Sights in Hunza & Nagyr
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Baltit Fort
The oldest parts of Baltit Fort date from the 13th century. Over the years more houses and towers were added, and it was fortified. To cement an alliance with Baltistan's Maqpon dynasty in the 17th century, Mir Ayesho II (great-grandson of the legendary Girkis) married a daughter of the Balti ruler, who sent artisans to build a fort at nearby Altit. The princess then came to live in Hunza, bringing her own artisans to improve Baltit Fort.
Balti-style renovation continued under the reign of Ayesho II's son. The name Baltit probably dates from this time. The fort took on its present appearance only in the last century or so. Mir Nazim Khan added outer walls and fixed up hi…
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Ganish Village
The restoration of Ganish Village is particularly good and won a Unesco Asia Pacific Heritage Award. While Baltit Fort shows how the cream of society lived, Ganish shows another side of traditional Hunza life. Behind a shaded, tranquil tank are several richly carved wooden mosques, 100 to 200 years old, the restoration of which clinched the award. Legend has it that Ganish warriors practised their river-crossing techniques in the tank before crossing the Hunza River to attack Nagyr villages.
The timber-and-stone watchtower from the days of war with Nagyr is a tight squeeze but worth the climb. Particularly interesting is the use of the cool glacier meltwater to store food…
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Channel Walk
A three- or four-hour walk along the main water channels from Ultar Nala is a good way to see Hunza at its best. Try to avoid the delicate side channels.
Climb past the polo ground, bearing left beside the channel there. The path goes down the valley all the way to Hyderabad Nala. There, scramble down to the link road and turn back towards Karimabad. You can soon drop to a lower channel that goes all the way back. You can go right on around Karimabad, past Mominabad to the headworks behind Baltit Fort, although the channel goes underground for part of the way.
Both these channels and the newer, higher channels distribute water from Ultar. There are seven channels running t…
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Queen Victoria Monument
The Queen Victoria Monument at the top of the rock face behind Karimabad can be reached in an hour from Baltit. Take the channel path above the polo ground. Five minutes out, cross the channel and climb stone steps beside an old watchtower. At the top of the village, scramble over to a shallow cleft with some very large boulders. Go straight up to the base of the cliff before crossing over to the monument; avoid a diagonal crossing of the face because the top Ultar water channel spills down it.
Thought to be erected by Nazim Khan, in Burushaski, the monument is called Malikamu Shikari (ma-li-ka-mu shi-ka-ri).
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Sacred Rocks at Hunza
Sacred Rocks at Hunza is about 1.5km east on the KKH at a place called Haldekush are several stony rises. The rocks, with pictures and inscriptions from as early as the 1st century, are a 'guest book' of the valley. In addition to local traditions, they tell of Buddhist pilgrims, kings of the Kushan empire, a 6th-century Chinese ambassador, 8th-century Tibetan conquerors and even KKH workers.
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Mominabad Village
In the Northern Areas there are traces of an ancient caste system, in which musicians and artisans ranked low. In the past they were often segregated in their own separate villages. Though it's quite ordinary looking, Mominabad (old name Berishal), near a turn on the Ganish-Karimabad road, was such a village. Its people even speak their own dialect, Berishki.
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