Fairy Meadows is probably Pakistan’s top tourist attraction, it’s accessed via one of the worlds most dangerous roads and then it’s a 3 hour hike to reach the meadows. We woke early in the village of Tato and set off by 7am under clear blue skies. It didn’t take long to get out first view of Nanga Parbat, known as the ‘Killer Mountain’ for claiming 62 lives, 31 of those lives were before anyone had even stepped foot on the summit. It’s the 9th highest mountain in the world at a whopping 8126m and it’s slathered in thick glaciers. A gradual climb led us up the valley and then we switchbacked towards Fairy Meadows which isn’t really a meadow anymore but a vast green pasture dotted with hotels and huts. Tourism will no doubt be its downfall and behind the newly built hotels were rustic old cabins where the locals live, all made of rock and wood with flat roofs covered in turf. There was no denying it being a beautiful place though, Nanga Parbat dominated the backdrop.

We took a little stroll past the cricket pitch and to the reflection pond before heading out of ‘town’ to a wilder area further up the valley known as Beyal. That’s where we’ll be staying for the next two nights and as soon as we arrived we knew we made the right choice. There were lush green fields dotted with cows and rustic wooden cabins which offered accommodation so we checked into one with the most incredible mountain view from the terrace. It was a basic room with rather smelly bedding and a simple bathroom with squatter toilet and a bucket and scoop to wash with but we were happy, the view was jaw dropping.

Our host welcomed us with green tea and then we spent the rest of the day sat on our terrace with a blanket on our laps whilst we gawped at the view. It was so nice watching the weather change, the clouds were rolling in and out and then the sun stained the glaciers a dusty pink colour. Dinner was also enjoyed on our terrace and it was so tasty! We had Dahl, curried vegetables, rice and chapatis.

Our host told us sunrise was at 4:30am so we made sure to set our alarms and head outside but nothing happened for 45 minutes! We were rather cold standing outside waiting for the sun to hit the peaks so Craig wore the floral bed blanket like a cloak. When a donkey casually strolled past him I cracked up laughing because it looked like a scene from the bible, Craig was one of the wise men offering Frankincense. Once the sun was up we felt like the view wasn’t as impressive as the sunset the previous night so we went back to bed for a couple of hours.

At 7am we were back up and out the door, ready to hike to Nanga Parbat base camp. It was a 8km return walk with 400m incline so nothing too strenuous but we were happy to start hiking early, it was already getting hot. On our way up Craig’s stomach began churning and thankfully we came across a toilet where he exploded. Good news is he didn’t have to go again after that so it seems like whatever disagreed with him was out his system.

We knew the hike would offer glacier views but it definitely took us by surprise when we saw it for the first time. Some of the glacier was pure white while the other side was grey and covered in gravel – a recipe for disaster if you mistake it for gravel instead of a glacier riddled with crevasses. It spilt down the mountain like frozen lava and then continued down the valley, probably for a couple of kilometers. The shapes of the glacier were fascinating, some areas were smooth or like layered hills while others were jagged shards, pointing towards the sky.

There were two routes on my map leading to the base camp, one ran parallel to the glacier and the other went higher up and involved a walk across a smaller glacier which sounded a bit iffy to us so we picked the lower route and we were really hoping it would be easy to follow as some people said they recommended a guide. We had two obstacles on the route which were gushing, brown rivers, at first we thought we’d have to turn back and take the high route but both rivers ended up having bridges across which was a relief. When we looked up above the second river we could see the glacier we’d of had to traverse and we were very glad we avoided that challenge. A couple of herders ushered hundreds of goats our way which was fun to witness them trotting along the bridges.

After about an hour walking alongside the glacier our path headed right and led us through a lush meadow filled with colourful flowers, butterflies and toxic looking caterpillars which were a metallic green colour. One area of the meadows was filled with pink flowers and little marmots who poked their heads up in curiosity. Marmots always live in the most impressive mountain locations. Then we had the final slog uphill towards the basecamp. There was a spring at the top where we filled up with water and a hut donning a huge Pakistan flag that swayed in the wind. I looked at my map and the base camp was actually lower down than us, tucked in a nook across the meadow, there didn’t seem much point heading there as our end goal, instead we continued further up the hill, to almost 4000m elevation where we got an amazing 360° view of the mountains and glaciers.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather, the mountain was crisp and visible all day but with good weather comes the heat and we were finding it very hot on our way back and started reevaluating our plans for longer hikes we had in mind in Pakistan as I just don’t think we have the energy for them. We arrived back at our hut by 1pm and spent the rest of the day on the terrace sipping our green tea, admiring the view and people watching. Some of the locals practiced their polo skills on horses, I didn’t like witnessing that to be honest, the horses all seemed pissed off and agitated. Goats and cows would roam past until an employee of our guesthouse spotted them and shooed them away. One time a couple of locals just got a speaker out and began dancing in a rather feminine way with lots of spinning around and hand twisting. I liked seeing the different things locals wore, most of them were in a traditional shalwar kameez two piece outfit but many had a woolly tank top or tweed jacket on top.

The day of our departure we woke to more crisp blue skies and Nanga Parbat dominating the landscape. We enjoyed some chai and roti to get us ready for the hike back down to the jeep station. It was a 9.3km hike with 1000m elevation loss and we could feel the air warming up with every step. We said goodbye to the dreamy meadows that looked like they belonged in Switzerland and after 3 hours we arrived at the jeep area. We were actually two hours earlier than we agreed but the good news is we spotted our jeep with the distinctive ‘RIP’ number plate so now we just had to find the driver. We showed the photo of him to other drivers, a phone call was made and 10 minutes later Boozoman arrived. He had a friend with him though who he asked if he could get a ride with us for free which we agreed to. We did have another hitchhiker though, a local man in traditional dress with a floppy wool hat on. He hung onto the outside of the car which we didn’t feel very comfortable with, firstly it was blocking our escape route should anything happen on the journey and secondly the driver couldn’t get as close to the rock walls with him there which meant we had to drive unnecessarily close to the edge. We were getting close to complaining but waited until we passed a village in case he hopped off and thankfully he did exactly that and the road didn’t feel half as scary driving along it for the second time.

Once we arrived back at Raikot Bridge we collected our luggage from the Shangri-La hotel and then made our way to the main road to see if we could find any public transport or hitch a ride. The area had a strange vibe from some locals, we noticed it in fairy meadows, sometimes we’d say ‘Salam aleykum’ or pass a smile and receive nothing back. We stopped at a shop to get some water before we began hitching and the shop owner totally ignored us!! Craig said Salam Aleykum twice and I said hello and he just acted like we weren’t there. We decided to walk out without buying anything which was a bit risky considering it was sweltering hot and we only and about 500ml of water to our names. Luckily some friendly chaps in a truck pulled over for us and squeezed up so we could get the four of us in the front seats with our luggage on our laps. The journey was slow as the truck was so laden with weight and Craig laughed when I suggested it could be slow because we were now in the vehicle. Half way to Gilgit the driver stopped to get some food and we waited in the shade. Young boys were collecting and cutting wild green tea but as soon as they spotted us they stopped working to almost form a circle of curiosity around us. We didn’t get the warmest vibes from the kids, similar to some of the people we met in fairy meadows so maybe this area is Pakistan just has a different vibe because as soon as we arrived in Gilgit we were welcomed so warmly by the locals.