Hunza Valley

[2] The valley stretches along the Hunza River and shares borders with Ishkoman to the northwest, Shigar to the southeast, Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor to the north, and China's Xinjiang region to the northeast.

It also provided protection to Buddhist missionaries and monks visiting the subcontinent, and the region played a significant role in the transmission of Buddhism throughout Asia.

The region has many works of graffiti in the ancient Brahmi script written on rocks, produced by Buddhist monks as a form of worship and culture.

[7] "Hunza was formerly a princely state bordering Xinjiang (autonomous region of China) to the northeast and Pamir to the northwest, which survived until 1974, when it was finally dissolved by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

"[9] According to an account written by John Biddulph in his book Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh: The ruling family of Hunza is called Ayesha "aya-sha" (heavenly).

The Khunjerab Pass, standing at a height of 4,693 meters (over 15,000 feet above sea level), is the highest paved international border crossing in the world.

[19] On 1 July 2018, Pakistan Army pilots rescued 3 foreign mountaineers stuck in a snow avalanche at above the height of 19,000 feet (5,800 m) on Ultar Sar Peak near Hunza.

The weather conditions had made it difficult for the Army helicopter to go forth with a rescue operation on the 7,388 metres (24,239 ft) high Ultar Sar.

Bruce Normand and Timothy Miller from the UK were successfully rescued alive while their companion Christian Huber from Austria had succumbed to the avalanche.

[24] The historical area of Hunza and present northern Pakistan has had, over the centuries, mass migrations, conflicts and resettling of tribes and ethnicities, of which the Shina people are the most prominent in regional history.

Many researchers have lived with the Hunza people to answer this mystery including Robert McCarrison who did not discover a single person with diseases such as cancer, stomach ulcers or appendicitis.

The research shows that high levels of exercise due the landscape and geography allows for them to be active and agile which factors in with their longevity , along with consumption of apricot seeds and oils, and the glacier water which contains minerals.

Baltit fort as seen from Ultar Hunza
Baltit fort as seen from Ultar Hunza
Baltit Fort , the former residence of the Mirs of Hunza
Attabad Lake in August 2020.
Hunza Valley in early spring
Hunza Valley in late autumn
Scenery of Borith Lake in summer
Local Hunzans in traditional dress.