Skardu: A Week at the Roof of Pakistan

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Skardu nearly didn’t happen for us this season. The forecast for our departure week was rain on five of seven days, and the road past Jaglot had a partial block from the previous week. Eleven of our twelve guests said they’d still come. We went. The forecast was wrong. This is how that week unfolded.

Getting there is half the experience

You have two ways into Skardu: fly from Islamabad (45 minutes, weather-dependent, often cancelled) or drive (24+ hours from Islamabad, brutal but spectacular). We do both depending on the group. This tour was a drive. The new Skardu road through the Indus gorge is properly finished now, and it cuts hours off what it used to be. The last 80 km along the river is the kind of road you remember years later.

Shangrila and Lower Kachura

Most groups do Shangrila as a half-day. We stretched it to a full day — a slow morning at Upper Kachura Lake (also called Shangrila Lake), then a hike to Lower Kachura with packed lunch. Upper Kachura has the famous photo — the airplane-restaurant on the lake, an old Dakota that’s been there since the 1950s. It’s touristy. It’s also delightful.

If you only have one full day in Skardu, give it to Lower Kachura. The Upper lake is for photos. The Lower lake is for sitting still for an hour and not saying anything.

The Cold Desert at Katpana

Katpana Desert is something most first-timers don’t expect: sand dunes at 2,200 m altitude with snow-capped mountains on the horizon. We took the group at golden hour, around 6 p.m. in late May. Two guests had brought drones. The footage they got at Katpana is on our Instagram now. If you’re flying a drone here, register it properly — this is sensitive territory and authorities check.

Sheosar Lake and Deosai (the gamble)

Deosai is open roughly July to September. We were there in May, so we did Sheosar instead — the drive up to it from Astak side. Five hours each way. Worth it. The lake at 4,142 m is bigger than you imagine from the photos. We saw two Himalayan brown bears at a distance, which is rare. Our guide Riaz almost cried; he’s been guiding Deosai for fifteen years and had never seen one until that day.

What guests said in the WhatsApp group afterwards

I keep these unedited because they’re more useful than anything I could write:

• “The hotel in Skardu town was simpler than the Hunza one but the food was better.” — Mahnoor, Karachi
• “I wish someone had told me how cold mornings get even in May.” — Hamza, Lahore
• “The drone shots from Katpana made my entire year.” — Saad, Islamabad

Honest costs (May 2026)

Twelve guests, seven days, double-occupancy, hotels at Shangrila Resort and one decent property in Skardu town, all meals, two 4x4s and one Hiace, all entries: PKR 92,000 per person. The 4x4s are not optional for Sheosar — do not let anyone tell you a Hiace can make that drive.

Would I run this exact tour again

Yes — with one change. I’d add an extra day before Sheosar so people aren’t doing the high-altitude drive on a tired body. We pushed it and two guests had mild altitude headaches. That was avoidable.