Chilas travel guide is an endeavor to highlight tourist attractions of Chila. Most visitors are here to look at the petroglyphs or to cross the Babusar Pass. There are few other reasons to stop. Foreign women especially may feel unwelcome.

Even after Kashmiri-British rule was imposed a century ago, the Indus Valley west of Chilas was a hornet’s nest of tiny republics; there was one in almost every side valley, each loosely guided by a jirga (council of tribal elders) but effectively leaderless, all at war with one another and feuding internally. Though administratively lumped with Gilgit, Chilas and its neighbours are temperamentally more like Indus Kohistan, probably owing to a similarly hostile environment and the same Sunni Muslim orthodoxy (their ancestors were forcibly converted centuries ago by Pashtun crusaders, whereas hardly anyone north of Gilgit is Sunni).

The large Chilas Fort was first garrisoned to protect British supply lines over the Babusar Pass, and beefed up after local tribes nearly overran it in 1893. Now a police post, it has put a lid on Chilas, though not on the Darel and Tangir Valleys to the west.

Chilasis are Shina speakers, with some Pashtun settlers speaking Pashto. Urdu and some English are also spoken.

How to get there
The nearest airport to Chilas is Gilgit which is only to land for smaller planes like Folker but the nearest international airport to Chilas is Islamabad which is about 472 Kms from Chilas and it may take 12 hours to reach. The best and more scenic way to reach Chilas from Islamabad is via Kaghan Valley (Babusar Pass4000m). Chilas tour guide is available on request. Chilas travel guide suggest the followings:

Sightseeing & Excursions

• One can spend couple of days in Fairy Meadows (a resort 50 km from Chilas) in front of Nanga Parbat – a nice cold place.
• Visit Chilas Fort and the bazaar, also visit old Budhist rock drawings