Check out our travel vlog where we explored Soq Valley. It’s on YouTube.
Ok, here we are. A few blog posts back, I mentioned that we were about to head to the most beautiful place you had ever heard of? Well, here we are! It’s called Soq Valley Skardu, have you heard of it?
To be fair, we never did either. That is genuine. That is part of the reason why it ranked so high on our top ten locations to visit whilst travelling to Pakistan.
I’m sure you know all about our hectic day, but the new driver we fortunately located when our initial pre-booked one let us down and said he would take us to three places on our first day. Shangri-La Lake, Upper Kachura Lake and this beautiful place; Soq Valley. We had never heard of Soq Valley Skardu; therefore, we had minimum expectations. I mean, here we are, in Skardu, surrounded by beautiful mountains; we even managed to drink some glacier water as well as take in some gorgeous views on a random bridge; how much better could it get?
Well, it got better.
We had left Shangri-La Lake behind, and I thought we were on the way to Upper Kachura Lake. As you can tell, even in the travel vlog, we were somewhat confused as we believed we were in Upper Kachura Lake, but we weren’t. We are at the most beautiful place no one has ever heard of; Soq Valley Skardu, Pakistan.
Upon entry to Soq Valley, we were taken aback by the picturesque landscape, an oft occurrence on our trip to Pakistan, but here, at this moment. This was our first real glimpse of the beauty of Pakistan. As we explored the area, we gathered a couple of camping chairs, set them up to view the fast-flowing river sandwiched by two giant mountains, and ordered some chai for 30-PKR and some chips for 200 PKR. Not a bad deal, especially when you have a view like this.
I’ve written about 20 blog posts covering our backpacking Pakistan trip and I consistently find myself saying that same thing repeatedly. Pakistan is beautiful. I strongly recommend you travel to Pakistan. Yes, the cities can be pretty chaotic (and we’ll cover them soon), but the north, but the north. The north of Pakistan is something special, and I’m not only referring to Hunza, which is widely known and regarded as one of the most beautiful places on this planet. I am talking about Skardu and the surrounding areas; in fact, here’s a quick little video showcasing the beauty of Skardu and what you can expect to see there. Here, we also cover recommendations on what we regard as the top ten locations to visit whilst in Skardu, Pakistan.
We have visited upwards of 30 different locations, and we haven’t even hit ten days in Pakistan; that’s how much there is to see in Pakistan. This blog post here will cover the best of Skardu, Pakistan tourism and it doesn’t even include the magical Astore, home to the wonderful Rama Meadows and Rama Lake. A few hours drive west of Skardu that we visited via Deosai Plains—currently editing that footage, so you should see it released on our travel YouTube channel soon!
I’m about to tell you Pakistan is beautiful again but can you really blame me because Pakistan is home to some gorgeous Landscapes not found anywhere else on Earth!
Then we have Fairy Meadows, which, to be fair, is very well known. It is a mission to get to, but it is very worth it, so stay tuned for that.
As one would expect, Pakistan is relatively new to foreign tourism. Hunza has a firm grip on tourism, as does Islamabad, predominantly due to its foreign population as Islamabad houses the foreign embassy staff. On the other hand, Skardu is lesser-known and not regularly visited by foreign tourists. However, tourism is coming to the area; just over a couple of weeks ago, in Mid May 2022, the first International; flight from Germany landed at Skardu International airport, and it didn’t go through Islamabad. That’s right, the flight took off from Germany and landed at Skardu International Airport. A moment of celebration for Pakistan tourism.
Let’s get back to Soq Valley Skardu; it’s barely our second day in Pakistan and our first in Skardu, so if you’re thinking about visiting but not sure, then please watch this video here. It’s a quick highlight reel of our Skardu trip, which should hopefully give you a feel about what there is to see and do if you decide to travel to Skardu in Pakistan. It’s also our most-viewed YouTube video at over 33,000 views! Natalie’s very happy!
The flag-waving on that small platform suspended above a fast-flowing river with that glorious mountain range situated to both our right and left always brings a smile to my face. As Natalie says in the travel vlog,’ It’s so beautiful, and it looks just like Patagonia’ Natalie is correct on both accounts; it reminded us of Patagonia. In fact, alongside us continuing to mention the beauty of Pakistan, Skardu and Hunza, well, North Pakistan, in general, did remind us of Patagonia; if you’ve been to Patagonia, then you will love Pakistan. Please look at this short video which acts as a teaser trailer for our Soq Valley Skardu trip, and this 4-minute-long video that we filmed at the suspension bridge a minute’s drive away. The views are spectacular!
I’m about to say it again.
Toodles
USEFUL TIPS FOR BACKPACKING PAKISTAN:
How to Visit Soq Valley Skardu, Pakistan
This sounds like it would be a complicated journey, but in truth, it’s pretty simple. As is the norm in this area of Pakistan, you will first need to head to Skardu, Pakistan. Skardu will be the central point for a lot of your excursions. Skardu certainly was for us, as you can tell from the numerous videos we have filmed there. We documented our flight from Islamabad to Skardu, showing you how to do that journey.
Likely, your hotel will pick you up from Skardu international Pickup, and we recommend you visit Shangri-La Lake, Soq valley and Upper Kachuara lake as we did on our first day in Skardu, Pakistan. The driving distances are long. PLEASE do not be over-ambitious. I mean, save the stunning Katpana Desert, Satpara Lake and Buddha Rock for another day. You just arrived; you have time.
On your way to Soq Valley, stop at the suspension bridge moments before and grab a refreshing drink from the body of water on the outskirts. It’ll cut down your plastic use, and who doesn’t like travelling more sustainably, especially in the north of Pakistan, where clean glacier water is abundant, you just have to know where to go.
Once you’ve arrived, grab yourself a chai, maybe some fries and enjoy the spectacular Soq Valley Skardu. The only sounds you can hear here are ones of Nature. Think fast-flowing rivers, glaciers crackling and wildlife. Pakistan is beautiful. I said it again!
Day trips around Skardu will start at around 5,000 PKR for a car or 7,000 PKR for a Prado, and both prices include the driver, vehicle and fuel cost. The best tip for Skardu Pakistan is to take your time. It may be tempting to cross everything off in a day or two, but please allow yourself five days to immerse yourself in everything. There is a lot to see.
Check out this blog post for ideas about what to do when visiting Skardu. You won’t be short on activities!
Enjoy! and don’t forget to tag Calamity Travels on Instagram. We’d love to see if you enjoyed backpacking Pakistan as much as we did!
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