Chawmos & Pakistan Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Lahore

The group will meet in Lahore, the cultural capital and heart of the Punjab. We will have a trip briefing at the hotel followed by a group dinner.

Day 2 & 3: Lahore

We will spend the next couple of days getting to know Lahore. We’ll wander ancient bazaars, pay visits to mosques, try local food, check out the music scene, and even meet with local photojournalists to explore the city.

Day 4: Lahore & Overnight Train To Peshawar

We’ll spend today diving a little deeper into Lahore before boarding a train overnight to Peshawar. We’ll arrive in Peshawar in the early morning where we’ll be met by a local guide who will who us the ethnic Pashtun caravan city.

Peshawar has a troubled recent history but situations have improved in the last few years. Today we’ll meet locals in tea shops, appreciate Peshawar’s architecture and explore the sprawling bazaars.

Day 5: Peshawar / Islamabad

Today we’ll depart Peshawar to make the drive to Islamabad, Pakistan’s completely planned capital city. We’ll spend the afternoon getting to know and eating our way through the capital.

Day 6: Chitral

We will take the once-weekly flight from Islamabad to Chitral in the mountainous Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. If the flight is canceled for any reason, we will have to make the trip overland, which will take about two days.

Day 7: Chitral Gol National Park

As long as we make the Chitral flight today will be spent exploring Chitral Gol National Park, looking for Marco Polo sheep, ibex, and if we’re exceptionally lucky snow leopards. If we have to drive from Islamabad this will be a buffer day for transit.

Day 8-9: Kalash Valleys Chawmos Festival

Let the music, dancing and goat sacrifice commence. Chawmos is a Kalash new year festival held around winter solstice.

Impure persons will not be admitted to Chawmos, first, they will be purified with fire. Men will have to undergo a special fire ritual where a shaman will wave juniper branches over the,. Women and kids are purified by waving a firebrand over them. Once purified the celebrations begin.

Goat sacrifices, feasts, dancing singing, and wine drinking are just a small part of the festivities that will ensue over the next few days.

Day 10-13: Ghizar

Next, we head to Ghizar to immerse into the local culture, trek in epic mountain landscapes, and stay in traditional homestays.

Day 14: Gilgit / Islamabad

Today we plan to take a flight in the morning from Gilgit to Islamabad, though the flight is commonly canceled if there is even a hint of bad weather on the horizon. In that case we will plan to drive back to Islamabad, a 12-16 hour drive down the Karakoram Highway.

Day 15: Depart from Islamabad

Departures from Islamabad Airport, no scheduled actives today.

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