Skardu & Deosai Trekking Expedition

Trip Overview

A 9 days / 8 nights by road journey through Skardu — 9 thoughtfully planned days of sightseeing, comfortable luxury — shangrila resort skardu · himmel skardu · selected 5★ / premium property. premium on request: north fields resorts · serena shigar fort stays and full board.

Day-by-Day Itinerary

9 days, 8 nights · tap any day to read it

1. 1Day 1:Islamabad → Chilas

   A long first day north on the Karakoram Highway, roughly ten hours from Islamabad through Mansehra and Besham. The road picks up the Indus in the afternoon and the country turns dry and vertical well before Chilas. We start early so the last hour is still in daylight. Chilas is a staging stop rather than a destination — the expedition itself begins tomorrow.

2. 2Day 2:Chilas → Skardu

   From Chilas the road follows the Indus to Raikot Bridge, where Nanga Parbat stands clear of the valley on a good morning, then reaches Jaglot and turns east into the Indus gorge. The Skardu Road runs about 167 kilometres from that junction and has been widened and paved since 2023, so what slows you now is the bends rather than the surface. Into Skardu by evening.

3. 3Day 3:Acclimatisation in Skardu

   A rest day, and a deliberate one. Deosai sits above four thousand metres and walking onto it straight off the valley floor is how people end up unwell two days later. Today is gentle walking around town, a full check of your kit with the guide, and an early night. Permits are arranged before you arrive. We would rather spend a day here than lose the trek.

4. 4Day 4:Skardu → Deosai, Camp 1

   Out of Skardu after breakfast and up past Sadpara, where the road climbs steadily and the valley closes behind you until the plateau opens flat in every direction. Camp One goes up in the afternoon, leaving the rest of the day to settle and let the altitude do its work before dark. Tents, mats and the kitchen are carried for you. Subject to weather and road conditions on the day.

5. 5Day 5:Trek to Sheosar Lake

   Walked, not driven. The route crosses open ground towards Sheosar Lake, with marmots whistling off the slopes and, through July and August, wildflowers over country that was under snow a few weeks earlier. Brown bears live on Deosai and are seen occasionally at either end of the day, though no operator can promise you one. We camp within sight of the water.

6. 6Day 6:Bara Pani

   Bara Pani means big water, and it is exactly that — a wide shallow river spread across the plateau, crossed rather than bridged. The walk in follows it for much of the way and the camp sits close enough to hear it through the night. This is the quietest night of the trip: there is no settlement anywhere on Deosai and almost no light after dark.

7. 7Day 7:Return to Skardu

   We strike camp and come down off the plateau, dropping back past Sadpara into Skardu and a proper bed for the first time in three nights. The descent takes most of the day. There is time in the late afternoon to walk into the bazaar for apricots and dried fruit, and the evening is free — the road south starts early tomorrow.

8. 8Day 8:Skardu → Naran

   South down the Indus, then up and over Babusar Top into the Kaghan valley, passing Lulusar Lake on the way down to Naran. Babusar is a summer road that closes with the first real snow, so this leg is subject to the season, weather and road conditions on the day. When it is shut we return the way we came, through Chilas, and tell you before you travel.

9. 9Day 9:Naran → Islamabad

   The last leg runs down the Kunhar river through the Kaghan valley to Balakot, then joins the Hazara Motorway for the final stretch — roughly 270 kilometres and six to eight hours, longer if the Naran end is busy. We drop you at your hotel or the airport. If you are connecting to an international flight, give the day more room than you think it needs.

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