Duration: 11 days
Season: April
Grade: Moderate
Activities: explore the traditional valleys of Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar
Accommodation: 17 days trip, 9 days trek &Yak Safari, 9 nights hotel, 8 nights camping
Tour from Gilgit Airport to get to the Trek start at Shimshal.
On your drive/tour from Gilgit to Karimabad, Hunza and onto Passu (along the KKH and a section of the ancient Silk Road) and then to Shimshal you will enjoy some of the most outstanding scenery in Northern Pakistan. The Gilgit river and terraces of farmland will be beside you as you drive north. You will stop and enjoy the views of the junction of the Western edge of the Himalayas with the Karakorum and the Hindu Kush mountain ranges. You will stop at the base of Rakaposhi (7,788m) and gaze up the Ghulmet Glacier at the highest unbroken slope on earth 5,838m above you. You will explore beautiful Karimabad with its delicious apricots (in the right season) and the famous Baltit Fort. The ancient roadside sacred rocks at Haldeikish and the drive north through picturesque villages and farmland and along the Khunjerab river; then to Passu with the amazing granite cathedral mountain tops surrounding you before you turn off the KKH up the narrow breath taking gorge road to Shimshal.
About this Festival
Ancient Spring Festival celebrated in Shimshal village, upper Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
Tagham Festival, is an ancient ‘Wakhi culture’ agricultural celebration held on 01, April every year in Shimshal village, upper Hunza District. This area is keeping alive the rich traditions of Wakhi culture in the foothills of the Pamir region of Northern Pakistan. Tagham in Wakhi, means seed. Hence Tagham, is the spreading of seeds, a symbolic ritual celebrating the beginning of the spring farming season. Tagham has been celebrated for centuries on the arrival of spring, when the glaciers start melting, streams and rivers are again filled with fresh water and Tagham festival is celebrated by communities to welcome the fresh water for ploughing and to start cultivation and seed sowing for the new season. It is one of the most popular and fun festivals in the district. Tagham is a time of laughter, frivolity and good food shared by all in the community.
The most interesting and exciting part of the Tagham festival is the Tuman, during which members of the “Shogun Putuk” (initiators) tribe officially announce the start of the cultivation season by setting fire to leaves of a Juniper plant called “Yarz” and by throwing wheat seeds on the roof of an old house from inside the house through an opening in the ceiling called “Ricin” in Wakhi language.
The next big thing in the Tagham festival is a game that features a man dressed in a bull costume and acting like a bull! He entertains the audience by performing different playful acts. After the game, the start of the farming season is demonstrated with the Shogun Putuk ploughing the field in a traditional way (with the help of bulls), and small children being introduced to farming in a process called “Sk Spunder Khak.”
The festival goers then share a celebration meal of traditional dishes prepared by the village families and brought to a central location in Shimshal to share company and their food.
Trip Information