There is a hollow thwack as tennis ball meets cricket bat and it flies into a grassy opening beyond our brightly domed tents. A surreal scene unfolds, porters and trekkers scrambling to retrieve the ball in our camp sandwiched between towers of soaring rock. Having flown to Skardu in the Gilgit-Baltistan region in the north-east of Pakistan, we headed for the village of Kanday.
At 3,000 metres above sea level, this was to be the launchpad for adventures in the Nangma Valley, often referred to as the “Yosemite of Pakistan” – though without the crowds. Read Next The Atlantic islands with puffins, hiking trails, under-sea tunnels and new flights Our trek began over fast-flowing snow-melt, around Ice Age boulders and through electric-green fields of young wheat and potatoes lined with poplars. Leaving the terraces, the trail wound us through the mouth of the valley, a steep V where the exposed rock seems to swallow us whole.
Cricket bat stowed and enveloped in darkness under a navy sky twinkling with stars, we are cosy in the orange canvas mess tent, enjoying a dinner of noodle soup, dahl and fresh bread while discussing the day’s 6.5km trek. Over herbal tea, attention turns to our beatific chief guide Muneer Alam, for his nightly briefing: next day we are in for a 3.
5km route with a 400-metre ascent and, for the eager, there is an option to carry on to Amin Brakk Base Camp and back, a loop of 8km and a further 500 metres up. The evening draws to a close with singing and .