We were 3 cars and trucks with 8 persons, and all had to go to Islamabad for an Indian visa, i think that was the main reason they took us by Zhob and not Multan. If you have your indian visa before, and go straight to Wagah border it would be shorter and maybe safer taking the Multan-road.
I also wanted to do the Karakoram highway, and went up to the chinese border 3 days ago, it was really good snowing and the temperature dropped to minus 9 degrees. I went up bu Barbusar pass on 18th and had no problem at all, but now its closed by heavy snow, it means i had to come back the other way (as planned) by Dassu and Besham. Roadconditions there are really bad, i was stuck in a protest from local farmers near Chilas for 2 hours, later there where several landslides before Dassu, they are building 2 big dams there, and they are moving the mainroad several hundred of meters up because the old road will flow, and because of these roadworks, upstairs, the oldroad often get landslides downstairs. Took also more then an hour to cross that section. Then arriving in Dassu, there was again protests in the town center, i was alone in the middle of heated protests, when the police saw my lefthanddrive, they escorted me out, to take the "bypass", its more a gravel goat-track, but i getted away. All together it took me 11 hours for 330 kms from Gilgit to Besham . . Inshaalaahhh !!