The Hunza Valley: a journey through mountains, rivers and spectacular landscapes.
If there is one popular destination among foreigners and locals in the mountains of **north Pakistan** it is the hunza valley , a region that is only a few 500 kilometers from Islamabad, but it takes two days by car to get there. It takes little imagination to know How can the roads be?
However, the attraction of getting there by land -which there is, although it is hard to believe- is being able to see how life unfolds in the many towns and cities that the road passes through , with people working in the fields without any kind of mechanical help. Seeing plowing with oxen is just one of the many signs that mechanization has not even appeared in this eminently agricultural country.
The shops, in addition, are stationed along the road. They are basically ground floors that open their doors wide in order to expose the merchandise, mainly basic necessities, nothing fancy. And to complete the picture you have to imagine the shopkeeper sitting on the floor with his legs semi-crossed and lying on one of the sides waiting for their customers.
The Hunza Valley is one of the best routes to do by road.
Life comes out to meet the visitor through this traffic artery that, as it heads north, becomes more winding and goes into the majestic mountains offering landscapes that make you raise your eyebrows. In them hardly the hand of man intervened and they often extend much further than the eye can reach.
It is not unusual for a waterfall to cross the road . We are in spring and you can see a man (a woman would be unthinkable) taking advantage of the fresh water from the mountain for his morning toilet or to clean the dust from the road of those trucks, which are quite a festival of colors and that deserve a separate mention, since the decoration of these vehicles is a source of pride for their owners and, in turn, a status symbol within the trucking world. The more baroque, the more power.
But to compensate for the tiring journey, there are unique places due to their geographical location such as stop for tea (the country's national drink) at the conjunction of two tectonic plates to contemplate the confluence of the Karakoram, the Hindukush and the Himalayas, three mythical names that evoke adventure, risk and the illusion of approaching the roof of the world.
Arrive to Hunza valley by road It is almost a feat for those who are used to moving comfortably, but it allows us to understand how the country is subjected to the merciless scourge of nature with natural catastrophes such as floods, landslides and earthquakes. Many choose to travel by plane to the Gilgit Airport, the most important city in the Gilgit region Baltistan to get to this northern area.
Although Gilgit is the regional capital, the point of reference for visitors is Karimabad, a town located at an altitude of 2,000 meters and known for the friendliness of its people, as well as for the longevity of its inhabitants, a myth that science has been responsible for dismantling.
Traveling the road along the Hunza Valley is quite an experience.
However, it seems that healthy living, physical exercise required by the orography, as well as work in the fields, water that comes directly from glaciers and one low-meat diet have led to the population being of interest to scientists for its striking good health, especially elderly people.
And to the kindness of its people, who curiously stand out for their more Caucasian features, is added that it is one of the regions with the lowest illiteracy rates in Pakistan and in which in recent years the job training for women.
This, together with the perception of a less rigidity in women's clothing (many of them do not wear a veil), grants a feeling of greater freedom , even when customs and traditions continue to have a strong weight in social relations as in the rest of the country.
The good vibes that somehow can be felt in this isolated region has also been fostered since the western literature , especially since james hilton was inspired by readings about this valley to place his paradise there, “Shangri La”, in the novel Lost Horizons , which was made into a movie twice.
Lake Attabad, a paradisiacal corner in the middle of a parade of high mountains..
Despite the prohibition of drinking alcohol by religious prescription, in the Hunza valley it is allowed to produce wine as long as it is not for commercial use, thus following a tradition that apparently dates from before the arrival of Islam in the region.
In Karimabad just as it is mandatory to make a stop at the Cafe Hunza to try the honey dipped walnut cake – delicious even if it sounds cloying -, you also have to visit the imposing strong Baltit , the residence of the rulers of the valley until 1945, which dominates the entire city with subtle elegance perched on its highest point. It began to be built in the 13th century and immediately sends the visitor to the Tibetan mountains , since Tibetan artists were commissioned to build it.
Visit the fort, which aspires to enter the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site , means having mesmerizing views over the entire Hunza valley, with its many fruit fields and the mountains behind which other valleys hide.
But without traveling so many kilometers, at the foot of Karimabad, a small surprise awaits the visitor: it is Ganish Kuhn , one of the oldest settlements in the region, with a millennium of life, which was a crossing point in the Silk Road .
Gilgit, one of the most important cities in Gilgit Baltistan.
To walk through this charming town, which according to legend welcomed Marco Polo during his trip to the Far East, you have to pay an entrance fee. A local guide leads the visitor through the narrow and labyrinthine alleys of traditional houses in which some small and impressive mosques stand out for their wooden decoration, where you can also see a Hindu swastika, Islamic geometric drawings, the Buddhist lotus flower or the Chinese symbols of the cloud: in short, a complete synthesis of the cultures that have influenced this unique region.
Also from the Hunza Valley it has become a tradition to go to Lake Attabad , which is actually a natural dam that was formed after the 2010 earthquake and flooded part of the Karakorum Highway, which links Pakistan with eastern China.
Its impressive blue waters, coming from the glaciers, have made it a popular tourist destination, thus making a virtue of necessity, a perfect summary of what the Hunza Valley is.
The blue of the waters of Lake Attabad is capable of hypnotizing anyone.