On the course of his wanderings through more than 80 countries around the globe, Pakistani-German Abrar Hassan has seen many of the world’s most famous tourist sites form the saddle of his BMW touring bike. But he says nothing compares, not even remotely, to the joy of biking Pakistan’s world-famous Karakorum Highway (KKH) between Nagar and Hunza.
“The joy and excitement I felt on the KKH starting from Nagar is hard to describe in words”, says Hassan, an aerospace engineer by profession who is in Pakistan as part of his 21-country biking tour. “I have visited these places [earlier] but on my bike, it feels like it’s a new place because of the 360-degree view”.
The best part about Hunza, however, are its people. “The people of Hunza are one of the most welcoming people I have ever met”, says Hassan. “Not just this time but in the past when I visited the valley, I experienced the same hospitality”.
An avid biker, Hassan is also into trekking and amateur mountain climbing. His highest climb is 6,100 meters. Photography is another passion of Hassan, who says, “I like to travel alone so I can stop wherever I want to along the way and capture beautiful scenes”.
“If you’re determined to achieve what you want, then no power on earth can stop you from it”, says Hassan, who was born in a small village near Nankana Sahib and moved go Germany for his masters after his bachelor’s degree from Islamabad.
The athletic Hassan who has travelled more than 80 countries from his base in Germany started his current tour hoping to reach Pakistan after traversing twenty other countries. However, travel restrictions imposed by various countries because of the Covid-19 global pandemic forced him to change his plans and he took the most direct route to Pakistan, entering the country via Iran.
After spending a couple of days at his hometown of Nankana Sahib, Abrar Hassan took the GT road to Islamabad. A night’s rest later, he took off for Azad Kashmir early in the morning, reaching the scenic Neelum Valley by the evening.
Known for its breathtaking Himalayan scenery, Neelum
Vallley is very close to the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Azad Kashmir from the Indian-occupied Kashmir. Hassan biked his way to the very last village in the valley before the LoC, called Taobat.
Besides Neelum Valley, Hassan had occasion to explore Baboon Valley, Ratti Gali, Arang Kel, and a lake called Chitta Katha Lake in Azad Kashmir. He loved the trekking opportunities offered by some of these places. He also camped on a couple of occasions during his stay in Kashmir.
“Kashmir is truly a nice place and very well suited to adventure tourism with its stunning mountains, lakes, and extremely hardcore off road paths”, he said
After he biked his way to Taobat his next plan was to explore Gilgit Baltistan. He biked towards Naran from Kashmir. From Naran he went towards Babusar Top. On his way, he also stopped at Dudipatsar Lake. From there he stopped at BabusarTop and then he spent his night in Gilgit.
Next morning he travelled to Hunza Valley. Taking the historic Silk Road, he reached the Hunza Valley, where his first stop was the famous Karimabad. Formerly known as Baltit, Karimabad is the capital of Hunza District, and is one of the best tourist sites in Pakistan.
Hassan stopped at Karimabad for a while and then visited the historic Altit and Baltit forts. Both hundreds of years old forts, the forts are in excellent condition thanks to excellent
maintenance.
Hassan then took to the KKH again on his way to Khunjerab Pass up to the Pak-China border checkpoint, the highest-paved international border crossing in the world. He is all praise for the quality of the road through the impossible Karakorum terrain.
Along the way, Hassan had excellent opportunities to indulge his passion for photography. In particular, he took some amazing shots of the famed Passu Cones and the Attabad Lake. He explored small villages, lakes and glaciers as well as visiting places like Nagar, Gulmit, Sust, and the famous Hussaini Bridge.
Hassan is glad to see tourism picking up in these areas but worries about the environmental toll of these activities. “The influx of domestic tourism in the area over the last few years has
taken a toll on the fragile environment of the valley”, he says.
“Treks and villages are littered with plastic which eventually ends up in streams and rivers. The construction of guesthouses has led to deforestation, as has the enhanced logging activity to meet the rising timber demands of the industry.”
