Complete Guide to the Nangma Valley Trek, Pakistan

Few places have left me in awe as much as Nangma Valley has. While Nangma Valley — well, Pakistan in general — isn’t a mainstream destination, it is one that absolutely deserves to be on any hiker or adventure traveler’s radar. Nangma Valley is often lazily referred to as the Yosemite of Pakistan. Sure, it’s got some similarities, but considering that our campsite in Nangma Valley sat about as high as Yosemite’s tallest peak, it’s a pretty unfair comparison, and it isn’t even close. The Karakoram mountains are in a league of their own, and Nangma Valley is an excellent introduction to this mountain range’s rugged and untouched beauty.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful place for the relative difficulty of the trek. Here is everything you need to know before taking on Pakistan’s Nangma Valley Trek, a destination that skyrocketed to among my favorite hiking areas in the world.

Table of Contents

This post contains affiliate links. That means that I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of these links.

Where is Nangma Valley?

Nangma Valley is located in the Ghanche district of Gilgit-Baltistan, about a 5-hour drive from the bustling trekker’s hub of Skardu. It is part of the Central Karakoram National Park, and one of the more accessible treks to do in the region. The gateway to Nangma Valley is the village of Khanday, or Kanday, or one of the many other spelling variations you’ll find in the area. While Pakistan is starting to gain a little traction with international tourism, this region remains more low-key and lesser-visited than the hubs of Skardu and the Hunza Valley.

How To Get To Nangma Valley

Nangma Valley is no easy feat to get to, and that’s not even including the hiking. Your first step would be to make it to Skardu, the largest city in the Baltistan region. It has a small but bustling airport with multiple daily flights from both Islamabad and Lahore. The flight is about 45 minutes long, and likely the most scenic you will ever take in your life. Tickets usually hover between 20-30,000 Pakistani rupees if booked at least a few days in advance. Flights are very sensitive to weather and can be prone to cancellation. AirSial has been the most reliable airline for me, followed by Pakistan International Airlines. AirBlue is a last resort.

Alternatively, buses from Islamabad go to Skardu and even all the way to Khaplu. The journey is long and grueling, especially if you get carsick easily. The drivers handle those winding mountain roads with sheer drops as if they were playing Mario Kart. Shared cars are more expensive — between 12-15k for a seat — but aren’t much better. No matter how you tackle it, the journey by road is a doozy. It is a beautiful journey, though, and for about 5,000 rupees, you definitely get your money’s worth for the 20-hour ride.

Once you arrive in Skardu, take a shared minibus to Khaplu. This should cost less than 1,000 rupees for the 3-hour ride. A private car will run you about 12,000 to 15,000 rupees. Our hotel in Khaplu managed to find us two seats on a car already bound for Khaplu. We paid 1,300 rupees each, which was ideal since it did door-to-door pickup and drop off. Skardu taxis were quoting us more than that just to get to the minibus station.

From Khaplu, the journey to Nangma Valley is not yet done. The cheapest way to reach Kanday would be to hop on the government jeep that travels between Khaplu and Hushe. However, this fills up quickly, and since it is a lifeline for the residents of the remote villages along the route, we didn’t want to take up two seats for selfish money-saving reasons. Instead, we shelled out the 12,000 rupees for the jeep to Khanday village.

Oh, and before you go…

It’s always a good idea to have travel insurance handy. My go-to is SafetyWing, with plans catering to adventurous backpackers and long-term digital nomads alike.

Accidents happen, and unplanned circumstances are almost inevitable when traveling. Maybe something can ruin your trip, but don’t let it ruin your life. From travel delays to scooter crashes, SafetyWing’s Essential Plan covers travel and medical emergencies, with add-on options for adventure sports and electronics theft.

Their plans start at just $2 a day — backpackers, rejoice — and Pakistan is among the 170+ countries that SafetyWing covers.

Organizing the Nangma Valley Trek

Booking a Nangma Valley tour is easy. It just depends on how much you want to pay. In Skardu, we were quoted around 80,000 rupees per person, just shy of $300 each for a 4-day trip, one of which was a driving day. Having done plenty of multi-day treks across Pakistan before, this price seemed absurd. Skardu is by far the most money-hungry place I’ve been to in Pakistan, so I knew there was no point wasting my time here any longer. The closer you get to the source, the more affordable the prices, and the more money that actually goes to the locals rather than the fat pockets of a travel agent. Tip the guides and porters half the difference, and bam, everyone’s happy.

