Katpana desert in the Skardu region of Pakistan is a national treasure and should be spoken about more in the landscape of natural marvels on this earth. Every time I relook at our footage, I am in awe. No wonder it ranked number two on my list of the top ten things to see when travelling to Pakistan. It didn’t quite make it to number one, but that’s because number one was a complete surprise, which you can read more about here.

The stargazing in Katpana Desert is unmatched compared to anywhere else on the planet. After travelling 44 countries, I can honestly say that only the Maldives and perhaps the Philippines compete, but neither of them had an edge to edge to milky ways atop of mountains. It has to be seen to be believed, but it is not a sight you will quickly forget or ever want to forget; check out our footage here.

Told you.

Incredible.

Katpana desert is incredible.

That’s right, in Pakistan, you can witness an edge-to-edge milky way if you visit Katpana Desert in Skardu; it really is mesmerising.

Do not miss this place when you travel to Pakistan. If you’re even in Asia, consider throwing Pakistan atop your list. Fly to Skardu and spend time in this beautiful country and soak in the gorgeous Katpana desert! Nothing will ever do it justice, not even our travel vlog; you need to visit and see Katpana desert with your own eyes. Truly breathtaking!

That edge-to-edge milky way is something else.

I assure you, you do not want to miss this one when you visit Pakistan. No wonder it sits so high on my top ten list of things to do in Skardu. It will still sit atop my list of the best things to do when visiting Pakistan! Never mind, just the Skardu region.

Ok, alright, enough about the fabulous star gazing. We get it; Katpana Desert is spectacular, and everyone should visit. Let’s talk more about our visit to this awesome desert in detail and read on to find out how you can see such a spectacular natural wonder in Pakistan!

After leaving Buddha Rock and heading back to the hotel, the one where we were bitten at night and were given a dirty room to sleep in, such fun, eh. Pakistan and travel come with challenges but as I mentioned, LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE. Pakistan will have you switching from frustration to awe back and forth like a swinging pendulum on your favourite grandfather clock. Although, after watching stranger things 4, I now view grandfather clocks somewhat differently.

We arrive back at the hotel, somewhat exhausted and in a temperament state. This day could go either way, but we just saw the stunning Satpara Lake and zenned out at Buddha Rock so thank goodness for that.

After some deliberation, we managed to switch rooms, although the shower was not working in this one. Of course, it wasn’t, but it was much cleaner than the previous night, so what can we do. Other guests arrived and were not turned away; therefore, we had no other option.

See, we had just entered the state of frustration again.

Our friend arrived to take us to the Katpana desert; we had previously travelled with the lovely Muneeb to see Thorgu Valley, which had an unexpected encounter, Shigar Fort, Blind Lake and met his business partner on the way down from Husanabad Waterfall, which despite being a rubbish waterfall, the views from the top were spectacular.

Muneeb arrived early, so we set off to Katpana Desert. The desert is located west of Skardu, and as we were staying at the Himalayan Hotel in Husainabad, we drove across the city of Skardu. You will be hard-pressed to find a more picturesque town than Skardu. The backdrop is phenomenal.

After a twenty-minute drive, we arrived. We saw nothing but sand on the horizon and the beautiful mountains of Pakistan in the distance. The first stop was Katpana lake.

Due to a drought, the lake was very shallow, and flowers stemmed from the bottom. If the lake were full, wow o, wow would the reflections of the snow-capped peaks in the distance be some sight. It was calming nonetheless and still a beautiful sight, especially as the sun was starting to set onto our left, just over the edges of mountains; it illuminated the half-full lake.

We had entered a state of awe in Pakistan once again.

After having a quick chai whilst gawking at the lake, we got back into the jeep and entered an elevation platform. Muneeb tried to take us on a fast jeep tour, but Katpana Desert doesn’t have massive sand dunes you can slide around on. If you want that, head over to Huacachina in Peru or the Sahara desert in Morocco. Places we have been fortunate enough to visit Alhamdulillah.

We try out our new 3-metre long selfie stick atop the elevation platform. Never in my life would I think I would say those words, but here we are. That was hilarious. Natalie and I both in fits of laughter in the middle of the Katpana desert in Pakistan, the country of my heritage, with this massive selfie stick trying to capture the Katpana Desert from above.

Gratitude.

We used the selfie stick and not the drone due to the elevation being too high for Pakistan. Never mind, glad we had the selfie stick!

The sun was getting lower, so we had to move on.

A quick five-minute drive later, we had arrived around the backside of the desert. We sat atop Katpana Desert and quietly waited for the illustrious star show to appear. Would we be treated to one tonight? The light slowly started to fade away, and we met two lovely Pakistanis who, coincidentally, we had interrupted their wedding photo shoot at Serena Khaplu Fort just days before. The world is a small place.

We sat in silence as the light disappeared and was covered in a blanket of stars. As you can tell from the last couple of minutes of the travel vlog, Natalie and I were both in awe. We had never seen a star show like that before, and we were so glad we bought our jackets; the temperature plummeted like a rock. This was a colder day in Skardu with the temperature hovering around the mid-twenties, when days before it was in the late thirties (degrees celsius), but be sure to bring your jacket when you visit Katpana Desert.

Looking at the stars in Katpan Desert, Skardu, Pakistan, is a memory both Natalie and I will treasure for a lifetime. How fortunate we are that we decided to record this so we could look back and hopefully inspire others to visit such a beautiful country, Pakistan.

We are now firmly in the stage of awe. Frustration will come next, but at that moment, we didn’t care. Bring it, universe.

Look at where we are.

If you’d like to see a longer version of the stars over the Katpana Desert in Pakistan, then be sure to check out the full Katpana Desert travel vlog here.

Toodles

USEFUL TIPS FOR BACKPACKING PAKISTAN:

How to Visit Katpana Desert in 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.

Once in Skardu, you have two options for visiting the Katpana Desert. I’ll talk you thru them both.

Option 1 – You can travel to Katpana Desert and camp there with Glamp PK. Their rates are subject to change, but we were quoted 8,000 PKR, which is reasonable but not price efficient if you’re backpacking Pakistan like we were.

Option 2 – Stay in Skardu city and hire a driver to take you to Katpana Desert. that cost will be around 2,000 PKR, and a hotel room will set you back about 5,000 PKR, so it’s more cost-efficient than camping there but decide for yourself. This is what we decided to do as we were scheduled to travel to Deosai Plains the next day and would be camping there; that trip is perhaps the most expensive thing you can do in your backpacking Pakistan travel Itinerary so we decided to cut back where we could

We chose option 2; it’s more economical than option 1, considering the astronomical expense of travelling into Deosai Plains and the elevated food costs whilst camping in the Katpana Desert. This place is worth a visit!

You can combine Katpana Desert with visits to Soq Valley, Shangri-La-la Lake and Upper Kachura Lake as it’s very close to the city but that may be too long a day. Decide for yourself but whatever you do, visit Katpana Desert and stick around for when the sun goes down. Make sure to bring a jacket as you stare in awe at that incredible edge-to-edge Milky Way.

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!