Sarfaranga cold desert
Overview
A three-day jeep safari into the Shigar valley for the Sarfaranga cold desert, the largest expanse of dune in Baltistan, with the Shigar Fort and the Braldu road. Entirely road-based, no altitude to speak of, and the easiest trip in our catalogue.
Dunes under seven-thousanders
Sarfaranga sits on the floor of the Shigar valley with snow peaks standing directly behind it. The contrast is the reason to come: sand in the foreground, the Karakoram behind, the Shigar river running between. It is a landscape most people do not believe is Pakistan until they are standing in it.
We drive the dunes in the early morning and again in the late afternoon, when the light is low and the surface is firm. The middle of the day is flat, hot and worth spending somewhere else, so we do.
Shigar Fort
The Fong Khar, a seventeenth-century Raja’s residence that also features on our Baltistan forts and mosques journey, restored over seven years and now run as a hotel, is a short drive from the dunes. It is worth slowing down for rather than photographing from the car park, and you can stay in it if you want to.
Who it suits
Anyone who can get in and out of a 4×4. No trekking, no camping unless you ask for a dune night, which we will set up. Its smaller counterpart at Katpana, twenty minutes from Skardu town, runs all year and makes an easy pairing. This is the trip we recommend for older travellers, for families with young children, and for anyone whose time in Baltistan is short.
What is inside the price
All permits, 4x4s and drivers on our own plates, hotels throughout including the heritage properties if you want them, all meals, fort entry, and a guide on our payroll who can tell you what you are looking at. Medical kit and the written evacuation procedure we publish, as on every trip we run. The rest of the Shigar and Braldu valley is open from here, and our other jeep safaris run on the same vehicles and the same terms.
- Duration
- 2 – 3 days
- Trek days
- 0
- Maximum altitude
- 2,500 m [confirm]
- Grade
- Easy
- Group size
- Max 10
- Guides
- 2 certified, 1 WFR
- Season
- April – October
- Starts / ends
- Skardu / Skardu
- Accommodation
- Hotels, heritage properties on request
- The largest dune field in Baltistan, with 7,000 m peaks directly behind it
- Driven at dawn and dusk, when the light is low and the sand holds a vehicle
- Shigar Fort, a restored seventeenth-century Raja's residence you can sleep in
- No altitude, no walking, and a 4x4 you can stop whenever you want
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 1,500 | A full crew for two people |
| 3 – 4 | USD 1,250 | |
| 5 – 8 | USD 1,050 | 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 Skardu to Shigar Hotel · 2,230 m
Met in Skardu and driven into the Shigar valley. The fort in the afternoon, and a first look at the dunes as the light drops.
02 Sarfaranga Hotel
The dunes at dawn, the middle of the day somewhere cooler, and back out onto the sand for the last two hours of light. A dune camp instead of the hotel if you have asked for one.
03 Shigar to Skardu —
Back down the valley with stops you choose, and on to whatever comes next.
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 beyond being able to get in and out of a 4x4 unaided. There is no trekking, nothing above about 2,500 m, and the longest walk is whatever you choose to do on the dunes.
The one thing worth declaring is back trouble. The Shigar road is sealed but the dune sections are not, and an hour of soft sand is bumpy. Tell us at enquiry and we will plan the driving around it rather than finding out on the day.
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 by a member of our team, not a driver with a sign outside it. Briefing the same evening, local SIM and cash sorted.
Islamabad to Skardu
A short flight that is weather-dependent, or a long road that is not. We build a buffer day either way and quote both.
On the ground
Our own 4x4s and our own drivers from Skardu onward.
Questions people actually ask
Is there really a desert that high?
Yes. Cold desert on the valley floor with snow peaks standing behind it, which is the whole reason to come. Cold desert means the altitude and the temperature range, not the rainfall you would expect of a hot desert.
How many days do I need?
Three is comfortable and two is enough if you are tight. Most people attach it to the buffer day they were already going to spend in Skardu waiting for a flight.
How fit do I need to be?
Not at all. If you can get in and out of a 4x4 you can do this trip. It is the one we suggest when somebody tells us they want the Karakoram without the walking.
What does it cost and what moves the price?
Party size moves it most, then whether you want the heritage properties or standard hotels. The vehicle and the guide cost the same whether there are two of you or eight, so the per-person figure falls steeply as the party grows. Ask and we will quote both shapes.
Do I need a permit?
No special trekking permit. The Shigar valley is an open zone and your Pakistan visa is the only paperwork that matters. We handle the visa sponsor letter and anything else that comes up.
When should I come?
April to October is the sellable season and spring and autumn are the most comfortable. Midsummer afternoons in the Shigar valley are hot, which is the other reason the driving happens early and late.
Can we drive on the dunes?
On the sections where it is permitted and sensible, in our own vehicles. We do not take guest vehicles onto sand and we do not drive where the surface is being damaged.
How does this combine with other trips?
It sits naturally before or after anything starting in Skardu. Katpana, Deosai, the Baltoro, Baltistan heritage. Tell us what else you are doing and we will fit it to the gap.
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.
- Khaplu & Ghanche · Trek Thalle La
- Khaplu & Ghanche · Cultural journey Baltistan forts and mosques
If this one is not right
Naltar valley
Phander and Ghizer
Babusar Pass
Easy
Karakoram Highway · Jeep safari