Why North Pakistan?
Most Geologists would agree without question that Pakistan offers the same potential in mountain scenery and trekking as its more famous sibling, Nepal. It boasts the greatest concentration of 8000m+ peaks and magnificent glaciers anywhere in the world. But the major difference is, for political and historical reasons, North Pakistan has thousands of miles of jeepable road, including the Karakorum Highway to China and the equally remarkable Gilgit-Skardu road. Whilst in Nepal one has to trek on foot for weeks to get a glimpse of the really big peaks, while in a jeep through Pakistan it is possible to get right in amongst 20,000 ft peaks without any prior knowledge of the area, and experience or fitness for trekking, in a fraction of the time. Pakistan also has extremely little in terms of tourism mostly because the average shoe-stringer travels alone or in a couple making it too expensive to hire even a second-rate jeep.
