Chitral and the Kalash valleys
Overview
A seven-day journey to Chitral and the three Kalash valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir. Road-based, graded easy in effort, and the most culturally remarkable trip we run. It reaches Chitral through the Lowari tunnel, which is open most of the year, so it does not depend on the Shandur Pass crossing.
The Kalash valleys
The Kalasha are a few thousand people in three valleys south of Chitral, with their own language, their own polytheistic religion and their own calendar of festivals — Chilam Joshi in May, Uchal in August, Chaumos at the winter solstice. They are not a heritage display. They are a small living community under real pressure, and how you visit matters.
We go with Kalasha guides, we pay the community fee, we ask before photographing people, and we do not take groups into the Jestakhan or into funeral observances. If that sounds restrictive, it is, and we would rather lose the booking than be the operator that makes the valleys worse.
Chitral
The town sits under Tirich Mir at 7,708 m, the highest peak in the Hindu Kush, which dominates the valley on a clear day. The fort and the Shahi Mosque are worth a slow morning, and the bazaar is the best place in the region to understand how Chitral connects to everywhere around it.
How hard is it?
Physically easy. The difficulty is long days in a vehicle on mountain roads — the Kalash valley roads in particular are narrow, rough and slow. No trekking is required, though there are good short walks in all three valleys.
When it runs
March to November through the Lowari tunnel. If you want to arrive over the pass instead, the Shandur crossing runs June to September and joins this trip at Chitral.
What is inside the price
All permits and the Kalash community fees, 4x4s and drivers on our own plates, hotels and guesthouses throughout, all meals, a guide on our payroll and Kalasha guides in the valleys paid directly, satellite comms and a published evacuation procedure. Deposit terms are on the payment and refunds page. See the rest of Chitral and the Kalash valleys and our other jeep safaris.
- Duration
- 6 – 8 days
- Trek days
- 0
- Maximum altitude
- 2,000 m [confirm]
- Grade
- Easy
- Group size
- Max 10
- Guides
- 2 certified, 1 WFR
- Season
- March – November
- Starts / ends
- Islamabad / Islamabad
- Accommodation
- Hotels in Chitral, guesthouses in the valleys
- All three Kalash valleys — Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir — not just the accessible one
- Kalasha guides, paid directly, and the community fee paid as part of the trip
- Chitral fort and the Shahi Mosque under Tirich Mir, highest peak in the Hindu Kush
- Reached through the Lowari tunnel, so it runs most of the year
- A written code for photography and for which spaces groups do not enter
Fixed departures
These prices are per person on a fixed departure, and they are the price — we do not discount a published figure. Deposit is 25%; the payment schedule and cancellation terms are published and sent with every quote. For your own dates, see the private pricing below.
Private departures and group pricing
Your party, your dates. The per-person figure falls as the party grows, because the guides, the vehicles and the camp cost the same split more ways. Everything in the inclusions list applies, and the safety standard is the one published above.
| Party size | Price per person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | USD 2,250 | A full crew for two people |
| 3 – 4 | USD 1,900 | |
| 5 – 8 | USD 1,600 | Second guide joins at six |
Deposit is 25% of the trip price. The payment schedule and the cancellation terms are published and sent with every quote, before you pay anything.
Day by day
Buffer days are built in, not padding. If the weather takes them, nothing downstream collapses and you are not charged twice.
01 Arrive Islamabad Hotel · 540 m
Met inside the terminal. Briefing, SIM and cash.
02 Islamabad to Chitral Hotel
By air when the weather allows, or by road over the Lowari tunnel.
03 Chitral — town and fort Hotel
The fort, the Shahi Mosque and the bazaar. Tirich Mir above the valley if the day is clear.
04 Chitral to Bumburet Guesthouse
Into the valleys. Narrow roads and a different world at the end of them. Briefing on how we visit before we arrive.
05 Bumburet and Rumbur Guesthouse
Two of the three valleys with Kalasha guides, at the pace of the place rather than ours.
06 Birir, and back to Chitral Hotel
The third and quietest valley, then back out to Chitral for the night.
07 Chitral to Islamabad —
Air or road, with the buffer day behind us rather than in front.
