Your holiday starts at the hotel in Islamabad. Transfers from Islamabad Airport are provided. The majority of international flights arrive in the early morning and you may want to rest before lunch. The first group get-together will be at lunch, during which the tour leader will provide a pre-trip briefing. If there is the opportunity to include a sightseeing tour today, either in the modern city of Islamabad or in nearby Rawalpindi, a city from the days of the British Raj, it will be optional and there will be a charge payable locally.

Flights to and from Gilgit are too prone to cancellation and partly on account of this we propose to drive to the start of our adventure in the Hunza Valley. Setting off after breakfast, we drive northwards via Abbottabad to Mansehra. Here, we turn away from the Karakoram Highway and head up towards the Babusar Pass through the picturesque forest and meadow landscape of the Kaghan Valley. We stop for lunch en-route and reach our hotel in Naran (2409m) in the late afternoon. Overnighting here provides a useful kick start to our acclimatisation.

Heading up the valley, the scenery becomes increasingly dramatic, culminating in a series of hairpin bends which lead to the pass. The monument at the top provides a great photo opportunity and there are view of snow-capped peaks including, if it is clear, Rakaposhi (7788m) which we will be much closer to at the end of the day. Dropping down to the River Indus near Chilas, our journey continues, with views of the mighty Nanga Parbat (8126m), into the Hunza Valley. We pass Gilgit and reach our hotel in Karimabad in time for dinner.

We will have a pre-dawn start this morning and transfer on a switch-back road, climbing through poplar forest to the renowned Eagle's Nest viewpoint (3000m). Here, we will have an amazing 360 degree panorama across the Hunza Valley. Our guide will identify the big peaks: Ultar, Diran and Rakaposhi, to name only the most prominent. After taking in the vista and the spectacle of Rakaposhi turning gold with the rising sun, we will drive back to Karrimabad for breakfast. Formerly known as Baltit, Karimabad has a couple of ancient and well-preserved historical forts on the outskirts of the town. After breakfast, we will take a stroll through the streets with our guide up to the impressive Baltit Fort which has been updated several times in its more than 700 years of history. The present-day fort, extensively rebuilt at the end of the 19th century (having been dismantled by the British Raj), is rather Tibetan in style with a whitewashed façade, wooden pillars and intricately carved wooden windows and balconies. After lunch we will have a scenic walk of round 45 minutes to an hour, mostly downhill to visit Altit Fort. This fort was built around 1100 years old and is the oldest monument in Gilgit-Baltistan. It was the original home of the Mir of Hunza before he moved his court to the slightly newer Baltit Fort. Altit Fort is characterised by small rooms and low portals with exquisite wood carvings. We will meet our vehicle at Altit for the 30 minute transfer back to Karimabad where we spend a second night.

We start the day with the short drive back down to the Karakoram Highway where we follow the Hunza River downstream for around 30 minutes to Murtaza Abad. Here, we turn off the highway onto a mostly unpaved road and follow the Hunza River upstream, now on its opposite bank. After 20 minutes we reach the confluence of the Hunza and Nagar rivers and follow the latter for a further hour to the collection of small hamlets known as Hopar (2750m). The various hamlets are each set amongst a pretty patchwork of fields and overlooked by distant snow-capped mountains. We will reach the Hopar Inn, overlooking the moraine of the Bualtar Glacier, in time for lunch. The afternoon is free to do some exploring and to meet the people of this welcoming village. Views up the valley, including the overlook of the Bualtar Glacier, which we will cross tomorrow at the start of our trek up to Rush Lake, are impressive.

The first leg of our trek takes us across the Bualtar Glacier, which is one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world (at a rate of 20cm a day!). After leaving the village of Hopar, we soon drop down onto the glacier via a steep zig-zag path. A cairned trail leads across the glacier surface, strewn with moraine and boulders with occasional sections of exposed ice. Just how straightforward this crossing is varies considerably as is to be expected with one of the world's fastest moving glaciers. Microspikes (see Equipment List) may be very useful here and you should carry them with you on this day. It will take anything from 60 to 90 minutes to make the crossing and we then climb across a spur between the Bualtar and Barpu glaciers. Dropping down onto the Barpu we now cross this next glacier, more easily than the former, over moraine rubble and ice for a further hour to finally reach the ablation valley beyond. An easy further hour of walking along this natural feature takes us to our wild campsite amongst sparse woods at a place known as Barpu Giram (3250m).

We are now above 3000 metres and it is sensible to spend another night at this altitude before ascending to our next campsite. The location of our campsite is stunning and we can choose to take a walk further up the valley and to climb the moraine for views of the glacier. This will greatly aid our acclimatisation for the next stage of the trek.

Our route up towards Rush Lake now heads away from the glacier, climbing steeply on a scant trail up to the long ridge that separates the Barpu Glacier from the lower Hispar Valley. After 3 hours of continuous steep climbing, we reach a slightly more level section of ridge where we take our lunch. From here it's a further 2 hours of ascent to our camping place at Childin Hara (4333m). There are excellent views out over a wild and glaciated landscape and over the distant Hunza Valley which is dominated by the peak of Ultar.

