Karachi to Hunza (Pakistan) in an '86 Corolla, Eventually

Fifteen minutes out of Zahir Pir, I realised my national ID card was still sitting with the hotel manager.

I turned the car around. This was day two of fourteen, and it remains the most efficient mistake of the trip: over in half an hour, with the ID back in my pocket. The other mistakes took longer.

In May 2016 my family and I drove from Karachi to Hunza and Gupis and back in a Corolla that was, by my arithmetic, thirty years old. We left on 5 May and got home on 18 May. This is the story of that trip, as far as my notes allow. They allow Day 1 to Day 6 in detail. After that I have an itinerary, a fuel log and a camera roll, and I'll tell you when we get there.

Day 1: Karachi to Zahir Pir, in which the trunk wins

We left at 5:45am. The plan said 5. We couldn't get everything into the trunk the night before, so the packing carried over into the morning, and the trunk and I settled it on its terms.

I had also tinted the door windows with white tennis shoe polish, on the advice of an experienced traveller, to reflect the sun and help the air conditioner. It did not help the air conditioner. It made the car look like it had lost an argument with a snowman. I would like it noted that this was advice, and that I take advice.

On the Karachi–Hyderabad Motorway, FWO and NHA were doing construction, which meant two diversions of about 2 km each. We crawled through them at 10 to 20 km/h and lost around 40 minutes. At that speed a Corolla and its driver have time to reflect on the word "motorway".

Sindh police stopped us at several checkposts. At one of them, a policeman became so committed to checking our engine number that he started comparing the engine and chassis numbers against the numbers embossed on the engine. After several unsuccessful attempts, he let us go. I don't know what he was hoping to find, but I admire the rigour.

We stopped in Ghotki for lunch and ate moong ki daal and bhindi that were, without exaggeration, outstanding. If you pass through, it's near the intersection of the N5 with two roads. Eat here.

We reached Zahir Pir at sunset and stayed at the Bismillah Hotel. We didn't want to drive after dark. (This will come up again.)

Day 2: Zahir Pir to Rawalpindi, in which we do drive after dark

The Bismillah was okay, apart from the lizards. They wandered through the rooms and the grounds as if they owned the place. We were the guests, technically, but the lizards had seniority.

We left at 7:30am, properly this time, ID card included.

It was a Friday, which turned out to matter. In Toba Tek Singh it was hard to find a restaurant serving lunch. When we found one, they took an hour and a half to prepare mixed vegetables and a rice they called biryani. I will not be taking questions about the biryani.

We got onto the Motorway at Gojra around 4:30 or 5pm, and the Corolla suddenly flew at 100 to 110 km/h. There wasn't another car on the road. It was a strange feeling, like arriving at a party after everyone had left.

Then it got dark, around Kalar Kahar. I don't know whether it was my first steep climbs or the dark so far from home, but I couldn't keep up with the traffic. I kept dropping my speed and my RPM and downshifting so often that the gearbox must have assumed we were negotiating.

We reached Rawalpindi at 10:30pm and checked in to the Midway Hotel around 11. Everyone was tired. We decided to rest the next day and only go as far as Mansehra or Abbottabad.

Day 3: Rawalpindi to Mansehra, in which I leave a perfectly good hotel

We woke around 10am and had halwa puri and chai in the city, which is the correct way to recover from a motorway. We left for Mansehra at 1pm and reached it around 6.

Just before the city we found the Karakoram Hotel and left it, because I was sure there was something better. Guess what. There wasn't. We ended up at the Sky Inn, near the bus stand. (Remember the Karakoram Hotel. It does not forget.)

Day 4: Mansehra to Besham, in which I try to drive over the wrong bridge

I thought the tough days were about to begin. They didn't, which I found suspicious. Day 4 turned out to be fine and even fun.

We left Mansehra at 7:30am and got something to eat around Shinkiari, I think. Twice on the road we got a free car wash, courtesy of waterfalls that fall straight onto the tarmac. A man in a Bolan, apparently unsatisfied with his first pass, reversed and went through again. I respect a customer who knows what he didn't pay for.

At Thakot Bridge, I almost drove onto the new bridge, the one for incoming traffic. Some locals pointed this out, and I turned the car around with all the dignity of a true Karachi wala.

We reached PTDC Besham around 1pm. I think it is overrated for what it is, but people just want somewhere to stay before the push to Chilas, and there's no real alternative. The egg fried rice was good. Don't order the daal or the mixed vegetables unless you want to know what it feels like to eat in a hospital.

Day 5: Besham to Chilas, in which the road tests our manners

We needed to reach Chilas, so we started early. PTDC Besham's manager packed our breakfast to eat on the road. I changed the car's air filter, in case of dust. We left at 6am. This was planning, and I was proud of it.

A few kilometres out we stopped for tea and I noticed another hotel on a turn. I made a mental note to try it on the way back, so that we wouldn't stay in the same places twice.

Just when I thought the journey couldn't get any better, we reached Dasu. It got worse. It got worse to the point that we started cursing every official in the government, a hobby that fills a lot of kilometres. We kept going until we reached a place with a huge waterfall and lots of hotels where truck drivers and buses stop for lunch. I think it was Sazin. I washed my face, drank a lot of water and refilled the bottles.

A note for anyone taking the Besham, Dasu and Chilas route: carry plenty of water. Kohistan is very hot, and you can't run the air conditioner when your car is struggling to manage 20 km/h.

