How to travel up to Fairy Meadows

“The demons blow their horns and fairies cook their food here”

Nanga Parbat is the 9^th highest mountain in the world and the second largest in Pakistan. To its north lays a meadow at a height more than 3,000 meters which is called Fairy Meadows because of its serene beauty. Willy Merkl, the leader of German-American expedition named it Fairy Meadows in 1932. Green meadows, wooden huts, along with pine trees and a small lake is all you need for a relaxing vacation. A lot of people go to fairy meadows to visit Nanga Parbat’s base camp, mountaineers of course to climb it. An early morning walk through the thick pine tree forest with your camera is worth going to fairy meadows. Bonfire at night when you can see the stars and the moon is one of the most amazing, especially when the moon light covers the snow covered Nanga Parbat and it glows.

Most of you must be thinking how to get to this gorgeous place? You can take a flight to Gilgit from the capital city, Islamabad, take a NATCO bus or use your own personal vehicle on the Karakoram Highway. If you take a flight it’s going to take 45 minutes to reach Gilgit but it always depends on the weather. A lot of times the flights get delayed or cancelled due to the bad weather near the Nanga Parbat, but it is still the most comfortable way to travel. The NATCO bus usually takes 12 hours to reach Gilgit but it takes a long stop late night because of the dangerous turns.

Gilgit is a well established city with a lot of hotels and motels where you can stay the night and start your journey towards the Fairy Meadows the next morning. Gilgit has an attractive market from where you can get all sorts of handicrafts and Pashmina shawls and not to forget all sorts of dry fruits. Since a lot of stones are gathered from the Northern Pakistan such as rubies, emeralds, opal and many others. There is a huge variety of stone jewelry in Gilgit which is cheap as well because of the cheap labor.

From Gilgit you can hire a jeep to drive up to the Riakot Bridge, which is located on the Karakoram Highway. It takes approximately 3 hours to reach Raikot Bridge from Gilgit. There is a small wooden restaurant at the Riakot Bridge from where you can get refreshments and relax for a while, but since you need to get to Fairy Meadows before dusk you can not spend a lot of time there. From Riakot Bridge you can not take your own vehicle because the road is not properly built and there are a lot of steep turns that only the locals can pass through.

At Raikot Bridge there are local jeeps and drivers whom you can hire for 5000 rupess to take you up half way Fairy Meadows. The local jeeps are mostly in red and blue cover. The first glimpse of the jeep might give you a scare because it does not have back doors. The jeeps are decorated from inside and the drivers are mostly Gilgits and they have old Indian songs going on in the jeep that you have to bare throughout the journey. The ride is scary yet extremely adventurous and bumpy too but that is the fun of it. It takes approximately one hour and thirty minutes to reach a point which is half way Fairy Meadows.

Once you reach midway after that you have an option if you want to climb all the way up to Fair Meadows or you want to take a horseback ride. Each horse will cost you 1700 rupees and you will also need a porter with you who will take 800 rupees to get your luggage up there. Do not worry the horses are going to be controlled by their owners; you just need to sit on them, relax and keep clicking your camera. If you track it is going to take approximately 4 hours but it is advised not to climb alone if you are not an experienced climber because of the steep turns and narrow paths. Often you will come across small fresh water fountains; yes you can fill up your water bottles because it is the purest water you can get since it is coming straight from the mountains.

By the last turn you are going to be really tired because of the long journey but as soon as you look up and you have Nanga Parbat right in front of you, you heart pumps. There you see lush green meadows, animals roaming around, and thick pine trees all along the place and you say it is Heaven!

There are small wooden huts in a row and a small room that has a heater in it and when you go inside, from the windows you can see Nanga Parbat right in front of you, you can relax there and have a cup of tea and then go outside to explore the place. You can also opt for camping instead of living in the wooden cottages. Try to take munchies along with you since everything to eat is slightly expensive because of the low demand.

There are many travel companies who plan the entire trip for you. You just need to pay them a certain amount and they are going to arrange everything for you. Your entire trip will be planned day by day and you will not miss out on anything. But one way or the other, this place is worth visiting at least once in a lifetime.