We will spend day based at our camp, exploring the mountainside with some gentle walks and enjoying the superlative views that extend down to the village Hopar and the valleys of Hunza and Hispar. Spending a second night here is important for our programme of acclimatisation before heading further up to the objective of our trek: Rush Lake.

The ground steepens as soon as we leave camp, the track climbing through a boulder field for half an hour or so to reach a more level ridge-top trail. We gain height steadily and after around an hour of walking we reach Rush Lake (4694m) and set up camp. The lake is unusual in its ridge-top location and attracts a number of migrating bird species. We may also spot one or two yaks or dzos (yak-cow crossbreeds) grazing on the lakeside pasture. This is a lovely and rarely-visited Karakoram gem and we have the afternoon free to enjoy the far-reaching breath-taking views, notably across to Malubiting (7458m) and down into the Hispar Valley almost 2000 metres below. After lunch, there is the option to hike further up the ridge to the viewpoint known as Rush Phari Peak (5098m) which includes a steep and quite rocky final approach. From the summit, there is an incredible 360-degree mountain panorama. All the high peaks of Hunza can be seen; from Ultar to Diran and Rakaposhi, while to the south, the 'Golden Pillar' of Spantik (7027m) catches the eye. On a clear day, we will be rewarded with views towards the Baltoro giants of K2 (8611m) and Broad Peak (8047m). This optional and extremely rewarding afternoon hike will add 3 to 4 hours to the day's trek.

We have an early start and after breakfast at our lakeside camp, we drop down directly southwards to the Sumaiyar Bar Glacier. It is 1100 metres of descent to the grazing ground, known as Phahi Phari, and this takes around 3 hours, depending on our fitness. From here, we follow a trail beside the glacier for an hour or so until we are beyond its confluence with the Barpu Glacier. We then drop down onto the ice to make the glacier crossing which can take up to 2 hours. Here, we are well above the crossing point that we used at the beginning of our trek and we encounter different conditions. The central part of the glacier is easy going on level white ice, which is not at all slippery on account of the gravel that is melted into its surface. The edges of the glacier, in contrast, are more broken up and we have to take care to find the best route. Microspikes may be useful here. Reaching the west side of the glacier, we continue along the ablation valley between the main hillside and the lateral moraine. This gives very pleasant walking. Eventually the trail traverses the hillside itself high above the glacier and there is a degree of exposure here. However this is the route that the local people use to bring their cattle to the high pastures and the trail is reasonably well maintained. Approximately 2 hours beyond the glacier crossing, we reach the seasonally inhabited settlement of Hamdar (3400m), where there is a collection of stone-built houses and an area of cultivated land surrounded by extensive pasture. From our camp here, there are brilliant views back across the Barpu Glacier to the Golden Pillar of Spantik at the head of the valley. In the evening, if we are lucky, our porters and the local herdsmen will get together for a session of singing and dancing.

Depending on the fitness of the group and the progress we make, we may choose to split yesterday's quite challenging stage. If we completed yesterday's stage as scheduled, we will have more time at the delightful camp at Hamdar. Alternatively, we can spend the morning at Hamdar and then trek out to spend the night at the Hopar Inn. Your Tour Leader will make this call.

We will make an early start for the trek out to Hopar, descending the western margin of the Barpu Glacier on a good trail used by the people of Hopar, as they travel between the main village and their summer shepherding and farming camps. We will reach the Bualtar Glacier by mid-morning and recross it to Hopar. At the village we say farewell to our porters and crew, we drive back to the Karakoram Highway. Passing Gilgit we reach the confluence of the Gilgit River with the Indus, where we turn to follow this iconic river eastwards on a smooth road to reach Skardu by early evening.

After breakfast, we transfer to Skardu Airport where we board our plane for the 1-hour flight back to Islamabad. Arriving in the Pakistani capital, after a period in the mountains, is always a strange experience and it takes a little time to get used to the hustle and bustle and especially the traffic. Our private bus will be waiting at the airport to transfer us to the group hotel and once we have settled in it will be time to take lunch (unless we have experienced unusual flight delays). After lunch, the rest of the day is free for independent sightseeing or to relax at the hotel. Your trip leader will advise you on the possibilities for sightseeing. Shopping for hand-made rugs is a usually popular option. This evening, we come together again for a celebratory meal at the hotel or in a local restaurant.

Skardu is a 'weather dependent' airport and although, unlike Gilgit, the flights do operate on most days, this is an important contingency day in case we have to travel back to Islamabad by road. If we have flown to Islamabad yesterday, this will be a further day for sightseeing in the capital and your leader will advise the group on the options available for today.

Your holiday ends after breakfast. Transfers to Islamabad Airport are provided.