Silk Road is a historic road that runs across the northern part of Pakistan crossing over to the Chinese Border. Historically silk road has been the major trade route in the region connecting some of the important destinations in the Northern areas of Pakistan.
Today, Silk Road connects with Karakorum Highway, providing speedy road access from China to Pakistan. The road further connects Pakistan with Central Asia. With the signing of the CPEC agreement, this road will become a vital lifeline connecting 56 countries of the world.
Earlier on, this region was popular with international tourists for adventure sports. However, with easy access to most areas, the number of visitors to the area quadrupled to 1.75 million in 2017. With better accommodation and tourist facilities, the regions have become a hotspot for tourism. KKH is becoming one of the best tourism destinations as quoted by Guardian.
GENERAL TRAVEL GUIDELINES on silk route on pakistan
The Silk road runs from Hasanabdal to the Chinese border covering a distance of 1300km. The road splits in two near Manshera. The offshoot of the main road is KKH connecting Manshera with Kaghan and Naran finally merging near Chillas. The KKH continues onto Khunjerab Pass near Pakistan-Chinese Border.
TRAVELLING FROM ISLAMABAD to Chinese Border on KKH
Serval bus services run from Islamabad to the Chinese border. The oldest and most reliable service is NATCO. Other services run from Manshera and Islamabad. These include Saeed Travels and Manshera Travels. Depending on the service a ticket from Islamabad to Gilgit costs around Rs. 2000 ( $15 ) depending on the service. For NATCO generally, 3 services run from Islamabad daily to Gilgit.
For further information and online booking: NATCO
The driving distance from Islamabad to Gilgit is approximately 500km which can be covered in 12 hours. It is suggested to organise stopovers on the way to get the maximum out of the trip. With slow commercial traffic and passing through small towns, the travel time can be more than suggested.
Great stopovers on the way include Abbottabad, Balakot, Naran and Kaghan.
PIN IT TO READ IT LATER:
Leave a Reply