The most affordable way to do the Nangma Valley trek is to make your own way to Khanday village and arrange for guides and porters there. We left Skardu for Khaplu, and the manager of Alpine Resort in Khaplu, Faiz, helped organize everything for us. Well, help is putting it mildly. We got back to the hotel around 9 PM and in the span of 10 minutes, he made a few calls and confirmed that everything was sorted out for a 6 AM departure the next morning. Truly, anything is possible in Pakistan.

serena khaplu palace fort pakistan

Had we pushed our luck even further by going all the way to Khande, we probably could have haggled a cheaper rate, but we were already thrilled with the price quoted to us in Khaplu. Instead of 160,000 rupees, Faiz secured us a trip for 65,000 PKR, plus the 24,000 rupees for the roundtrip transportation to and from Kanday village.

Total Cost Breakdown of the Nangma Valley Trek

Let’s put it in an easy to follow format.

  • Guide Fees: 5,000 PKR per day
  • Porter Fee: 12,000 PKR + 1,600 per additional day
  • Entrance/Community Fees: 1,500 PKR for foreigner, 1,000 for local
  • Sleeping Bag Rental: 1,000 PKR per bag
  • Tent Rental: 1,000-2,000 PKR per day
  • Food: Highly variable, between 2,000-5,000 per day
  • Transportation: 12-15k each way

Those were the prices given to us by Faiz, who I trust deeply as one of the most honest people I’ve ever met.

Doing the math, that works out to be around 55-60,000 PKR, but of course, everyone will want their cut, so don’t expect to get it at that base price. Faiz was initially quoted 70,000 for the two of us, a price we were already thrilled with. However, he found them charging 15,000 for the food alone to be unreasonable and haggled it down to 65,000. Again, considering it would have been 160,000 for the two of us had we booked it in Skardu, we leaped at this price immediately. He even offered us his tent to further save us some money, but it was late and we would have needed to go to the bazaar to pick up a tarp since it wasn’t waterproof.

Shout out to Faiz. Definitely stay at Alpine Resort when you find yourself in Khaplu. Tell him Eli and Trula said hi!

Nangma Valley: Day-by-Day Itinerary

Now, let’s dive into the actual trek.

Nangma Valley Trek Day One: Khaplu to Khanday, Khanday to Nangma

We departed from Khaplu at around 6 AM, with small breakfasts to go, plus a giant bag of dried apricots and assorted nuts given to us by Faiz. All I could think about was how it would have been a $50 bag of trail mix at a Whole Foods or Erewhon, and up in this part of Pakistan, we were just casually given them as afterthoughts several times a week. Our guide in Khaplu, Gulam, even joined us for the drive in case anything got lost in translation once we arrived. Pakistani hospitality is on another level, I’m telling you.

The drive was breathtaking, taking you through several villages in various valleys, all while winding alongside the river and inching closer and closer to Masherbrum, the 22nd tallest peak in the world. After about two hours, we reached Khanday village and hung out at Nangma Resort while we waited for our guide and porter. They brought us tea while we munched on our eggs and paratha. At about 9 AM, our team was complete. My girlfriend and I had to sign a sheet of paper confirming that we were offered a police escort. Nangma Valley is safe, but it was probably a formality to take liability away from the village were something to happen to us.

Starting the Nangma Valley Hike

  • Starting Elevation: 2750 meters

For the first 20 minutes or so, we backtracked through the village, hiked down to a bridge, and from there, we were officially underway. The first hour or so alternated between flat trail and short stretches of steep inclines. It took us mostly through farms. Right off the bat, the scenery is dramatic as you are flanked by towering stone cliffs. We passed a lot of livestock along this stretch, and our guide pointed out a snow leopard footprint, likely on the hunt the night prior.

Our first break was beneath the shade of a large tree. This appeared to be a campsite called Jorti, but not a particularly popular one since it was only about an hour and a half in. We pushed forward, with the next stretch being the steepest section of the entire trek. Surprisingly, I didn’t struggle much during this part, keeping my head down until our guide celebrated that it would be flat from now on. My legs reacted accordingly and relaxed, only to find out that flat does not mean the same in Pakistan as it does everywhere else. While it was not as steep, it was a long, uphill grind, especially as I was getting hungry and starting to fade a bit.

A little after noon, we finally reached Mingulo Broq, the most popular campsite for trekkers to camp at on the first day. This was a huge meadow filled with trees, stone huts, little streams, flower bushes, and tons of cows. The mountain scenery here was already breathtaking. We plopped down for lunch, quickly scarfing down a bowl of noodles and a mango. I chugged some electrolytes as I was already beginning to cramp up. The altitude here was 3,500 meters, which is definitely high enough to start slowing you down.

