Shandur Pass crossing
Overview
A six-day crossing of the Shandur Pass at 3,700 m between Gilgit and Chitral, through Ghizer, Phander and Mastuj. Road-based and easy in effort, though the Shandur road itself is rough and slow. This is the pass outside tournament week; if you want the polo, that is a separate trip with its own dates.
The pass
Shandur is a broad grassy saddle holding Shandur Lake, and it carries what is often called the highest polo ground in the world. For fifty-one weeks of the year it is empty, which is its own argument. A flat green plateau at 3,700 m with the Hindu Kush on one side and the Karakoram on the other, and nothing on it.
Ghizer and Phander
The Ghizer side is the better half of the drive and the half most itineraries hurry. The Gilgit river runs through it, Phander Lake sits in a bowl of poplars, and the valley is one of the quietest inhabited places in the region. We give it two nights.
The road
The Shandur crossing is unsealed and slow, and the evacuation drive from the top is longer than from anywhere else in this catalogue. That is the reason we run our own 4x4s on it rather than hiring, and the reason the written evacuation procedure for this trip is the one we are most often asked about.
When it runs
June to September, because Shandur is snowbound outside that. If your dates fall outside the window, Chitral and the Kalash valleys is reachable through the Lowari tunnel most of the year and we will plan it the other way round.
What is inside the price
All permits, 4x4s and drivers on our own plates for the whole route including the crossing, hotels and guesthouses throughout, all meals, a guide on our payroll, satellite comms, and a written evacuation plan for every stage of the pass road. At the eastern end it joins the Karakoram Highway at Gilgit. See the rest of Ghizer and Phander and our other jeep safaris.
- Duration
- 5 – 7 days
- Trek days
- 0
- Maximum altitude
- 3,700 m
- Grade
- Easy
- Group size
- Max 10
- Guides
- 2 certified, 1 WFR
- Season
- June – September
- Starts / ends
- Gilgit / Chitral
- Accommodation
- Hotels and guesthouses, tented night at the pass on request
- Shandur at 3,700 m, and the polo ground empty for fifty-one weeks of the year
- Phander Lake and the Ghizer valley, given two nights rather than driven through
- A genuine crossing — in at Gilgit, out at Chitral, not a there-and-back
- Our own 4x4s on the unsealed pass road, where the drive-out matters most
- Mastuj and the upper Chitral valley on the western side
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 2,600 | A full crew for two people |
| 3 – 4 | USD 2,150 | |
| 5 – 8 | USD 1,800 | 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 Gilgit to Phander Guesthouse
West out of Gilgit into Ghizer, with the river most of the way. The best driving day of the trip.
02 Phander Guesthouse
The lake and the valley, at walking pace. A day most itineraries skip and shouldn't.
03 Phander to Shandur Camp · 3,700 m
Up to the pass and the polo ground. Cold camp, big sky, and nobody else on it.
04 Shandur to Mastuj Guesthouse
Down the western side into upper Chitral. Slow road, long views.
05 Mastuj to Chitral Hotel
Down the valley to the town, with Tirich Mir above it if the day is clear.
06 Chitral, and onward —
Air or road out, or straight on to the Kalash valleys.
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 trekking and no fitness requirement. The demand is hours in a vehicle on a rough unsealed road, and the Shandur crossing is the roughest road on any trip we sell.
Two things to declare at enquiry. Back trouble, because this is the trip that finds it. And any history of altitude illness: the pass is 3,700 m and the camp, if you take the tented night, is at the top. Most people are fine and a few get a headache. We would rather know in advance than manage it at the pass, where the drive to help is long.
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 to Gilgit
By air when the weather allows, or by road up the Karakoram Highway. We build a buffer day either way.
Across the pass
West from Gilgit through Ghizer and Phander, over Shandur, and down to Mastuj and Chitral.
Out of Chitral
By air when the weather allows, or by road through the Lowari tunnel.
Questions people actually ask
How fit do I need to be, and how rough is the road?
No fitness requirement — there is no walking you have to do. The demand is hours in a vehicle on the roughest unsealed road we drive on any trip. It is why we run our own 4x4s rather than hiring. If you have back problems, say so at enquiry: this is the trip that finds them.
Can we see the Shandur polo festival?
Not on this trip. The tournament is a fixed week in July with its own dates, its own tented accommodation and its own planning, and it is sold separately. This trip is deliberately the pass without it.
How many days does the crossing take?
Six Gilgit to Chitral at a pace that includes two nights in Ghizer. It can be driven in three. It is a much worse trip in three.
How high is the pass and will I feel it?
3,700 m at the top. Most people notice it as a headache or poor sleep if they camp there, and nothing worse. We come up from Phander rather than from Gilgit in a day, which is the gentler profile.
Do I need a permit to cross Shandur?
No trekking permit. Foreign visitors are registered at checkposts along the route, which we handle. Your Pakistan visa is the paperwork that matters and we send a sponsor letter for it.
What does it cost and what moves the price?
Party size, then vehicle days, which are the bulk of a crossing like this. A one-way crossing also means repositioning a vehicle, which is in the price rather than a surcharge. Deposit is 25 per cent.
When can it be driven?
June to September. Shandur is snowbound outside that window and the road closes. If your dates fall outside it, Chitral is reachable through the Lowari tunnel most of the year and we will plan it the other way round.
Can this be combined with Hunza or the Kalash valleys?
Both, and it is designed to. It ends at Chitral, where the Kalash valleys begin, and it starts at Gilgit, where the Karakoram Highway and Hunza begin. Tell us how long you have.
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.
- Ghizer & Phander · Cultural journey Shandur polo festival
If this one is not right
Naltar valley
Phander and Ghizer
Babusar Pass
Easy
Shigar & Braldu · Jeep safari