"Everything from the airport pickup to the porters on the Baltoro was organised before we asked. That's the difference between a company that knows these routes and one that just sells them."
Elham Asia started in 2020 with one Land Cruiser, one guide and a simple rule: never sell a road we haven’t driven ourselves. Six years later the rule hasn’t changed — every hotel on our itineraries has been slept in, every restaurant eaten at and every pass crossed by our own team, across multiple seasons.
Today we host more than a thousand travellers a year on all-inclusive Pakistan tour packages, K2 and Karakoram treks, mountaineering expeditions and festival tours — plus Everest, Annapurna and Manaslu with our partner crews in Nepal. Groups stay small, drivers stay with us for years, and the person who plans your trip answers your WhatsApp before, during and after it.
We are an Asia company that happens to be based in Pakistan — not a Gilgit-Baltistan operator that occasionally goes elsewhere. Nepal runs on fixed departures and the rest of the continent is planned to order, on the same terms as anything we sell at home.
And Pakistan means the whole country, not one province of it. The Karakoram and Gilgit-Baltistan are what we are best known for, but the same team runs the Mughal cities of Punjab, Peshawar and the Khyber, the Indus down to Sindh and the Arabian Sea, and the deserts of Cholistan and Balochistan.
A licensed operator, and why that matters
Elham Asia is registered with the Department of Tourist Services, Government of Pakistan, and is an active member of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the Pakistan Association of Tour Operators (PATO), the Baltistan Association of Adventure Tour Operators (BAATO) and the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
None of this is decoration. A climbing permit for a high peak in Pakistan can only be applied for by a licensed operator, and the liaison officer who must accompany every expedition is assigned through that licence. An operator who cannot tell you their registration cannot get you on the mountain.
We also meet travellers in person each year at the Adventure Travel Show and World Travel Market in London, ITB Berlin, Fitur in Madrid, the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, the Travel & Adventure Shows in the United States, BITE in Beijing and the Pakistan Travel Mart in Lahore.
What we actually run
Guided tours across Pakistan, north to south
Our all-inclusive Pakistan tour packages cover the classic northern circuits — the Hunza Valley, Skardu and Baltistan, the Deosai plains, Fairy Meadows beneath Nanga Parbat, and the Kalash valleys of Chitral — and they carry on south: Lahore and the Mughal monuments, Taxila and the Gandhara sites, Peshawar and the Khyber, Multan, Bahawalpur and the Cholistan desert, and the twenty-day run from the Karakoram down to Karachi and the Arabian Sea. Internal flights, hotels with breakfast, sightseeing, permits and an English-speaking guide are in one printed price, and the price does not move once you have arrived.
Treks with porters, cooks and a full camp crew
Trekking is where the company began: K2 Base Camp and Concordia, the Gondogoro La traverse, Snow Lake and the Hispar La, Shimshal Pass, and both faces of Nanga Parbat. Group sizes stay small, acclimatisation days are built into every itinerary rather than sold as an extra, and the camp crew is ours.
Expeditions, from a first 6,000 m summit to K2
We run full-service expeditions on Spantik and Laila Peak for climbers stepping up, and on Gasherbrum I and II, Broad Peak, Nanga Parbat and K2 for those going higher — permits, liaison officer, high-altitude porters, base camp and weather forecasting handled end to end.
Festivals, bikes and company trips
Some weeks in the north are unrepeatable, so festival departures are timed to the day — Kalash Chilam Joshi, the Shandur Polo Festival, the Hunza blossom. We also run supported cycling holidays on the Karakoram Highway and corporate retreats for teams who need the logistics taken off their hands.
How we plan a trip
- We ask about your dates before anything else. The same valley is a different trip in April, July and October, and the honest answer is sometimes that your week suits a different route.
- Roads are checked every morning. Our drivers on the northern circuit file a road report before breakfast — surface, roadworks, checkpoints, and whatever the truckers coming south said overnight.
- The itinerary bends, the sights keep. If a weather window looks bad we re-order the days rather than push through them.
- One person owns your trip. The planner who quotes you is the person on WhatsApp while you are on the road.
