Top 10 Places to Visit in Hunza Valley

Our dear homeland is blessed with every type of natural beauty either it’s the beautiful Arabian sea or the mesmerizing valleys and mountains. Hunza is a point of attraction for tourists for many years. It is a hub of various tourist points The beautiful meadows, valleys, and mountains of the Himalayas and Karakoram make it the ultimate vacation point. Precipitous valley arranged toward the north of the Hunza river in Gilgit Baltistan is known as Hunza valley. The incredibly famous Hunza valley is a paradise for tourists. Every area has a capital so Karim-abad is the capital of Hunza. Prince Karim agha khan is the profound head of the Shia Ismaili bizarre network and karimabad is named after him. It is encircled by three wonderful peaks. Rakaposhi, Diran, and Ultar. Hunza valley is encircled by a portion of the high peaks that are: Rakaposhi, Hunza peak, Darmyani peak,ghenta sar, ultar sar, Bojahagur Duanasir, and ladyfinger top. Hunza valley is viewed as the exemplification of northern areas in Pakistan. It is one of the principal spots that come to mind of foreign and local people who are hoping to go for a holiday in the subcontinent.

Hunza valley consists of three parts 

• Gojal Valley which is also called the upper Hunza
• Lower Hunza
• Central Hunza

The best time to visit Hunza Valley is from May to October. However like Murree, this place is also getting crowded and the crowd is even denser during June, July, and august because it is the summer vacations in the country.

Top 10 places to visit in Hunza Valley:

All of the places mentioned down are the top focus areas for tourists. Tourists are always wondering about which places in Hunza should be their focus, so to make it easy here is a list of the most beautiful places in Hunza that are a must-visit:

1.Rakaposhi and its View Point
2.Karimabad
3.Altit fort
4. Baltit fort
5.Eagle Nest Hunza
6. Attabad lake Hunza Valley
7. Passu
8.Rush lake
9.Gojal Village
10.Sust Border

Rakaposhi View Point:

Rakaposhi Peak is striking for its outstanding height over nearby territory. On the north, it is 5,900 meters (19,357 ft) in altitude in just 11.2 km (7 mi) level good ways from the Hunza-Nagar River. From the Karakoram Highway on the course through Nagar, Rakaposhi can be seen. A place of interest in the town of Ghulmat (situated in the Nagar Valley) called “Zero Point of Rakaposhi” is the nearest view of the Rakaposhi mountains. The trek of Rakaposhi base camp is situated in an area of Minapin Village in the Nagar Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan. This journey has feasible access from Karakorum Highway (KKH). It is perhaps the most effortless trekking in the Karakorum that suits all degrees of physical wellness and age. It gives all the flavor of strolling, including crossing the ice sheet.

Karimabad:

Karimabad is notable because of the variety of cultures where the rulers in old times felt pleased to rule. The locals of Karimabad Hunza valley have Smiling Faces and welcome the tourists wholeheartedly. In karimabad you will be able to do the shopping and other personal experiences as it has a Bazar too. Also, visit café de Hunza for their famous walnut cake, you would love it. If you are tired and wish to stay, then you can also find several guest houses in karimabad. Visitors love the way of living of Karimabad inhabitants. Vacationers make the most of their time being there, alluding to the beauty of Karim Abad and children enjoy playing different games. Don’t forget to visit the most dangerous bridge known as the Hussaini bridge. It would be an adventurous and thrilling experience of your life. It is about 1 hr drive away from karimabad. Apricots of karimabad are a diet for tourists in summers.

Altit Fort:

The incomparable Altit Fort was constructed by the Mirs (administering group) of Hunza as a showcase of their power to the Mirs of Nagar twin state and has stood tall before the Karakoram since the eleventh century. It is the oldest monument in the whole area. Initially, this fort was built for safeguard purposes but was later used as a residence also for the ruler of the valley. While going into the doors of Altit Fort there is a lovely nursery of Cherries with a plantation of apricots, rich green grass, a walkway which shows how wonderfully planned the fort is. Altit fort has survived several enemy attacks and natural calamities. Nowadays if you visit altit fort then you can enjoy your breakfast in Kha Basi restaurant in the Royal garden of the fort.

Baltit Fort

The Baltit Fort remains on moraines of Ultra glacier in the focal Hunza valley, among the Karakorum ranges, in the Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. If we look back at the history of Baltit fort it was built in the 15^th century by a mir ruler who married a princess from Baltistan. The rulers used to live in the altit fort but after some years the elder son of the king shifted to baltit fort. The Baltit Fort is a wood-and-stone structure with mud mortar. It is a three-story structure, with storage facilities and a few stores in the lower portion on an ice sheet moraine slope with man-made restricted balconies for the old establishments. Baltit Fort was renovated in 1892 by the ruler of that time. The fort has ancient crockery and other household items. The fort is opened throughout the year for tourists. Many traditional events also take place in this fort. This fort is unique because it consists of ancient war tools. Baltit Fort is the ideal example of a safeguard and a beautiful architect. The architect of the baltit fort has a touch of Tibetan architect. As you visit Baltit fort, don’t forget to take a selfie with the Guard Mr. Salahuddin who is famous among visitors for his long mustaches.

