Nangma Valley
Granite walls rising straight off a green meadow — the Yosemite of Pakistan
Altitude
3,600 m
Worth going
Jun–Sep
How long to stay
2–4 nights
Getting a signal
No signal. Plan for it.
Nangma is the valley Pakistani travellers have been going to instead of the crowded places, and it deserves the attention. Above the village of Kanday in Ghanche, past farmland and open pasture, the ground opens into a wide green meadow at Mingulu Broq with sheer granite towers standing straight up out of it — Amin Brakk, the Great Tower, is 5,850 m of near-vertical rock and one of the tallest big walls anywhere. No hotels, no road in, nothing built. Two or three days on foot gets you the whole valley.
- Amin Brakk, the Great Tower, 5,850 m of sheer granite
- The Grey Tower and Changi Tower either side of the valley
- The meadow at Mingulu Broq, wildflowers and streams under the walls
- Camping with no lodge, no generator and nobody else
- An easy-to-moderate walk in — this is not a technical trek
The honest downsides
- June to September only. Outside that the meadow is under snow and the walk in is not on.
- Camping throughout. There is no lodge, no shop and no signal in the valley.
- The drive from Skardu is three to four hours, and the last stretch to Kanday needs a jeep.
- It is popular now precisely because it was empty. Go in June or September rather than mid-August if you want it to yourself.