Eating well on the road in northern Pakistan

Hunza and Gojal

Look for chapshuro, a baked meat pastry, and the walnut and apricot dishes that define Wakhi cooking. Apricot kernel oil appears in almost everything and is worth taking home.

Baltistan

Balti kitchens lean on buckwheat, barley and butter tea. Mamtu dumplings and prapu noodles are the ones to ask for.

Kaghan and Swat

Fresh river trout, grilled simply, is the standard here and rarely disappoints.

Dietary needs

Vegetarian travel is straightforward — dal, saag, and vegetable dishes are everywhere. Gluten-free and other requirements need advance notice so we can brief guesthouses; tell us at booking and we plan the route around kitchens that can cope.

We stick to bottled or filtered water throughout and choose busy, high-turnover kitchens on driving days.