Museum sights in Karakoram Highway
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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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Fong Khar
The main landmark in Shigar village is Fong Khar, the former Raja of Shigar's fort-palace, now a luxury hotel and museum showcasing the impressive rustic architecture and the fascinating lifestyle of Shigar's rich and famous. The timber-and-stone palace has natural rock foundations and merges almost seamlessly into the mountainside, on top of which are the ruins of an earlier fort, Sinigma Khar. It's a five-minute walk from the road, up the left side of the stream, and has a lovely restaurant worth investigating even if you're not staying the night.
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Cultural Museum
A unique collection of Hunza history is packed into the dusty Cultural Museum: utensils, musical instruments, a stuffed snow leopard, gems and firearms, including the matchlock gun said to have injured the British commander at the Battle of Nilt in 1891. If it isn't open, ask at the nearby Hunza Marco Polo Inn.
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Italian K2 Museum
The huge tent in the garden of the PTDC K2 Motel was set up in 2004 to commemorate the first successful summiting of K2 by an Italian expedition in 1954. There are numerous interesting photos documenting this expedition as well as previous expeditions into remote Baltistan. Well worth a look.
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