Nanga Parbat

You can see it from several sides, each with its own character. From Fairy Meadows and Beyal you face the Rakhiot side, with 4,600 m of ice rising directly above the camp. From the south, the view from Rupal is the Rupal face, the largest mountain wall on earth. From Rama you see it with a lake and a birch forest in front. Even the flight from Islamabad to Gilgit passes over the massif, one of the most memorable flights in the country.

The mountain sits on a weather boundary too. Much of Gilgit-Baltistan is not affected by the monsoon, but the land south of Nanga Parbat lies on the northern edge of the monsoon belt, which helps explain how green the forests around it are.

The easy and popular way to meet the mountain is to Fairy Meadows and on to Beyal. Beyond Beyal the track passes an icy stream from the Ganalo glacier on the way to base camp. Our trek goes to the Rakhiot moraine, with the face towering above you.