Shandur polo festival
Overview
An eleven-day journey to the Shandur polo festival, held each July on the pass at 3,700 m between Gilgit and Chitral. Road-based and easy in effort, with a tented night at the pass, and one of the genuinely unreconstructed spectacles left anywhere.
The tournament
Gilgit against Chitral on what is generally called the highest polo ground in the world. Free-style rules, no umpires, and a game that bears only a family resemblance to the sport played elsewhere. It has been contested here for decades and the crowd is as much of the event as the polo.
Living at the pass
There are no hotels at Shandur. Accommodation during the festival is tents, ours included, at 3,700 m where it is cold at night in July. We bring a proper camp with a cook rather than putting you in a hired tent on the grass, and we would rather you over-packed for those nights.
Dates, and lead time
Set annually and announced relatively late. This is the trip we need the longest lead time on, because transport and camp space around the pass are taken early. We will tell you the current dates once they are published rather than guessing.
The rest of the route
The journey in is through Ghizer and Phander, which is the best driving in the region and worth two nights. Out the other side is Mastuj and Chitral.
When it runs
July, for the festival.
What is inside the price
All permits and fees, our own 4x4s and drivers for the whole route including the Shandur road, hotels and guesthouses either side, full camp at the pass with cook and mess, all meals, and a guide on our payroll. Medical kit, satellite comms and a written evacuation procedure — which from Shandur is a longer drive than anywhere else in this catalogue — the procedure is published before you pay. For the pass without the crowds, see the Shandur crossing. The rest of Ghizer and Phander and our other cultural journeys.
- Duration
- 9 – 11 days
- Trek days
- 0
- Maximum altitude
- 3,700 m
- Grade
- Easy
- Group size
- Max 10
- Guides
- 2 certified, 1 WFR
- Season
- July
- Starts / ends
- Gilgit / Chitral
- Accommodation
- Hotels and guesthouses, full camp at the pass
- Free-style polo without umpires, on what is generally called the highest polo ground in the world
- Gilgit against Chitral, contested here for decades
- A tented night at 3,700 m, in our own camp with a cook rather than a hired tent
- Ghizer and Phander on the way in, which is the best driving in the region
- A genuine crossing — in from Gilgit, out at Chitral
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 3,300 | A full crew for two people |
| 3 – 4 | USD 2,800 | |
| 5 – 8 | USD 2,300 | 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 Gilgit Hotel
Met at the airport or off the highway. Briefing, SIM and cash.
02 Gilgit to Gupis Guesthouse
West along the Gilgit river into Ghizer.
03 Gupis to Phander Guesthouse
On to the lake, with the afternoon there rather than a photograph from the road.
04 Phander to Shandur Camp · 3,700 m
Up the unsealed road to the pass. Camp built before the crowds settle.
05 The tournament Camp · 3,700 m
Polo, and the crowd, which is as much of the event as the game.
06 The tournament, and the final Camp · 3,700 m
The second day at the ground. Cold night, big sky, and the last of it.
07 Shandur to Mastuj Guesthouse
Down the western side into upper Chitral. Slow road, long views.
08 Mastuj to Chitral Hotel
Down the valley to the town, with Tirich Mir above it if the day is clear.
09 Chitral — town and fort Hotel
The fort, the mosque and the bazaar, at a slower pace after the pass.
10 Chitral — buffer day Hotel
Held against the flight and the Lowari road.
11 Chitral to Islamabad —
Air or road, and the airport.
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 walking you have to do. The demand is a rough unsealed road and a cold night under canvas at 3,700 m.
Two things to declare. Back trouble, because the Shandur road is the roughest we drive. And any history of altitude illness: the pass is 3,700 m and you sleep there, which most people manage without trouble and a few find uncomfortable. We come up from Phander rather than from Gilgit in a day, which is the gentler profile, and the drive to help from the pass 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. A buffer day either way.
Gilgit to Shandur
West through Ghizer and Phander, then up the unsealed pass road, on our own 4x4s.
Out at Chitral
Down the western side through Mastuj, then by air or over the Lowari tunnel.
Questions people actually ask
When exactly is the Shandur polo festival?
In July, and the dates are set annually and announced relatively late. We will tell you the current ones once they are published rather than guessing. This is the trip we need the longest lead time on.
Where do we sleep at the pass?
In tents — there are no hotels at Shandur. We bring a proper camp with a cook rather than putting you in a hired tent on the grass. It is cold at 3,700 m in July and we would rather you over-packed.
How many days do I need?
Eleven, Gilgit to Chitral, including two nights in Ghizer on the way in and a buffer day at the end. It is a crossing rather than an out-and-back.
How fit do I need to be?
Not at all. There is no walking you have to do. The demand is a rough road and a cold night under canvas.
How high is the pass, and do we sleep there?
3,700 m, and yes. Most people manage it without trouble and a few find it uncomfortable. We come up from Phander rather than from Gilgit in a day, which is the gentler profile.
Do I need a permit?
No trekking permit. Foreign visitors are registered at checkposts along the route, which we handle. Your Pakistan visa is the paperwork that matters.
What does it cost and what moves the price?
Party size and vehicle days, then festival-week camp logistics, which are a real cost at a pass with no infrastructure. A one-way crossing also means repositioning a vehicle, which is in the price. Deposit is 25 per cent.
What if I want the pass without the crowds?
Then come outside festival week. For fifty-one weeks of the year Shandur is an empty grass plateau at 3,700 m, and that is a different trip we also sell.
If this one is not quite right
You have already chosen the region, which is the harder decision. These run from the same roadhead.
- Ghizer & Phander · Jeep safari Phander and Ghizer
- Ghizer & Phander · Jeep safari Shandur Pass crossing