Safety, payments and paperwork
Every trip carries a 24-hour phone line, satellite check-in devices on remote stretches, and daily road and weather checks before each drive. Tours confirm on a 30% deposit with the balance due before departure, paid by bank transfer, JazzCash, Easypaisa or card, and a written receipt is issued for every payment. Most nationalities can apply for the Pakistan e-visa online; we provide the letter of invitation and the supporting documents. The full terms — cancellation, date changes, what is and is not included — are set out on the holiday information page.
Who you will be dealing with
The company was founded in 2020 by Arif Hussain and it is still run by the people who drive the routes. The head office is at Office No. 227, Rohtas Road, G-9/1, Islamabad, Pakistan, open 9am to 11pm Pakistan time seven days a week, with staff in Gilgit and Skardu through the season and a 24-hour line while you are on a trip. We work in English and Urdu, and the guides and drivers are from the valleys they work in — which is why a road report reaches us from a village in the morning rather than from an announcement in the afternoon.
You are told who is leading your trip before you travel, and the planner who writes your quotation is the person on WhatsApp while you are on the road. There is no call centre in between, and there is no subcontractor operating the Pakistan portion of your trip under our name.
Frequently asked questions
Is Elham Asia a licensed tour operator?
Yes. Elham Asia is registered with the Department of Tourist Services, Government of Pakistan, and is an active member of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the Pakistan Association of Tour Operators (PATO), the Baltistan Association of Adventure Tour Operators (BAATO) and the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry. A climbing permit in Pakistan can only be applied for by a licensed operator, which is why the question matters.
How long has Elham Asia been running trips?
Since 2020 — six seasons on the northern roads, and today more than a thousand travellers a year.
Where is your office?
Our head office is at Office No. 227, Rohtas Road, G-9/1, Islamabad, Pakistan, with staff in Gilgit and Skardu through the season. The office answers from 9am to 11pm Pakistan time, seven days a week, and there is a 24-hour line while you are on a trip.
Do you run trips outside Pakistan?
Yes. Nepal is the one we sell as fixed departures — Everest Base Camp, Annapurna, Manaslu and Island Peak, with partner crews we have worked with for years. Beyond that we plan trips across Asia to order rather than off a shelf, so tell us the country and the dates and we will cost the itinerary. Everything inside Pakistan we operate ourselves.
What happens to my deposit if I have to change my dates?
A tour is confirmed with a 30% deposit and the balance is due before departure. Date changes are free where the new dates are available; the cancellation terms are set out in full on the holiday information page.
How do I check that a Pakistani tour operator is licensed?
Ask for the registration with the Department of Tourist Services and the membership numbers, then check them rather than take the logos on trust — associations confirm membership on request, and an operator who is reluctant to give you the details is telling you something. For anything above 6,000 metres there is a harder test: ask who applies for the climbing permit. Only a licensed operator can, and the liaison officer is assigned through that licence, so an unlicensed outfit is subcontracting your expedition to somebody you have not met.
Who will actually guide my trip?
Our own staff inside Pakistan — drivers and guides who have been with the company for years, not freelancers hired for the week. On treks and expeditions the camp crew, cooks and high-altitude porters are ours as well. In Nepal we work with partner crews we have used for years and we say so plainly rather than implying the Khumbu is run from Islamabad. You are told who is leading your trip before you travel.
How big are your groups?
Small by design. Cultural tours generally run between four and sixteen travellers, treks stay smaller because camp logistics set the limit, and expeditions are quoted per team. A great many of our trips are private departures for one family or one group of friends, which costs less than most people assume once there are four of you.
Can you plan a private or tailor-made trip?
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. Tell us your dates, your headcount and what you want out of the trip, and we build the itinerary around them rather than fitting you onto a fixed departure — the customise page is the fastest way to start that conversation. The quoting is the same either way: one all-in price, with what is and is not included written down before you pay anything.
What happens if a road closes or a flight is cancelled?
It happens, particularly on the Karakoram Highway in summer and on the Skardu and Gilgit flights in any season, so the itineraries are built with slack rather than run to the minute. Our drivers file a road report every morning before breakfast, we hold road alternatives for every flight sector, and if a weather window looks bad we re-order the days instead of pushing through. What we will not do is promise you that none of this can happen. Every operator in the north deals with the same mountains.
Still deciding? The guides on our blog cover the questions that come up most — when to go, what to pack and how the roads behave — or message the office and we will tell you honestly what your dates will get you.
