Pakistanistan Day 14, the long drive continued... back to Islamabad

Sleep at 3am, but not a bad night. Up at 8 reasonably refreshed. I get a message from Steve, they arrived just after 6am having driven all night.

Where is breakfast? The guy on one of the desks points outside, where we go, but there's nothing there. Then we meet a reception guy who takes us inside and we order at the front desk. Who was the chap pointing us outside?

In daylight Naran reminds us of an alpine resort, evergreen trees, streams, remnants of winter snow visible, and chalet style buildings, although mostly with corrugated steel roofs. The roads are chaotic as ever. There are convoys of jeeps taking tourists up into the mountains.

A beggar installed in the middle of the road, like a traffic cop, has constant streams of traffic pass either side of him. In fact there are more beggars here than I've seen anywhere in Pakistan so far, hands outstretched for any offerings gladly received. Battered tents pitched on grounds where there are no buildings suggests there's a poor population filling essential jobs in town. 

Just before leaving town, there's another checkpoint where Tabish has to show our foreigner details.

As last night, I notice that some of the buildings have a Chinese style to them with upturned corners on their roofs. There are many sellers of cloth or daputas along the road, their materials fluttering in the breeze.

Litter at the side of the roads is again a big disappointment. After a stop and giving the driver a sponge biscuit I cry in pain as he discards the wrapper outside the window! 😞 He gives me a puzzled look. 

We pass a large modern Chinese power plant, complete with satellite dishes and accommodation blocks. Its thick power cables trail off up into the hills, presumably to reach Islamabad by the most direct route.

Traffic builds up as we approach another police stop, but it's not in our direction and we pass unimpeded. By now I'm quite used to overtaking on blind corners, making lanes where there are none, and driving centimetres from the car in front, but being used to it makes it only slightly less uncomfortable, to the point my right foot doesn't try to brake instinctively.

Seeing men, women and children hanging out of windows and sunroofs still makes me cringe, I counted about six or seven from one car alone. And don't get me started on school kids sitting on the roof racks of their school buses, which was quite normal in Gilgit Baltistan, but I've not seen it today, presumably because it's a Saturday. The kids are now at the roadside selling snacks instead.

The road becomes even more twisty past Kiwai and a haven for bikes and it's a road that we're missing. It would have been a hard ride from Gilgit to Islamabad but I think it would have been enjoyable. 

We reach Balakot, another bustling town, which means traffic, but our driver is merciless, overtaking and cutting-in with surgical precision in between cars.

We turn right following a sign to the Hazara Motorway, through a small shopping area and then immediately onto a very rough broken road - not the motorway I was expecting. Apparently, this is a link road that people have been asking to be fixed, but it hasn't yet. 

Then we're onto a faster main road, nice and smooth, and then reach a toll plaza. One through that, it's proper motorway, with a central reservation and a hard shoulder that some people use as a third lane. 🤷🏽 At least no cows, motorbikes, rickshaws, or bicycles going the wrong way (all banned on the motorway).

We stop at services, to wait for Charlie's car to catch up, and get cold drinks, and the driver has the tyre pressures adjusted. We wait a bit too long and get a bit impatient. Finally they arrive, we synchronise and then we're off again.

Another hour or so and we reach Islamabad after going through the toll again (long queue!) and getting off the motorway. We meet the others at our hotel around 6pm. They arrived about 12 hours earlier then us but drove through the night, stopping only once for about 10 minutes. For me that was not the preferred option as I didn't consider it safe to have a single driver driving through the night for so long, but Steve's group said their driver did a great job in that respect. It was nice for the 'slow' group to see Naran and a few other sights on the way, the scenery is best seen in daylight although the traffic is heavier.

We have a farewell dinner at the excellent Kabul restaurant at Jinnah Supermarket in F7, followed by a truly excellent chocolate shake. We depart at different times, Charlie and Duff heading off around midnight, followed by Christopher early morning. Steve, Gerard and I, leave tomorrow evening, Ray early the next morning (he must have loved it so much, he wanted to stay longer 😜), and Hugo a few days later - he has a few other things to see before he leaves and Tabish will be his guide.

