Deosai National Park Tour — a full day on the roof of the world

The standard day trip is roughly 12 hours door to door. Pickup from your Skardu hotel at 6am, drive south through Sadpara village and up the dramatic switchback road to Ali Malik pass (4,267m), descend onto the Deosai plateau by 9am.

Mid-morning we cross the plateau via Bara Pani — a glacial river crossing where the bears are most often spotted at dawn — and arrive at Sheosar Lake at 4,142m, a turquoise mirror surrounded by wildflower meadows. Lunch at the lake (packed by us) and roughly 90 minutes for photography and a short walk before the return drive via Chillum pass and back to Skardu by 6-7pm.

If you can spare two days, the overnight is the version we recommend. Sleep at Bara Pani in our pre-pitched dome tents — Deosai has no hotels, just managed campsites — and you get the two best things the plateau offers: dawn (when bears come down to the river and the light hits the plains sideways) and the night sky.

Deosai has zero light pollution. On a moonless night the milky way is so bright it casts a shadow. Astrophotographers regularly travel to Deosai specifically for this — we provide tripod-friendly camping spots and our driver knows how to position the jeep so it does not flare out a long exposure.

Deosai is open roughly 1 July to 15 September. Before July the road over Ali Malik is snow-blocked; after mid-September the weather turns and the plateau closes for the year. Wildflower bloom peaks late July to early August. Bear sightings are most common in early morning and early evening at Bara Pani — we have a roughly 60 percent sighting rate for the 2-day overnight, much lower (15-20 percent) for the single-day trip.

Other wildlife you will likely see: marmots in great numbers, Tibetan red fox, snow cock, lammergeier and golden eagle. Deosai is a designated national park and feeding any wildlife is strictly prohibited.

Layers. Even in mid-summer the plateau is windy and cool — daytime highs of 12-16°C and overnight lows close to freezing. Bring a fleece, a windproof jacket, a warm hat, sunglasses (UV is intense at altitude) and high-SPF sunscreen.

Footwear: walking shoes or light boots. Water: we provide; carry a refillable bottle. Camera: definitely. Plastic bottles and packaging: take them out with you — Deosai is plastic-free.