I am considering the Baltoro/Gondogoro La Trek during the summer of 2013. Many of the Pakistan trekking companies recommended on this board spend two nights at Concordia and give you the opportunity to day hike to K2 base camp on one of those days. John Mock and Kimberly O'Neal recommend moving camp from Concordia to K2 base camp for one or more nights in their 2002 edition of Trekking in the Karakorum & Hindukush. (Lonely Planet, out of print). For those of you that have actually been to Concordia, K2 and Broad Peak Base Camps, is it worth camping at K2 or Broad Base Camps? Do you get significantly different views of the mountains than at Concordia? Are these base camps so overrun with climbers that there are few places to camp? If you were going to do the trek again, would you spend an extra day in this area or anywhere else along the trek? It seems that the Concordia area is so beautiful that it warrants an extra day. Has anyone taken the side trip to Gasherbrum I Base Camp? Is it worth it? I understand that it is too far to visit and return to Concordia in one day. I understand that many trekking companies will customize a trip to meet your needs.
dztang, thanks for your post and the pics. I really enjoyed them. I've started corresponding with Snowland Treks since they have such great reviews on this board. In their standard itinerary for the Baltoro/Gondogoro La Trek, the trek is actually 13 days. How many days did you plan for the trek? Did you plan some extra contingency days and how many? Did you wish that you would have changed that number after the trek? I know that Snowland can customize a trip; I'm just trying to decide how best to customize it and leave adequate time in case of bad weather or illness. It seems their basic 13 day trek doesn't allow a lot of flexibility.
Also, it looked like you went to Peshawar. Did you do that independently or with Snowland? I see that you are from the States. Did you feel safe in Peshawar?
Finally, what is that plant that someone (you?) has to their mouth? (alicamp2hushe > IMG_0623.JPG) Rhubarb?
Yeah, it is worth the effort to camp at base camps of K2, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum. Scenery at these base camps is superb, once there to be surrounded on all sides by stunning mountain faces is awe-inspiring.
No space issue at these base camps. The trek to K2, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum Base Camps includes a long walk, but taken slowly it's not a problem as it doesn't create such a risk of altitude-related problems. it's worthwhile to exit via Ghondogoro La, even though that involves fairly long ascents. The views are well worth the effort.
I've done trek program Grand Base Camps which went to the base camps of Trango Tower, K2 , Broad Peak and Gasherbrum, giving a thrilling range of scenery. The trek program gives you a wide range of landscapes, several days in delightful rural areas, and the ever-nearer views of 8000 m mountains, this is a mind-blowing experience of being surrounded by huge peaks . If you are looking at spectacular glacier with great awesome scenery and nice views of the peaks up real close and some gorgeous pics, do the base camps.
Worth dropping them an email at info@visitpakistanonline.com checking them out at www.vepakistan.com. Very professional and competent, relatively inexpensive, and Pakistanis-owned. You will not be paying for glossy brochures, advertising, UK or US offices, or western guides (though you will have an english-speakng Balti guide) which is why Pakistan-owned firms will be cheaper.
tomtraveller,
we did it in 13 days, not too tight, it's only a 3-hr walking the last day. You need to consider driving or flying to/from Skardu, flight cancellation is often due to bad weather. Driving takes two days. the contigency days should including that, not just the time on the trek. We drove from Islamabad to Skardu(bad weather) and fly back from Skardu to ISB. I added 4 extra days, and luckily, didn't use any, so I spent in Lahore and Peshawar.
Peshawar is safe to travel, maybe not the tribal area which is 30km away to the border. I didn't use any guide
and was on my own. Nowadays, some of the news media is simply irresponsible.
Yorkfoodie is right, DON'T use any non Pakistan-owned travel agents. My second suggestion is, use land
transportation at least one way on KKH. Don't fly in and out. You won't know how much you have missed if you
fly only.
hi!
I'm interested to do this trekking in the next year with group of 4-6 friends. The views are spectacular!I would like to see as much as it's possible during 2-3 weeks on the mountain. How can I organize it? Could somebody tell mi, what is the cost of agency per person nowadays? Regards.
Last week I emailed Snowland Treks and Tours(link above). they haven't set their 2013 prices yet, but they indicated that it would be very similar to their 2012 prices. On their standard Baltoro/Gondogoro La Trek (trek 13 days - in Country 22 days), they indicated that this trek and tour was $1550 USD/person for 4 people. With only two people, it went up considerably. With 6, it would probably decrease a little. Of course, you can customize your own trip to include something different or spend more time in the Country. Also, on their website, you can upgrade or downgrade the hotels that you stay at to add or reduce your cost.
The prices depends on the type of service you expect/want & hotel you want to stay.However am sure the prices for next will not much different then this year.
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