There was a heavy landslide five to ten kilometres past Dasu. We waited about 35 minutes and even then only one vehicle could cross at a time.

At that stop I asked a tandoor wala about the road, and he said it would get better after Shatiyal. It did get better. By better, I mean bearable.

The school run on this road is a struggle. Kids going to school got a lift out of Dasu.

We reached Chilas around 3pm. We were too hungry and tired to push on to Gilgit, so we stayed at Shangrila. The hotel food was below average, but the dinner we bought from local restaurants was good.

While parking, I noticed black smoke coming out of the exhaust. This was concerning, because I didn't know what it meant. It could have been anything from a dying engine to a part that had already died. I googled it, which is how I diagnose most things. It said the fuel-to-air mixture was off and that this was easily fixed, which was a relief. One thing was certain: it would burn more fuel, and I should not ask any mechanic in Chilas to touch it.

Let's reach Hunza first, then.

Day 6: Chilas to Gilgit and Hunza, in which the road is finally paved

We woke at 6, left Shangrila at 7, and found a chai dhaaba in Chilas bazaar serving puri paratha with chanay, andaa and malayi. It was delicious. If you're ever in Chilas, go.

We left Chilas at 8am. The road from Chilas to Raikot Bridge is in bad condition, worse than the stretch from Shatiyal to Chilas. But I'd heard from other travellers that it improves after Raikot, and it did. After so long without proper tarmac I got excited and revved the Corolla to almost 80 or 90 near Gilgit. This is how a man drives who has not seen asphalt in two days.

Video: Chilas to Gilgit on the Karakoram Highway

Gilgit-Baltistan's policemen were kind, and they offered us chai. In Karachi, they'd be asking for chai-paani, not offering it. I needed a moment to swallow that, and not because of the tea.

Somewhere between Gilgit and Hunza, a glacier had fallen onto the road. By the time we got there the road was clear, and we stopped briefly to enjoy nature's deep freezer.

We stopped at the Rakaposhi viewpoint for a couple of minutes.

We reached Karimabad around 2:30 or 3pm and took rooms at the Al-Barakaat Hotel for Rs 2,500 a day. I'm not sure if that's reasonable or expensive. That night on our walk, a Hi-Ace van was circling, looking for rooms for 20 people, and every hotel was full. The placard on the van said PCB Officials. I'm not saying anything. I'm only saying I got a room by turning up at 3pm, and I'm not even an official.

The food at Al-Barakaat was expensive and below average, so eat at the restaurants instead. We bought dinner from The Roof Top Restaurant (biryani, above average) and Rainbow (qorma, just okay). On another day we had karhayi at the Roof Top and it was very good. That's the one I'd recommend.

Video: Karakoram Highway, fast-paced

Days 7 to 14: the part of the trip I can only prove with receipts

The thread I wrote at the time stops at Day 6. For the rest of the trip I have an itinerary, a fuel log, and the photos on my camera roll. That is what you are getting, and a fuel log is a surprisingly honest witness. It doesn't exaggerate, and it never says it was fine when it wasn't.

Day 7: Karimabad, in which we stand still

A rest day by our standards. We walked the Karimabad bazaar, went up to Baltit Fort, and drove to Duikar, which people also call Eagle's Nest. The fuel log shows one refuel, in Hunza: Rs 1,500.

Day 8: Hunza to Sost and back to Minapin

We drove up to Sost, turned around, and stayed at the Diran Guest House in Minapin, Nagar. Refuelled in Sost (Rs 1,000) and Aliabad (Rs 750).

Day 9: Minapin to Gupis

Next stop was the Gupis Valley and PTDC Gupis. We refuelled in Gilgit (Rs 570) and Gahkuch (Rs 700) on the way.

Day 10: Gupis to Chilas

We stayed at the Fairy Meadows Hotel, which is a lot to live up to. Refuelled in Gupis (Rs 590) and Gilgit (Rs 900).

Day 11: Chilas to Mansehra

We stayed at the Karakoram Hotel. Yes, that one. The one I'd walked out of eight days earlier. It was still there. I'd like to think it was gracious about it. Refuelled in Chilas (Rs 710), Dasu (Rs 850) and Battgram (Rs 1,100).

Day 12: Mansehra to Bhurban

We stayed at the Kotwal Hotel and refuelled in Abbottabad (Rs 1,000).

Day 13: Bhurban to Bahawalpur

A long one, judging by the fuel log: Islamabad (Rs 1,500), the Motorway (Rs 1,650) and Shorkot (Rs 1,700). We stayed at the New Premier Hotel in Bahawalpur.

Day 14: Bahawalpur to Karachi

Refuelled in Bahawalpur (Rs 1,600), Daharki (Rs 1,800), Moro (Rs 1,550) and Hyderabad (Rs 1,720), and drove home.

We left on 5 May and got back on 18 May with the same car, the same family, and my ID card.

The boring but useful bit

Where we stayed

Tips from the road - Karachi to Hyderabad Motorway: expect construction diversions. - Carry plenty of water between Dasu and Chilas. - Eat at the restaurants in Karimabad rather than at the hotel. - Ghotki lunch stop: near the N5 intersection with two roads.

Taxman: the fuel log

Readings are from the trip odometer, which resets at 1,000 km. Amounts are in rupees.

By my addition, the logged refuels come to Rs 38,965.