Exploring Rakaposhi: A New Adventure in Pakistan

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Oh God, okay, there we go! Look at that! Oh my God, this is insane. I am currently on my way to Rakaposhi to meet up with some new friends, and some Dutch friends, and we will do a hike together. We don't have a plan; we'll try to get there by hitchhiking, and then we'll see.

 

Hitchhiking to the Trailhead

This isn't my first hike in Pakistan. Last year, I hiked to Fairy Meadows, and it was beautiful. However, there is another hike here in Pakistan that is getting more and more popular: Rakaposhi. I thought I would go there and take you along so we can see what everyone's raving about. Could it become the new Fairy Meadows?

We walked down to the main road in Aliabad to try to hitchhike from there to Minapin, which is the starting point of the trek. Hitchhiking was surprisingly more difficult than usual, probably because we were with three people. The more people, obviously, the harder it becomes. I don't know exactly what happened here, but some random guy came up to us, and he started helping us and basically got us a ride within 2 minutes.

The Journey Begins

Oh my God, that's crazy! He dropped us on the main road, and then it's like a small walk. Thank you! Thank you so much! Hopefully, thank you. The car then dropped us off at the junction. They tried to convince us to take a taxi up, but being broke backpackers and stubborn Dutch people, we decided to walk up instead and just take it as a warm-up for the real thing.

Once we got there, we decided to have lunch and, in my case, take in some more caffeine before taking off on the trek. While you're here, do yourself a favor: go to Osho Tang and try the egg roll. Trust me, it is worth it! And if you're lucky and come in the right season, you might even be able to get yourself some fresh cherries from the trees.

Starting the Hike

Okay, okay, nice! Thank you! Look at that, local cherries! They're like really good. So we officially made it to the starting point and are starting immediately with a little bit of an incline. It's really hot; it's like 2 p.m. right now, so it's literally the hottest point of the day. So we chose the perfect time. In hindsight, maybe not the smartest decision, but we'll make it though.

Apparently, we're going for the adventurous route up instead of the path. It was a very rugged, rocky path up, and aside from the occasional goat herder, there was no one there.

A Beautiful Paradise

Oh, yummy! I'm not so sure about this one. The further up we got, the more idyllic it became: green grass, water streams, cows grazing, and donkeys playing around, having the time of their lives. It felt like a literal paradise. And then things got even better—we found goats!

Yeah, they look kind of processed, almost. Unfortunately, they don't like me as much as I like them. Don't run away from me! Wait! Hey, hey, you there! Want to be petted for me? Yes, that's good, that's good! Of course, we spent way too much time lingering with them, but it was the best time ever.

Reaching Hakun

The plan for today is to walk to Hakun, which is like the lower camp where you can spend the night. Upper Base Camp Rakaposhi Base Camp apparently right now is still closed. It's currently May, so we can't spend the night there yet, but I think Hakun is also known as kind of the nicer camp to spend the night. I think we have about two more hours to go, so it's going pretty well.

Although all the goat cuddling took up some time, we still arrived at Hakun before sunset. After some negotiating, we got ourselves a tent for 3,000 rupees a person, including dinner, breakfast, and lunch—not a bad deal if you ask me.

Enjoying the Good Life

Okay, this is pretty cozy! Are you happy? Yay! This is actually my second time going up to Rakaposhi. The last time, however, we skipped Hakun and went straight up and did the hike in one very long day. So although it's possible to do this hike with limited time, if you get the chance, I would definitely recommend staying the night at Hakun.

I mean, it's not hard to see why this is the good life, people! We drank tea, enjoyed the sun, laughed at the donkey that escaped and they were trying to catch again. He’s having a time! I attempted some yoga, and I attempted to fly my drone for the first time ever. Where is it? Although I barely managed to get any shots, we did have a lot of fun with it.

A Comical Morning

Don't drink or drive, ladies and gentlemen! I promise I'll get you guys some good shots soon. So that dude just started screaming like crazy at like 4 a.m. in the morning, just waking everyone up. Let me give you a quick tour: that right there is the bathroom, and we all thought it was quite a comical bathroom as well because basically what they did is they put a western toilet inside a tent, and that's it. That's all there is to it!

Let me grab one thing before we had breakfast; you know I can't go without a cup of coffee in the morning. Okay, let's go! So that right there is the breakfast tent where we're going to have some eggs, chai, and paratha.

The Final Stretch

Oh, so basically that's where we started, where Minapin is, and right now we go up there all the way towards Rakaposhi Base Camp. Unfortunately, the weather isn't optimal; it's quite cloudy and not very sunny. It's great for walking because it makes it much cooler, but I hope the sun will come through in a little bit.

From Hakun, it's really not that far anymore; it's just very steep. We just agreed that that mountain right there kind of looks like the ice wall in Game of Thrones. So cool!

This is the final stretch, the final climb up, and if I remember correctly, after this hill, we're going to get a pretty epic view.

Reaching the Base Camp

Oh my God, there we go! There we go! Look at that! Oh my God, this is insane! Seeing the glacier for the first time on this trek was definitely a highlight, but we weren't done yet as we still had to reach base camp. Turns out we still had some obstacles to overcome.

Okay, great! Apparently, there has been a bit of a landslide here. Time to cross it! Woo! Okay, we made it to Rakaposhi Base Camp. There's still quite a thin layer of snow right now. It's currently May, so when I was here last year in September, there was no snow at all; it was very green, actually.

Conclusion: Rakaposhi vs. Fairy Meadows

It's definitely a different vibe this time, but it's beautiful! Honestly, I think Rakaposhi is such a great trek because in two days, basically what could even be done in one full day hike, you get such a big reward. You get to see a glacier; you don't see that a lot, I feel like. So it's just a very accessible hike with a beautiful viewpoint, and I couldn't recommend it more.

So now the question is: can Rakaposhi become the new Fairy Meadows? Well, I think the two have a lot of similarities. They're both relatively short and easy hikes, and you get to see glaciers on both. In terms of beauty, Rakaposhi definitely rivals Fairy Meadows, plus the scenery is just as fairytale-like.

But there are also differences. Fairy Meadows is, of course, iconic for a reason, but Rakaposhi offers something more raw and untouched. Plus, there's no bumpy, scary jeep ride to get to this trek—a huge advantage if you ask me. Whether Rakaposhi will become the new Fairy Meadows, I can't say for sure, but what I do know is that this is a trek worth doing. It really has its own magic, so if you're looking for an epic hike in Pakistan, don't miss out on this one!