There is a hollow thwack as tennis ball meets cricket bat and it flies into a grassy opening beyond our brightly domed tents. A surreal scene unfolds, porters and trekkers scrambling to retrieve the ball in our camp sandwiched between towers of soaring rock.
Having flown to Skardu in the Gilgit-Baltistan region in the north-east of Pakistan, we headed for the village of Kanday. At 3,000 metres above sea level, this was to be the launchpad for adventures in the Nangma Valley, often referred to as the “Yosemite of Pakistan” – though without the crowds.
Our trek began over fast-flowing snow-melt, around Ice Age boulders and through electric-green fields of young wheat and potatoes lined with poplars. Leaving the terraces, the trail wound us through the mouth of the valley, a steep V where the exposed rock seems to swallow us whole.
Cricket bat stowed and enveloped in darkness under a navy sky twinkling with stars, we are cosy in the orange canvas mess tent, enjoying a dinner of noodle soup, dahl and fresh bread while discussing the day’s 6.5km trek.
Over herbal tea, attention turns to our beatific chief guide Muneer Alam, for his nightly briefing: next day we are in for a 3.5km route with a 400-metre ascent and, for the eager, there is an option to carry on to Amin Brakk Base Camp and back, a loop of 8km and a further 500 metres up.
The evening draws to a close with singing and dancing led by our porters around a crackling fire of cow dung – wood is too precious to burn here.
I am new to high-altitude trekking and the porter situation unsettles me; seeing men seemingly skipping past, laden with numerous bags, folding tables and tents. However, Umer Latif, the driving force behind Intrepid Travel’s new Karakoram Mountains trekking tour, explains that, unlike in some climbing destinations, they are not being exploited. “Working here, porters can get jobs in their own valley and it’s relatively easy: luggage is carried [here] for four or five hours a day; on K2 [the world’s second-highest peak] it’s nine or 10 hours for the same pay.”
While Nepal attracts around two million trekkers each year, fewer than 20,000 people come to Pakistan for adventure tourism. When you consider that it has three of the world’s great mountain ranges – Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush – including the second-highest mountain, K2, and five of the 14 “eight-thousanders” (peaks over 8,000 metres), it begs the question, why?
A soup of misperceptions, safety concerns, negative media coverage and no active tourism authority tends to leave Pakistan off the table for many travellers.
However, that could change. Visa fees have just been scrapped for arrivals from 126 countries, including the UK. Pakistan saw a 115 per cent increase in foreign tourism last year – easier visa applications could help attract more visitors.
Indeed, the longer I am here, the more alluring the country becomes; everyone I meet is warm, the history fascinating and the landscapes outrageous.
Morning arrives early as we collectively stir at 5am, a chill in the air as the low sun remains obscured from the valley. Having hoovered hearty breakfasts of porridge, omelette, peanut butter-slathered toast and coffee, we stride across the obligingly flat grassy plain that delivers us to the next incline.
The path twists through shrubs, rocky but still supporting greenery, and propels us deeper into the valley. I develop a rhythmic pace, chatting with my companions, one foot grinding into the ribbon of dusty track after another.
It is a steady climb and after three hours we open on to a plateau and grasp the drama embracing us. As a novice mountain trekker, I expect to be blown away, but to see others who have tackled Everest Base Camp and Kilimanjaro quite so speechless tells me everything I need to know.
Australian Mark Daffey, a seasoned traveller and trekker, exclaims: “It’s unreal; usually the mountains are in front of you like a wall but here, they’re all around us.” He’s right; we are specks cocooned at the foot of these toothy snow-dusted giants, some 6,000 metres high, the path we’ve traversed our only way out.
The welcome sight of our camp lies ahead, pops of colour from the tents contrasting with the icy river, scrubby land, tumbling glaciers and bare rock faces in the cul-de-sac of Nangma Valley’s end.
No one is more passionate about the potential lying among Pakistan’s peaks than Umer. Opening up these valleys to adventurous international travellers presents a big opportunity – but he is cautious: “We have to learn from the West what not to do. Landscape sustainability is easy; it is community sustainability that’s hard. The villages we work with must make money, but the biggest challenge is not to get greedy.”
The next morning, we gear up to leave the grip of the valley that at first felt alien but is now strangely familiar. Cattle weave among our tents, munching on the thin grass under a big blue sky, and a sense of calm floods my mind. Free from phone signal and daily stresses, a bit of me simply wants to stay.
Within six hours, we descend back into Kanday, full of appreciation for the people and place we’ve come to know. I look affectionately down the valley as we depart, the memory of constellations framed by spiky peaks one that will linger long in my mind and that any adventure seeker should experience in this beautiful country for themselves.
How to get there
The writer travelled on Intrepid Travel’s 10-day Trek Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountains trip from £1,782 per person including internal flights, accommodation, meals, tips and guides. The trip runs monthly from spring to autumn, with a 4 out of 5 physical rating, intrepidtravel.com
More information
The Foreign Office advises against travel to several regions in Pakistan. For up-to-date information see gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/pakistan
For visas, visit visa.nadra.gov.pk/visa-prior-to-arrival-tourist
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