Islamabad is the start of one of the great roads of the world, the Karakoram Highway, which climbs from the plains of the Punjab through Hazara and the Indus gorge to the Khunjerab Pass on the Chinese border. The capital itself is a young city, planned in the 1960s by the Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis to replace Karachi, laid out on a grid of numbered sectors with wide avenues and trees, and tucked below the green wall of the Margalla Hills. Rawalpindi, the older garrison town next door, is far more crowded and loud, and the two together form one urban area.
The city has some places worth a stop before you leave. The Faisal Mosque, with its tent-like shape and four minarets, stands at the foot of the hills and is one of the largest mosques in the world, and a short climb up to Daman-e-Koh gives a view over the sectors to the plains. The hills hold leopards and monkeys, and the evening smell of woodsmoke and cooking drifts down from the villages. The Pakistan Monument, a petal-shaped structure on a hill, is a landmark.
Riding out is a lesson in patience at first. The traffic through Rawalpindi and the Grand Trunk Road is dense, with rickshaws, buses and trucks painted in elaborate colours, and you need to be alert and ride defensively. After Hasan Abdal, the highway begins to climb through Haripur toward Abbottabad and Mansehra, with greener hills, terraces and the first views of snow in the distance. Then the road descends to the Indus at Besham, and from there it is a dramatic gorge with cliffs and the river roaring below. Landslides and rockfalls can close sections, particularly after the monsoon rains of July and August, so check conditions before you go.
Fuel is plentiful in the capital and along the highway, but take care to fill up before the long mountain stretches and carry cash, as cards are not accepted in many places. Travellers should also check current advice and any permit or security requirements for the north, which can change. A cup of sweet milky tea at a roadside dhaba is the standard break, and the food, from grilled chicken to hot naan, is excellent.