Legends of the Karakoram and Himalaya (Pakistan/India)

Thirteen nights from Islamabad to Ladakh, guided, through Pakistan and India, with a land border crossing in the middle.

Two countries in one trip is unusual here for an obvious reason, and the way it is done is on foot at Wagah, where the two armies perform a border ceremony every evening that has to be seen to be believed.

Islamabad opens it, then a flight to Gilgit and Hunza, with Rakaposhi, Diran and Ultar all above seven thousand metres in view, the Baltit Fort above Karimabad and the Duikar viewpoint. Sost follows up the Karakoram Highway by Attabad Lake, which a landslide created in 2010, the Hussaini hanging bridge and the Passu glaciers, to the Khunjerab Pass, the highest road border crossing in the world. Chilas comes next down the Indus with Buddhist-era rock carvings beside the road, then Naran over the Babusar Pass and Lake Lulusar, and Islamabad by Muzaffarabad and Taxila. Lahore, Wagah and Amritsar’s Golden Temple follow, then Royal Enfields for the Indian leg, Patnitop, Kashmir and Khardung La.

The bike hire is included, with a ZongShen RX3 in Pakistan and a Royal Enfield in India; the full inclusions are not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. Two visas are needed and both take planning. June to September is the season, since Khunjerab and Khardung La are both shut outside it. Travel advice for both countries is worth checking before booking. Fourteen days covering the Karakoram Highway, the Kaghan valley, Kashmir and Ladakh in one trip is remarkable value at this price, and the Hunza valley is the part that tends to surprise people most: apricot orchards and very old forts sitting under a wall of seven-thousand-metre peaks.