In hindsight, we probably should have stopped here for the night since the next two days turned out to be a walk in the park after today. However, we packed up at about 1 PM and continued forward to the Nangma Valley campsite. From Mingulo Broq, it was about two hours away according to our guide. Now refueled, I breezed through the first half and we were making great time.

That all fell apart once the landscapes transformed and the wow factor started to kick in. I was stopping for photos and videos nearly every minute as the glaciers began to reveal themselves. The sharp spires in the distance grew closer and the river expanded into a fearsome flood. Pink and purple flowers brightened up the intimidating landscapes. Cow territory was a thing of the past and we had upgraded to yak-cow hybrid territory. The promises of yaks pushed me through the final stretch, and that promise was indeed fulfilled as dozens of yaks welcomed us to Nangma Valley.

Reaching Nangma Valley Campsite

  • Elevation: 3950 meters

I may be a yapper, but I truly don’t have the words for this place. It was the most beautiful place I have ever set up a tent, or at least up there with some of my nights along Peru’s Cordillera Huayhuash. Literally everywhere you looked, there was something incredibly to gawk at. It felt like we were at the center of an amphitheater surrounded by some of the most rugged mountains in the world. And sure, looking at the cliff straight ahead, one could see the semblance with Yosemite. But that’s one cliff. And it’s not even close to the tallest thing in view. Imagine Yosemite, add 3,000 meters of elevation, toss in massive glaciers, jagged spires, snow leopards, yaks, and a literal top-100 tallest mountain in the world, and maybe we can have a conversation. Like I said, no contest.

Camp was at about 3,950 meters above sea level. There was a river running alongside the camp, and smaller streams with clearer spring water to refill from. There was a rickety wooden bridge to cross the river if you need to use (nature’s) toilets. At camp, there are a few stone huts and enclosures that can be used for cooking or even shelter. It’s hard to rely on them, especially during the busy season when they’ll quickly get occupied. Our guide managed to secure one, which they used as their kitchen and sleeping quarters.

We lounged around camp for the rest of the day before the evening rain set in, and we fell asleep to the sound of raindrops on the canvas of our tent.

Nangma Valley Trek Day Two: Hike to K6 Viewpoint

It rained all throughout the night, but just after breakfast, there was an opening and we made a break for it. The timing honestly could not have worked out any better. Today was only about a three-hour hike roundtrip, contrary to the five hours that our guide estimated. It definitely helped not needing to carry our large packs with us today.

The trail out of camp started off flat for about twenty minutes before the climb began. As we went deeper into the valley, the once-distant glacier started to steal the show. We hiked on the ridge alongside this absolute monster. Coupled with the magnificent spires flanking it, it made for a simply ethereal atmosphere.

After an hour of gentle ups and downs, we got our first glimpse of K6. Little did I know that it was just a tiny, tiny fraction of the actual mountain. K6 is massive and impressively girthy, standing tall at 7,282 meters above sea level, and seemingly as wide. It just keeps going, and the closer we got, the more imposing it became. The picture below doesn’t even show the left side which was shrouded in clouds. I still have no idea how massive this mountain actually is. I hadn’t bothered to look up pictures of K6, and with the poor weather, I tried to keep expectations low. The views we were given were much more than I could have ever asked for. I pulled out my camera too late to capture the clear, blue skies over K6, but even obscured by the clouds, you can get a taste of how awe-inspiring this mountain is.

The elevation at the viewpoint was 4,300 meters. It took less than two hours of hiking to reach. It would have been amazing to stay here all day or even hike further up, but the weather started to take a turn for the worse. Our guide motioned for us to head back. We arrived back at camp just after noon, right as it started raining… and never really finished.

Cabin fever was at an all-time high today. Aside from lunch and dinner, we spent the entire rest of the day huddled in the tent seeking shelter from the rain, and at times, hail. A handful of downloaded For All Mankind episodes helped keep us busy, but the star of the show was The Lion Women of Tehran. I didn’t put much thought when I downloaded the audiobook off Spotify, but we got halfway through the book in one go, so I’d say it proved to be a winner.

Very little else happened. It was a bit of a bummer, because we chose to reach Nangma Valley in one go so we could have as much free time at camp as possible. What I had in mind was wandering around and soaking in the views. Not hiding inside a tent all day, but hey, it is what it is. We were already beyond blessed to have gotten clear views of K6, and the fact that the rain waited for us to reach camp each day was undeniably a gift.

No complaints, here. On to day three.

