulusar lake for lunch at around 03:00 PM. After lunch we will again start our journey towards Batakundi. Ultimately, we will reach Batakundi at around 05:30 PM. After hotel check-in we will have some free time for rest or to explore the areas around Batakundi.</p><p>Dinner will be served at around 08:00 PM. After dinner 10th day of our journey will come to an end.</p><p></p>

<p>After having breakfast at around 08:00 AM we will check-out from the hotel at 09:00 AM and will move towards Islamabad. On the way we will make stopover at Naran to de-tour to legendry Saif-ul-Malook Lake on local jeeps. </p><p>Saif-ul-Malook Lake is an alpine glacier lake located at an altitude of 10577 feet. There is a romantic myth associated with this lake about the love story of a prince Saif-ul-Malook saw a fairy Badri-ul-Jamal, in his dream and fell in love with her. He discussed this with his father who told him that being a human he can’t marry a fairy, but to follow his dream he left his home in search of his dream. After several year of his travelling he reached Naran where he meet a saint who asked him to meditate for 40 days. After meditation he came to know that the fairy of his dream was living on a lake behind the mountains of Naran. There he had to fight with a Gin (Giant) to liberate her and ultimately, he achieved his dream here. </p><p>Anyways time has changed now there is no fairy this beautiful lake is now occupied by the tourists who come here and praise the beauty of the lake. After visiting Lake Saif-ul-Malook we will come back to Naran and after having our lunch at Naran we will resume our journey. Finally, we will reach Islamabad at around 08:00 PM. After hotel check-in we will have our dinner at around 08:30 PM. This will be the end of our 11th days of our journey.</p><p></p>

<p>As this will be the final day, therefore total program will be based on the flight departure timings, but for those who will have late departure flight timing we will have another city tour of Islamabad, in which we will take our guests to Shakar Paryan, Pakistan Monument, Sadhu ka Bagh & finally dinner at Monal.</p><p>All guests will be dropped at airport depending upon the flight timings.</p><p></p>