What is included
- Visa sponsor letter
- All permits, park fees and NOCs
- Met inside the terminal, all transfers
- Our own 4x4s and drivers
- Certified guides and insured crew
- All meals and accommodation throughout
- Medical kit, oxygen where the route calls for it
- Satellite comms and a daily message home
- International flights
- Visa fee itself
- Travel insurance covering evacuation and repatriation
- Personal equipment
- Tips
If our price is wrong for you we will move you to a lower tier or remove a named inclusion. We do not discount a published price, and we do not cut the crew.
Fitness and difficulty — read this honestly
No fitness requirement and no trekking. The effort on this trip is sitting in a vehicle on bad roads, and the Kalash valley roads are narrow, rough and slow.
If you have back trouble, declare it. This is the trip that finds it, and we would rather plan the vehicle and the stops around you than have you discover it on the Bumburet road. There are good short walks in all three valleys for anyone who wants them, and none of them are compulsory.
Kit list
The full list with quantities is sent with your quote. Rental is available in Skardu for most of it, priced separately. Your kit is checked item by item in Islamabad, not the night before the trek.
Group — we provide
- All vehicles, drivers and fuel
- Group first aid
- Satellite phone where there is no mobile signal
Personal — yours
- Layers for a wide temperature range; valley heat and pass cold on the same day
- Comfortable walking shoes for short walks off the road
- Sun hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
- Power bank; mains power is intermittent outside the towns
- Personal medication and a declared medical history
Safety, evacuation and insurance
Helicopter rescue in the Karakoram is not guaranteed. Weather, altitude, daylight and clearance all decide whether a helicopter flies, so every stage carries a named drive-out or walk-out plan. Your insurance must cover helicopter evacuation and repatriation to the maximum altitude on your itinerary, and we verify the certificate before the trip starts.
A graded medical kit sized to the trip, oxygen, a portable altitude chamber, a satellite phone and a messenger, and a wilderness first responder in the crew.
The lead guide’s decision to turn back is final. Not a guest, not an agent, not this office — whatever has been paid.
Getting there
Islamabad
Met inside the terminal. Briefing the same evening, SIM and cash sorted.
Islamabad to Chitral
By air when the weather allows, or by road over the Lowari tunnel, which is open most of the year. We build a buffer day either way.
On the ground
Our own 4x4s. The Kalash valley roads are rough and narrow and we do not subcontract them.
Questions people actually ask
How should we behave in the Kalash valleys?
As guests in somebody's home, because that is what you are. Ask before photographing anybody, especially during festivals. Your guide will tell you what is and is not welcome, and we expect you to listen. We do not take groups into the Jestakhan or into funeral observances.
How many days do I need?
Seven door to door is the shape we sell, which gives two full days in the valleys. Less than that and you have spent more time reaching Chitral than being there.
How fit do I need to be?
Not at all. There is no trekking. The real demand is hours in a vehicle on rough roads, so declare back trouble at enquiry rather than discovering it on the Bumburet road.
Do I need a permit for the Kalash valleys?
There is a community fee for the valleys, which we pay and which goes to the Kalasha, and foreign visitors are registered at checkposts on the way in. We handle both. Your Pakistan visa is the paperwork that matters and we send a sponsor letter for it.
When should I come — is it worth timing for a festival?
Chilam Joshi in May and Uchal in August are the two most visited, and Chaumos at the winter solstice is the most significant to the Kalasha and the least suitable for visitors. Festival weeks are busier and accommodation goes early, so tell us at enquiry. Outside them the valleys are quieter and you will talk to more people.
What does it cost and what moves the price?
Party size, then whether you travel in or out by air. Vehicle days are most of the cost of a trip this shape. The community fees and the Kalasha guides are in the price and are not an optional extra. Deposit is 25 per cent.
How high does it get?
Low, by the standards of everything else we run. Chitral and the valleys sit well under 2,500 m and altitude is not a consideration on this trip.
Is it safe?
Chitral and the Kalash valleys are routinely visited. We monitor the position continuously and we will tell you plainly if we think a departure should not run, rather than running it and hoping.
If this one is not quite right
The commonest reason a trip is wrong is that it is too hard or too easy, not that it is in the wrong place.
- A step harder Deosai plateau and Sheosar Lake
You have already chosen the region, which is the harder decision. These run from the same roadhead.
- Chitral & Kalash · Cultural journey Kalash festivals — Chilam Joshi
- Chitral & Kalash · Cultural journey Kalash festivals — Uchal
If this one is not right
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