Our visit to fairy meadows wasn’t the smoothest of trips. First, we struggled to get to Raikot Bridge, then we anxiously awaited for people to share the 8,000 PKR trip journey with and then we had to go on a massive hike.

When you do fairy Meadows, you start at Raikot Bridge at an altitude of 1,400 metres above sea level. That climbs all the way up to 3,300 metres when you reach the top of Fairy Meadows. that is a giant leap in one day. Fair warning.

As we reached the summit of Fairy Meadows after a gruelling two-hour and 57-minute hike, we were ecstatic. Ecstatic because we finally made it to Fairy Meadows but also incredibly pleased to be able to do it in just under three hours. For long-time followers of our YouTube Channel, you’ll know neither of us is gifted with high fitness levels so we were incredibly chuffed at our time.

I’ll also say, that we took the wrong final path up which involved an extra fifteen minutes of exhaustion as we painfully dragged ourselves to the right location.

We were staying at Fairy meadows cottages at a price of 4,000PKR per night. An incredible deal which was only made possible due to our new Karachi friends we made on the way to Raikot Bridge. They messaged the owner, negotiated our rate and wished us well on their journey. Pakistan is full of helpful locals who will go above and beyond to ensure you enjoy their country, our trip was a testament to that.

Bear in mind that Fairy Meadows cottages are a great place to stay, ask for a room in the new build locations, negotiate down to 4,000 and stay for a couple of nights. Also note, that the place doesn’t have a menu a chicken Karahi dish will come in at a whopping 2,000 PKR and a vegetable dish such as Daal, will come to 800 PKR. Even if one of you is a vegetarian, it doesn’t matter. What is good, however, is it is all you can eat. You can have as many refills as you’d like. Plus, look at where you are.

Yes, the food is expensive at Fairy Meadows but that’s probably;y the only drawback, plus for any western traveller, the rates won’t be extortionate. 1,000 PKR is less than three fiddy in British pounds. It’s significantly cheaper than your local takeaway, it’s real authentic Pakistani food, cooked within close proximity to one of the most beautiful mountains in the world: nanga Prabat. Did I mention that the views at Fairy Meadows are unreal? In the vlog, Natalie and I couldn’t take our eyes off of Nanga prabat. The location is stunning, the fire at night blazing under a blanket of stars, and swapping tales with your fellow travellers is not an easy memory to forget. plus, when you rise the next day, you get to witness the sun rising over Nanga Prabat. That is worth the three-hour trek, the nearly 2,000 metres climb in elevation under 24 hours alone never mind the delicious food.

Sitting there on the porch looking up at Nanga Prabat, hearing the birds in the background and the wind rustling through the trees: Fairy Meadows feels like an exceptional anecdote to immerse yourself within nature. living in London, that tranquillity is scarce but at Fairy Meadows, it is attainable.

If you feel more energetic, you can always join in with the locals at a volleyball game or even take a horse ride on the meadows or even hike to one of the notorious viewpoints scattered around Fairy Meadows. Or you can just do a couple of laps of the Meadows themselves, have a cup of chai and then sit on a stream whilst discussing the uniqueness of visiting Pakistan. Furthermore, you could head u[ to calamity travels viewpoint which is around a five-minute walk from the Fairy Meadows cottages as opposed to a further two-hour hike, which in all honesty will get you a tad closer to the glacier but we thought the view from Calamity travels viewpoint was just fine.

After that “exhausting” day, settle in in front of the fire after dinner and appreciate the stars once more. It does get really chilly during the night at Fairy Meadows so be sure to take a warm packable jacket, blankets will also be provided.

Fairy Meadows is worth the effort, I assure you.

Toodles