Gulmit, a few kilometres north of Shishkat, is the most historically significant village in the upper Gojal Valley and makes an easy walk or short drive from Shishkat. The village has a small museum covering Wakhi culture and history, a fort associated with the old Mir of Hunza, and a setting at the foot of some of the most dramatic glacial scenery in the region.
The walk between Shishkat and Gulmit along the old tracks that predate the Karakoram Highway gives you a sense of what travel through this valley was like before the road. The villages along the way — compact, neatly cultivated, with apricot orchards and stone walls — are a world apart from the highway bustle. The Wakhi people here are predominantly Ismaili Muslims, and visitors are generally welcomed with warmth.