Most Geologists would agree without question that Pakistan offers the same potential in mountain scenery and trekking as its more famous sibling, Nepal. It boasts the greatest concentration of 8000m+ peaks and magnificent glaciers anywhere in the world. But the major difference is, for political and historical reasons, North Pakistan has thousands of miles of jeepable road, including the Karakorum Highway to China and the equally remarkable Gilgit-Skardu road. Whilst in Nepal one has to trek on foot for weeks to get a glimpse of the really big peaks, while in a jeep through Pakistan it is possible to get right in amongst 20,000 ft peaks without any prior knowledge of the area, and experience or fitness for trekking, in a fraction of the time. Pakistan also has extremely little in terms of tourism – mostly because the average shoe-stringer travels alone or in a couple making it too expensive to hire even a second-rate jeep

Due to the independence of Pakistan in the 1940s and the development of impossible roads through the mountains by the new government, communities with hugely different cultural and ethnic backgrounds were for the first time brought together. The only unifying force in this new community of Afghans, Chinese, Mongols and Tibetans to name but a few, is the interest of the outside. Consequently, a new class of people have developed over two generations whose job it is to interact with the outside world – the most obvious are the jeep drivers. In present day Pakistan, jeep driving has become a well-respected occupation and many people are trying to get in on the act. The original, and highly experienced drivers, however, are still few in number (less than 100 in the whole region), but are well known within this new community, though not immediately to outsiders. As a result they often do not get the respect they deserve and are undercut by less experienced and less safe drivers. By offering the elite drivers a guaranteed income over the tourist season, KJTI is able to exclusively use this group. The drivers themselves prefer to take on a group for a whole month and get to know and earn the respect of their passengers. Perhaps most significantly, by working directly with the drivers, we can put hard currency directly into the local economy and not into the pockets of government officials. Mr. Karim Baig is a typical example of a second-generation driver – In KJTI’98 he was 27 years old and had been driving jeeps for 15 years. Originating from the Hunza Valley, near China, he is 5’2" tall, has olive skin, slit-like eyes and light brown hair. He speaks 7 languages including English, but more importantly, this allows him to communicate in the local language in every region in North Pakistan. He has also been a jeep mechanic since the age of 11, and builds from scratch about a dozen jeeps every year, including his own. He has been working with Westerners since he was 16. His driving ability is of such a high standard that, counterintuitively, one tends to feel safer in the back of his jeep crossing a precipitous gorge at 12,000ft than in the back of a mini in London!

Although the perception of the trip is that it is one of a ‘hazardous and adventurous nature’ (see booking conditions), the skills of our drivers are second-to-none, especially when you consider they have all been driving these same roads full-time for over a decade. But, what about the political situation, kidnapping in Kashmir, rioting in Karachi? Indian Kashmir is very different from that on the Northern Pakistani side. Currently most of the political pressure is on India to release the area around Jammu and Srinigar to independence. Rightly or wrongly, they are unwilling to do this despite the civil actions from the majority Muslim community that live in that area. Moreover, it is more relevant to us that India, it seems, is more interested in keeping what it has than taking the politically unstrategic mountainous areas of North Pakistan. Karachi, however, is in Pakistan and is most definitely as dangerous a city as a place like New York. But, it is also 1500 miles from Gilgit, the centre of the Northern Areas, and in a country where communication and infrastructure are poor, there are absolutely no ramifications on our area of interest. The so-called ‘tribal areas’ of NWFP (Northwest Frontier Province) are also termed ‘unsafe’, but again only in outlying regions. Peshawar, the only place we visit in this area is also its capital and has been politically stable and safe for foreigners since before the British arrived on the subcontinent. Perhaps more importantly, you will always be travelling with local guides and local Pakistani drivers who know from long experience that, like anywhere in the world, in North Pakistan there are places where and where-not to go. 99% of the time, however, these isolated peoples are extremely welcoming and as excited and happy to see you, as you are to see them.

From Heathrow to Heathrow you will need 15, 23 or 37 days. Normally, you will fly the day tour starts and be met at the airport by your guides and taken to your hotel. The tour itself is then 14, 21 or 35 days and covers 2,500 to 4000km. In a typical day you will spend four to seven hours standing or sitting in an open-top jeep, which includes frequent stops for food, photo-ops, goats in the road, etc. Although this appears to be a long time to spend driving around, the actual perceived time in the context of the incomprehensible and ever-changing scenery is very, very much less. Indeed, one of the few complaints about KJTI in previous years is that there were not enough hours per day in a jeep. The planned trip itinerary is fixed for a number of reasons. Firstly, from years of experience it has been found to be the best possible use of the limited time available. Secondly, since three to four people share each jeep and we travel in jeep pairs or triplets, having a fixed route avoids any disagreement. Having said that, the drivers are extremely willing to stop as frequently as required along the route or to drive up shortside routes for better views. At the end of the day, the route is tried and tested, as well as safe. It will not disappoint.

As with other developing countries, KJTI follows the golden backpackers rule: "Eat what, where and when the locals eat." With local drivers, this is a relatively straightforward thing to do, as they already know where the best places are in each town and village. It is often the best time to ‘hang out’ in a given community, and literally get a taste of how things are done. The food is correspondingly varied although fairly simple: in Baltistan, for example, the food has a distinctly Chinese style, whilst in aboriginal Hunza, it is like nowhere else in the world. Overall though, people that do not like Indian spices in their food probably will not eat very much! Eating locally means the food is fresher and does, to a greater extent avoid most travellers’ stomach problems. During the day, or in isolated locations, the drivers will either cook fresh food or provide canned food with biscuits.

KJTI believes that just because you are travelling in a fairly wild and basic place, you should not have to stay in primitive accommodation. Every night, apart from two, we stay in hotel accommodation, which, as a minimum, has running water, and most have an ensuite toilet and hot shower. We also strongly believe that to really enjoy a place you have to live in the middle of it, even if that means making some compromise to how comfortably you spend the night. For example, in the village of Brum, in the Rombir Kalash valley, the people and their unique culture are what we have come to see, so that, although there are more modern hotels outside the valley, we stay in a basic cabin in the middle of the village. Many travellers on previous KJTI trips have said it was the best place they stayed, because they chose to sleep outside on the veranda under the stars. In Karimabad we stay in on a hillside hotel. On Deosai, on the other hand, we stay under canvas at 15,000ft on the edge of a freezing river and cook dinner over an open fire! The accommodation is always as varied as the places and people we visit.

The price of the KJTI Jeep Trek includes everything we could think of: 21 nights shared accommodation, including all food & bottled water, 2 sets of local clothes (shalwaar chemise), jeep/guide/driver hire and any permits. The price of the trip does not include flights and spending money – however, the only expense we envisage you running into is international calls back home and gifts. We are able to keep our prices competitive because we are a small organisation, with more of an active interest in promoting sensitive tourism than unjustified profit, in an area that might well otherwise become just another overrun India or Nepal. KJTI does not itself book flights but can recommend an ATOL agent for highly competitive flight prices.

The climate is not dissimilar from summer in the South of France, though the weather is a lot more changeable. It can get as warm as about 35C, but is generally cool at night. At very high altitudes, (e.g. day 8, 13) it can get very cold and windy at night. Again, the easiest solution that we have found has been to wear what the locals wear – that is ‘shalwaar chemise.’ These outfits are not only cool and comfortable, they make a significant difference to the ease with which the drivers break down the cultural barriers on your behalf. To that end, KJTI provides a couple of shalwaar-chemise, which, with free laundry, have proved to be enough for the duration of the trip.