And so, our Pakistan adventure is complete. An amazing experience which completely changed the perceptions of many of our group. Spectacular scenery, delicious food, incredibly friendly and welcoming people, and so much potential for great value tourism in a place that's a little bit different. Just please do something about thoughtless littering! 🤬

Pakistanistan Day 13, the long drive...

I wake early, can't get back to sleep, so go for a run hoping that it will be cooler in the morning. It may be, but it's still hot, and unfortunately very humid. I cross the suspension bridge as last time, but the river is about 1m higher; it's loud and closer to the deck of the bridge. I dangle my camera to get a good shot.

We are awaiting news of our flight out of Gilgit, the latest is that there is a three hour delay, probably due to stormy weather in Islamabad, as it's clear here. If the flight is cancelled we have to drive, which none of us are looking forward to, least of all because I would plan a Karakorum Karaoke in the minibus. My riding buddies are considering sending me in a taxi of my own! 🙉

We turn up at the airport to ensure we can react quickly to any airline changes. Sat under fans for a couple of hours and the we get the news the flight is cancelled. Hmmm...

Transport is arranged but it takes an age to arrive. In the mean time we discuss options and agree to stop in Naran overnight before pushing off early in the morning. We would have gone non-stop but for the fact that a key mountain pass the Babusar Top closes at 1830. By the time the cars arrive, drivers briefed, luggage loaded, it's now nearly 17h. 

We set off, but very slowly... It seems we have less than a ¼ of a tank; not enough to get us there. The driver is constantly on the phone, then we swap drivers, more discussions, money exchanged. 

Again moving slowly and then it becomes clear, there's a strike and garages are limiting fuel distribution. There's a huge queue at the only garage that seems to have fuel and armed police are guarding it. We circle around looking for other garages, but nothing. Eventually we end up back at the only game in town. A local pokes his head into the car and suggests we speak to the senior officer.  Our two pastie-faced 'gora sahibs', Gerard and Hugo jump out and start taking about cricket - there's that Kane Williamson mentioned again! The conversation is just pleasantries and the officer gives the ok for us to refuel, and we get a full tank.  No pictures because the officer is worried we'll start a riot!

Underway and now a new torture, DJ Gerard has connected his phone to the car with help from the driver while he's overtaking on blind bends and scratching his ankle (the driver) and we're listening to his (Gerard's) collection... 🙉 Oh well, that's the price of fuel 

We are aiming to reach Naran tonight for a quick rest before pushing on.

We're following the Hunza river which seems to be getting wilder. It's cut a gorge in some sections, accentuating the rage. Above the road in top of the friable cliff faces, huge boulders are waiting to topple, rather like the 'pushing pennies' arcade machine - except when they topple you lose not win.

We're making progress, but up ahead, we see a long stream of headlights. The road is broken and cars and lorries are crawling slowly. On a bike this is just part of the ride, but in a car it's a real obstacle: we crawl too. It's a two way crawl but chancers try to make three lanes and overtake in our direction completely blocking our way until they can merge back into their flow; our driver is not best pleased and opens his window to deliver a few choice words.

We stop for the driver to pray and meet up with Charlie and gang who we thought had raced ahead of us. Apparently the third car, Steve and co, has had two driver swaps and a car swap! No idea where they are currently.

I wonder why we're going so slowly, the driver seems like he's not pushing the engine. Then I see the angle of a wall outside and realise we're on a very steep hill. The AC is turned off so as not to sap the engine power. Then we're down to first gear with a crunch from the broken synchromesh in the gearbox. We're over 3000m now. The road has plenty of hairpin bends and we yo-yo between second and crunch into first, all the while 4x4s whizz past; I think this must be the smallest Corolla engine in the range, but somehow it pulls out foreign bulk and luggage.

Progress is not helped by the myriad of fallen rocks on the road and cars and lorries that have stopped by the roadside, some seem to be having a picnic by their headlights. 

The driver is now our DJ and we have a range of Indian and other songs: quite enjoyable to listen to and it adds to the atmosphere of the journey. At some point the driver lights up a cigarette, but both Gerard and Hugo ask him not to smoke. 

We stop again and meet Charlie's car. A toilet break and chance to stock up on nibbles. And of course the postponed smoke by the driver. Looking up, the sky is crystal clear and the temperature has dropped. 

