When you travel this road expect to be terrified. It is like flying in a jeep. The most terrifying places could not be photographed because I was clinging to the jeep in fear of flying into the clouds below. Don't drink the mountain water, it is full of bacteria. Schedule a trip in Islamabad. Check with PIA. When I went there the Pakistani government had "guides" and a jeep waiting for us in Gilgit(Kashmere). Pakistan and India are at war here most of the time. It is very difficult to be allowed into this area. In view of the current situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan it is not advisable to even go there now. This place is very inaccesable and dangerous. If you really want to know about the history of this area read a boo titled "The struggle for Empire in Central Asia"

People here live to be over 120 years old and older all the time. The plane flight from Islamabad up the Indus river is awesome and dangerous with mountainsides just off the wing tips. There is now a jeep road from Islamabad to Gilgit. It is longer but less dangerous. It is a pity that the most beautiful place on earth is such a place of warfare and violence. Man's inhumanity to man ruins the earth.