Discover Hunza Valley

In northern Pakistan, where the borders of China and Afghanistan converge, three of Earth’s greatest mountain ranges meet in a collision of geological titans. The Karakoram, Himalayas, and Hindu Kush create an amphitheater of peaks surrounding the Hunza Valley—a 7,900 square kilometer realm of terraced orchards, glacial rivers, and villages perched at 2,438 meters elevation. More than a dozen summits exceeding 7,000 meters ring the valley: Rakaposhi at 7,788 meters dominates the southern horizon, while Ultar Sar’s 7,388-meter ice walls loom directly above the ancient capital of Karimabad. To the north, the 56-kilometer Batura Glacier—the world’s seventh-longest outside polar regions—feeds the Hunza River’s turquoise waters.

This landscape was forged by the same tectonic forces that created the Himalayas, and it continues to reshape itself dramatically. On January 4, 2010, a massive landslide thundered down the valley walls, damming the Hunza River and creating Attabad Lake—a 21-kilometer turquoise jewel now reaching depths of over 100 meters. The catastrophe submerged villages and severed the Karakoram Highway, yet the lake has become one of Pakistan’s most striking natural attractions. Engineers responded by boring five tunnels totaling 7 kilometers through the mountains—the Pakistan-China Friendship Tunnels—restoring the legendary highway that traces ancient Silk Road caravan routes.