We're at 3500m and still climbing. I think I can see snow in the slopes just outside. We have to slow momentarily while somebody is pushing a van and then our engine gets bogged down. As the van starts and shoots off, we struggle to get moving even in first gear; there's a smell of burning clutch as we finally gain some momentum. 

3850m and that's definitely snow by the roadside, in fact tall walls of the stuff.

4150m and we're at the top of Babusar Pass. It's nearly midnight and almost a party atmosphere with fires burning and groups having a laugh. There's a variety of rag-tag stalls serving refreshments and what looks like several espresso machines of questionable vintage. At the very top there also a Ferris wheel! 

We have chai and fries, both manna from above. It's cold and getting misty, we must be in the clouds for sure; we don extra layers to keep warm by the makeshift brazier embers in an old metal ghee container.

Just before we set off again, I complete my 555 day streak on Duolingo. Tres magnifique!

There are huge potholes in the road and we slow to a crawl as the driver gingerly negotiates them. We're dropping altitude quite fast now. There's a line of car lights stretching off into the distance; this would have been an excellent road to see in daylight and an even better one to ride. 

The driver stops beside another car, winds down the window, and chats to a fellow driver. This is his regular route so he must know many others doing the same. 

Stopped at a police checkpoint. 'Yay foreigners heh." Onward we go, passing the popular Moon restaurant with an abundance of cars outside. The large restaurant is completely open on one side, it must be cold inside.

We splash through several streams of water flowing across the road.

Arrived in Naran at 0130 and 2400m, and the place is alive. Market stalls open and it's teeming with people, shopping, out strolling with their kids, and girls taking selfies; the day is upside down. We stop at the side of the road and regroup to workout where we are staying for the next few hours.

Strangely we do a loop of Naran yet know exactly where we are going. But there's no room at the inn. Tabish goes off looking; it seems all very unplanned. We sit in the car wasting time. It becomes more frustrating when we finally hear from Steve that they are just 180 km from Islamabad. Wow, they've made good progress. I guess because they set off before us and didn't have to waste time searching for fuel.

0230: Tabish manages to find us some rooms and we'll get some kip, but more importantly so will our driver! We restart our adventure at 0930 tomorrow.... I mean later today. 

Pakistanistan Day 12, back to Gilgit

The world has ended! Or it seems that way as there's no internet connection to be found since last night, whether that be hotel WiFi or the local SCOM 4G (4 bars). We're isolated! 😱

But breakfast is still working, thankfully and so is Ray, near fully recovered. He's at the table with his traveling can of half decent instant Kenco coffee (other instant coffees are available) and his bag of granola - little luxuries from way back west.

It's the last day of riding and it's a relatively straightforward ride back to Gilgit with a slight detour for lunch.

Christopher zooms out ahead of us and lays in the middle of the rush as we ride towards him spread across the tarmac. Epic shot.

At the Passu Cones view point we stop for another group photo and we ask a local to take a picture of us. He does so and then the cheeky bugger takes a selfie of himself and the group! Ultimate photobomb!

[Photos to be added]

Now we are on a hunt for coffee. Our intended stop, the Cafe de Hunza, is not yet open despite having opening hours from 930 - it's now 1030. They say it will be another 20 minutes, which probably means an hour, so we explore other options. We stop twice more, the second actually going inside a hotel, until they say the coffee shop doesn't open until 4pm! We give up and head for our lunch stop.

It's an hour away on the KKH and the air temperature has risen making it feel like sitting in front of a full body hair dryer. We have a brief respite from the heat as we pass through the long tunnels that bypass Attabad lake, the back out into the furnace. 

We've ridden this road before, but in reverse, the scenery seems even more spectacular. A large deep valley, steep sides, with areas of flat land where the raging river abates slightly. On some of these flatter areas there are patches of greenery that have been established, they seem to be oasis in the middle of deserts.

The fragility of the landscape is all too obvious as it's only a few days since we ride this and there have already been several landslides spilling rocks and dust across the road. The debris has been swept to the sides but it still narrows the road in places.

We spot a significant sign: one issue we have with Pakistan is the amount of litter blighting the most beautiful scenery. It's a national shame. We accept the challenge!

