Besham is a bazaar town clinging to the bank of the Indus, and it earns its place on the Karakoram Highway the way many towns on that road do: it is where everyone stops. The highway comes up from the lowlands through a deep gorge, the Indus running brown and fast beside it, and by the time you reach Besham the mountains are close and steep on both sides. The altitude is modest, but the sense of enclosure is complete. Locals will tell you that Besham is where the Himalayas really begin, and a rider arriving at midday with sore knees will agree.
The town sits at the junction for the road up to Swat, over the Shangla Pass, one of the old routes into the northern valleys. That makes it a crossroads for buses, trucks and Land Cruisers, and the bazaar is lively, with dhabas serving chicken karahi, daal and fresh naan, and tea stalls on every corner. A hot meal here is a good one. The population is mainly Pashtun and Kohistani, and the area has been a trade route for centuries, long before the Chinese helped build the highway in the 1960s and 70s, at the cost of many lives.
The road in and out is the real attraction. The Karakoram Highway between Besham and Thakot is cut into the rock face above the river, with sharp bends, narrow stretches and sheer drops. Landslides are common, especially in the monsoon, and the surface can be broken in places, so slow down, and ride in daylight. The reward is views of the Indus gorge that few roads in the world can match, with the river frothing over boulders far below and terraced fields climbing the slopes.
Fuel is available in Besham, as are basic hotels, mechanics and shops. Battagram, to the north-east, is larger. Fill up here, because the road beyond gets longer between pumps and the quality of fuel varies. The 2005 earthquake devastated this region, and the rebuilt towns show the scars, but local hospitality is warm.
Late spring and autumn are the best times to ride. Summer rain brings rockfalls and delays, and winter can close higher sections of the road. Check conditions locally, as the situation changes quickly.