Hina Baig

I live in Skardu and lead small groups through Baltistan most summers, so this report is less a first impression and more notes from a trip I do almost every year with a slightly different group each time — this time it was four visitors from Lahore who'd never been north before. We spent two days around Skardu itself before heading up onto Deosai, mostly so people could adjust to the altitude gradually rather than jumping straight to the plateau. Kachura and the fort ruins near town are an easy, unhurried way to spend that time. Deosai is the part people come for, and it's the part I still find genuinely striking even after leading groups there for years. There's a scale to it that doesn't photograph well — it's less about any single view and more about how far the openness extends in every direction, with almost nothing breaking the horizon except distant peaks. We walked a section of the plateau rather than only driving across it, which I'd recommend if anyone in your group is up for it; the road gives you the plateau, but walking a stretch of it gives you the silence. We were lucky with weather for most of the week, though one afternoon closed in fast with cloud and a cold wind that had everyone reaching for jackets they'd packed but not expected to need in August. That's normal for the plateau and worth planning around rather than being surprised by. This group left already asking about coming back in a different season, which I take as the trip having done its job.