Eagle Nest:

It is the highest point from where the whole Hunza can be viewed. Ladyfinger and Rakaposhi peaks can also be seen from Eagle nest. Tourists love to stay in the eagle nest hotel Hunza but the prices are a bit high due to increased demand. During your visit to Hunza, don’t forget to witness the beautiful sunset at the Duiker peak. Situated on the highest peak in Duikar, drive 15 minutes up from Karimabad city, the way to Eagle’s nest is very steep. The best option to reach up there is to go in a 4×4 jeep. As you reach there, decide whether you want to do camping or else you can also check in to the eagle nest inn hotel for the stay. In the early morning, you can enjoy the most beautiful sunrise view.

Attabad Lake:

 Attabad Jheel is a famous tourist attraction in Hunza Valley. However, locals are quite emotional about this lake because a catastrophe transformed Hunza River into a delightful lake, hardly any years in an avalanche two mountains merged and halted the section of Hunza River which later transformed into Hunza Lake offering activities like boating, jet skiing, fishing, and other recreational activities.  Before you start boating, make sure you are wearing a safety jacket because people often get over-excited and forget to take precautionary measures. The length of this lake is about 29.3 Kilometers and begun from a little town known as Garnish. The location of the attabad lake is Attabad, Gojal Hunza Valley, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan. People enjoy the soothing sound of water and spend many hours here. The Pak-China friendship tunnels are also found in Attabad lake.

Sust:

It is a village between Hussain Abad and Jamal abad. It is famous because it is the last town in Pakistan on the Karakoram highway. The distance of sust from khunjerab pass is almost around 56.9 km. While the sust distance from Hunza is 83.5 km. You can find many rest houses there as well. But sust is a fairly cold area of the valley so you would need to carry the necessary luggage to save yourself from cold. Sost has a market where many trade activities happen so you can visit to have a look at it. The vehicles crossing the pak-china border pass through this area. NATCO which connects Islamabad with sost is found there.

Passu Cones Hunza

There are countless spots to meander about the Gilgit Baltistan district however a territory of Passu also called Tupopdan in Upper Hunza has an incredible differentiation and renowned among visitors from everywhere over the world due to its location Karakoram Highway (KKH). Passu cones are a range of pointed peaked mountains. They look even more beautiful in the evening as the golden sun rays hit the rocks and they give a bronze effect. A few of them are visible from the attabad-lake too. If you are a foodie then don’t miss to taste the apricot cake of the Glacier breeze restaurant. It is one of the yummiest apricot cakes you would ever taste. One interesting fact about these cones is that they do not allow snow or rain to stay on them because of their sloppy structure. Every year thousands of tourists visit this place. Passu is about 14 kilometers distant from Gulmit. It is 150km high from Gilgit city. Pasu also has Passu village which is located between Hunza and sost.

The rush lake trek:

Rush lake trek is a stunning green-colored lake from where you having an adequate chance to witness Panoramic sceneries in all the most staggering tops of the area including K2. During this rush peak trek, you will cross-ice sheets, meadows, fields and have a terrific view of the great Karakoram Mountains from Rush Lake.

Gojal Valley

Another place named Gojal Hunza is famous among tourists. People of the gojal village are known for their skills in playing instruments. This valley of Gojal has almost 25 villages. This place has its importance in agriculture as well. This village is resided by Wakhi people. The people of this area are different from other northern area inhabitants in that they give importance to the education of children regardless of gender. The majority of them are educated up to secondary.

Hunza Valley Tour Guide:

When you are in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, you have two choices to reach Hunza valley. The first is to take a flight to Gilgit air-port and afterward make a short 2-3 hour drive to Hunza valley. The subsequent choice is to take a 24-hour transport from Islamabad, seeing the magnificence of Karakoram, Skardu, and Kaghan valley on your way. This option is yet tiring but still adventurous because in this way you will be able to visit different places during traveling. About 50% of people visit Hunza on their own i.e without hiring a tourist company. While the other 50% prefer to go with proper tourism companies.

In my opinion, if you are planning to visit Hunza for the first time, it would be more comfortable for you to go with a tour company as they can guide you in a good way which places to go and which to skip. You would not have to worry about finding a good guest house or conveyance. These tours are already planned. Different day packages are being offered by these companies ranging from 4 days-10 days trip. Well, this all depends on your budget and time.

 If we talk about the things that you will be needing on your tour to Hunza then here are several things that you must carry with you. Trekking shoes; they should be comfortable because you would have to walk and trek a lot, Camera to capture beautiful sceneries, the clothes that should be warm but also carry some breathable shirts with you because during day time it often gets hot when it’s a sunny day, snacks that should be rich in energy as well, a power bank, a bag pack to carry necessary stuff during hiking and all the other things according to your needs.