This would be a 12-day motorcycle journey through northern Pakistan, beginning in Islamabad, where the group will spend a day experiencing the capital and settling into the country before taking the scenic flight north to Skardu. From there, the journey begins by motorcycle, taking us through some of the most spectacular landscapes of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Karakoram highway, the 8th wonder of the world, as well as the ancient Silk Route, before eventually returning to Skardu, from where the group will fly back to Islamabad for their international flight home.

After reaching Skardu by air via the scenic flight from the capital, Islamabad, the ride begins along the spectacular road towards the Indus river, climbing and winding through an immense landscape of bare Karakoram mountains, deep gorges and turquoise water. At the Skardu–KKH junction, we join the legendary Karakoram Highway and pass the junction point where the world's three mightiest mountain ranges (Karakorams, Himalyas, Hindu Kush) meet, the Indus River meets the Gilgit river and the Indian tectonic plate meets/collides with the Eurasian plate. The journey then follows the Indus north towards Nomal, with enormous mountain walls rising on either side.

A small town adjacent to the province capital Gilgit, Nomal is our route to ride into the Naltar Valley, entering a completely different world. The road climbs through dense alpine forests, alongside clear mountain streams and beneath snow-covered peaks. Higher up lie the extraordinary Satrangi Lake and Blue Lakes, their waters changing colour against the surrounding wilderness. Further into the valley is Halima Garden, a natural green meadow, with streams of unbelievable torquise water, surrounded by forest and mountains — an unexpectedly tranquil pocket of life in an otherwise immense landscape.

Feroza lake, Naltar, one of the blue lakes in Naltar.

After returning from the lakes to Nomal, we cross back onto the Karakoram Highway and head towards Hunza, following one of the world's great mountain roads, also known as the 8th wonder of the world. The landscape gradually changes as we pass through the villages and terraces of the Hunza Valley, with the road seemingly carved into the walls of the mountains. Hunza hosts the Queen of Mountains (Rakaposhi mountain) among many other stunning peaks visible unbelievably from the road. After a stop in Hunza, we continue north towards Attabad Lake, where the turquoise water sits beneath enormous barren cliffs and the highway disappears into tunnels through the mountains.

Rakaposhi, The Queen of Mountains.

After crossing Attabad you reach Passu, where the extraordinary Passu Cones rise sharply above the valley. It is one of those views that feels almost unreal — a wall of jagged peaks dominating everything around you, and a landscape that is difficult to believe exists until you are standing beneath it wondering no camera could ever do justice to this.

The Majestic Passu Cones viewed from the Karakoram Highway. 

Beyond Passu, the road continues north towards Khunjerab, following the ancient path of the Silk Route deeper into the Karakoram. The mountains grow increasingly immense and the landscape more stark as we climb towards the high frontier. Eventually, the road reaches Khunjerab Pass, where at more than 4,600 metres the mountains of Pakistan meet the China-Pakistan border, the highest paved border crossing in the world. Interestingly, the location also hosts the highest ATM Machine in the world.

China-Pakistan border at Khunerab pass,the highest paved border crossing of the world.  

The next day, we venture towards Shimshal, leaving the smooth highway behind for a much more rugged mountain route. The road winds deeper into an isolated valley and towards the historic landscapes of the old Silk Road — a part of the journey where riding becomes as much about exploration and the hospitality of the locals as simply reaching the next destination.

The return south eventually takes us towards Astore, where the character of the mountains changes once again as we venture into the Himalayas. From here, rather than simply following the conventional road back, we use the route north of Nangaparbat, the 9th highest mountain of the world, to eventually cross the Deosai Plateau — the Land of Giants. This enormous high-altitude wilderness seems to stretch without end, with open grasslands, glacial streams and almost no trees on these grasslands to interrupt the horizon.

Nangaparbat, world's 9th highest mountain, visible far in the background of the Sheosar lake in Deosai National Park, Pakistan.

The ride across Deosai is perhaps the most remote part of the journey. The tracks cross an immense plateau beneath an enormous sky, passing Sheosar Lake and offering extraordinary views towards NangaParbat. The scale is difficult to describe: mountains appear impossibly distant, the landscape feels untouched, and for long stretches there is nothing around you except wilderness, wind and the sound of your motorcycles.

Deosai, The Land of Giants.