
Shimshal Yak Safari Camp
8–10 Days | High-Altitude Nomadic Camping
Photo Gallery
Camp with Yak Herders on the Pamir Plateau
Shimshal is one of the most remote and highest permanently inhabited villages in Pakistan, sitting at approximately 3,100 metres in the upper Hunza region of Gilgit-Baltistan. The Shimshali people are legendary across Pakistan as exceptional mountaineers and high-altitude herders, maintaining a centuries-old tradition of driving their yak herds to the vast Shimshal Pamir — a high-altitude plateau above 4,700 metres — each summer for grazing. This tour invites you to join that ancient migration and camp alongside the herders in one of the most spectacular and least-visited corners of the Karakoram.
The journey to the Pamir passes through the dramatic Shimshal Gorge, climbing steadily from the village through increasingly stark and beautiful terrain. Beyond the Shimshal Pass (4,735m), the landscape opens onto an immense windswept plateau surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the Karakoram, including Distighil Sar (7,885m) and Kunyang Chhish (7,852m). Yaks graze across the grasslands while herders live in traditional stone shelters, maintaining a way of life unchanged for centuries.
Our camping safari provides an authentic encounter with a remarkable mountain community. You will camp in expedition tents alongside the herders, share meals of salt tea and fresh bread, help with yak herding, and experience a silence broken only by wind and the distant rumble of glaciers. This is not a tourist circuit — it is a genuine immersion into one of Central Asia's last nomadic pastoral traditions.
Quick Facts
8–10 Days
Duration (Islamabad to Islamabad)
Jul–Sep
Best Season
Moderate-Strenuous
Difficulty Level
~4,735m
Max Elevation (Shimshal Pass)
Shimshal Village
Starting Point
4–10 Campers
Group Size