Nangma Valley Trek Day Three: Hike Back to Kanday

Miracle of miracles. The incessant rain that had ceaselessly assaulted our tent all night came to a pause just minutes after we woke up. I unzipped my tent. Another layer of fresh snow had blanketed the mountains, but more importantly, there was a tiny pocket of clear sky. The sun shone through this opening, which continued to grow larger and larger as the minutes passed.

Our guide quickly whipped up breakfast as we packed up our tents. We were torn. On one hand, it would have been incredible to linger around camp and finally enjoy good weather and sunshine. On the other, we became well aware of how quickly weather could change up here. Despite our tent doing its best, water had inevitably seeped into the corners of the tent and a sizable chunk of our gear was cold and wet.

I soaked in some final views of our epic Nangma Valley campsite and at 7 AM, began the journey back down to Kanday. The sun persisted, and it was amazing to get blue skies over some of the formerly moody landscapes that we breezed past on the rainy first day. Mingulo Broq, in particular, would have been infinitely more tempting in good weather. The stone huts, grazing cows, bright pink flower bushes, and lush green meadows felt like a paradise. Nangma Valley, as stunning as it was, was a harsher, more unforgiving setting. It felt like the Mordor to Mingulo Broq’s Shire.

We reached Kanday in a little over two hours, only to find out that the road leading out of the valley back to Khaplu had been wiped out in three spots due to the rain. The only sensible thing was to go deeper into the valley, right? Altaf, our guide, was a multi-talented fella, and we hopped in his jeep for lunch at Hushe Valley to wait things out. This was the last village in the valley, and it truly gave edge-of-the-earth vibes. This would be where expeditioners and mountaineers departed from for weeks or months in the Karakoram, or their first glimpse of civilization upon returning. It had a surreal vibe to it, and we humbly sipped on our chais while sharing the room with a group of trekkers wrapping up their K2 Base Camp trek.

By the early afternoon, the roads had been cleared up enough for a solution to form. Altaf would take us about a quarter of the way, then we would cross the landslide on foot, and meet the driver from Khaplu on the other side. But like I said, Altaf is a very talented guide, and the completely devastated road that I would have been terrified to cross on foot, he drove across it like it was nothing. What a legend.

He was an incredible guide, very gentle, patient, and knowledgeable. I don’t have his contact info, but he is the father of the manager at Nangma Resort Kanday, so send them a message on Instagram if you’d like to get in touch.

Final Verdict: Is the Nangma Valley Trek Worth It?

And that is where our Nangma Valley adventure ends. Without a doubt. While growing more and more popular among domestic tourists, Nangma Valley still remains largely unknown outside of Pakistan. For a relatively easy and short trek, Nangma Valley rewards you with some unbelievable scenery. For effort-to-payoff ratio, I would say Nangma Valley is way up there. It has it all, from towering snow-capped peaks, massive glaciers, stunning meadows and valleys, to its iconic sheer cliffs and sharp spires piercing the clouds.

I’m not going to blabber on much longer. Yes, the Nangma Valley trek is beyond worth it. I guarantee it will be one of the most breathtaking places you’ll ever visit in your life.

If this post helped you out, show some love and support for the blog and help keep my adventures going by buying me a beer! My adventures are entirely self-funded, so any show of support is greatly appreciated, and allows me to keep writing helpful travel guides and creating travel content to help you all travel the world on a budget.

More on Pakistan

My Trusted Travel Resources

SafetyWing is my go-to travel medical insurance provider, keeping me covered for just a few dollars a day in over 180 countries around the world. They have various plans that are excellent fits for adventurous backpackers, long-term digital nomads, and everyone in between.

Hostelworld is the only booking site backpackers should be using. They have the best inventory of hostels around the world, an easy to use interface, plus a revolutionary group chat feature that connects you with other travelers in your hostel and current city.

Having data from the moment you land to the moment you leave is a game-changer. Saily eSIM offers budget-friendly data plans to help you stay connected throughout your travels. Click here to get 10% off your eSIM.

Looking to travel for free? Worldpackers has aggregated thousands of unique volunteer opportunities from all over the world. From working with wildlife in Africa to creating content while living on the Mediterranean, Worldpackers has much, much more than just the usual hostel volunteering gigs.

Click here to get $10 off your Worldpackers membership.

While I prefer booking tours in person, GetYourGuide is an excellent tool for researching unique activities that you might not otherwise know about. Have found plenty of incredible gems on GetYourGuide and has made my life easier when I’m too lazy to head out to find a tour agency in person.