High up above the KKH the mountains are covered in tracks zigzagging up the steep slopes. In some cases the track seems to end nowhere which is puzzling, but we're told that in a few places mining is done on the mountains. 

We pull off the KKH and head up a broken tarmac road with dusty Dakar rally sections thrown in to challenge us. We're hot, tired and in need of refreshment and we just want a break and some food. Ray especially, still recovering, feels the heat most and we discuss whether he should ride in the support jeep for the final 80k into Gilgit.

But, oh boy, was the hot climb worth it! The waiter brought out a still bubbling pot of mutton served with rice, daal and chapatis. Theeee, most, delicious and succulent lamb I've had, in a mild sauce. Perfect with the rice, and I had three portions! 🐷

I waddle off to the bikes and then it's a bumpy ride with a full belly back down the track. Ray sensibly rides in the jeep, while our mechanic, Imran, enjoys his ride on Ray's bike, sans helmet.

Then it's essentially one long blast along the KKH to Gilgit. It's a fast trunk road, and we are mostly full on throttle to our top speed of about 80-90kph, which is just not fast enough to stay ahead of the 'I'm Mr Important' VIP jeeps and just about fast enough to overtake fully laden buses and trucks. We are usually faster in the corners or over rough patches, but get hammered on the straights, except if it's significantly downhill.

We stop for a break halfway and a minibus pulls up opposite. Out pours about 16 bodies (from the same family) and a small group gradually gathers around us asking the usual questions and wanting pictures with us. They take it in turns to come forward for their individual picture with the foreigners, each posing and then shaking our hands in turn. It feels like we are real celebrities! 

Then back on the throttle and now we're fighting a headwind. Gerard, Hugo and I take turns overtaking each other either by being in the wrong gear or ducking down to reduce air resistance. At one point I'm flat out with the engine misfiring as usual at 7krpm and both Hugo and Gerard sail past me. Then later I overtake them once my momentum has built up again. 

And then we're in Gilgit, but just as we enter the city, my gear lever falls off. Somehow it doesn't hit the road, but I can't change gear. I slide it back onto the splines and nurse the bike back to base, which is the Karakorum Bikers storage and lodging area. 

We park up, hugs all round as is our way (yes even Gerard got one). And then, mango ice-cream shakes! Followed by a banana ice-cream shake, followed by another mango shake (no ice-cream as by now it's run out!)... Can you overdose on milkshakes?  Charlie and Christopher say a few words of thanks and we give our monetary collection to our three local guides, Tabish, Special K, and Imran.

To the hotel in taxis, which seem to take the tour of Gilgit route, but eventually arrive. The river outside our hotel is noticeable more angry than it was a few days ago. The increased heat has produced more meltwater. It's very loud, even with the balcony door closed.

One last task before we leave Gilgit, Hugo needs to have his tank bag repaired, so 'Special K' our jeep driver takes us to a repair guy. It's little more than a ramshackle awning on the side of a regular shop, with basic shoe polishes and scraps of materials to use. He sits on the floor and proceeds to repair Hugo's bag. It takes about 30 minutes and Hugo is thrilled with the result. When we ask the price we are shocked: 100rupees. That's about 30p! Hugo gives him 500 and he beams his thanks.

Dinner and then we say goodbye to Imran and Special K, Tabish Will be joining us on our flight to Islamabad.... hopefully! Flights are often cancelled due to the weather and if ours is, we are getting to Islamabad by taxi; and it's a 20 hour journey! 😱 Fingers crossed for good weather, although thunder storms are expected for Islamabad even if the forecast is good here.🤞🏽🤲🏽

Pakistanistan day 11, Shimshal Valley and Passu Glacier

It's an easy start today as we don't have a lot of distance to cover. We start out on the KKH before turning off onto a dirt road. It leads to a bridge over the Hunza River and then a checkpoint entry to the Shimshal valley. From here we follow the Shimshal river upstream. The road is just wide enough for a car and hugs the side of the narrow valley. The river has cut through this rock and the valley success are near vertical. 

The ride is a challenge, in many ways: the surface, gravel, sand, rocky, flowing steam water; distraction from the stunning views that appear at every corner; and trying to stay on the track and not go over the sheer drops into the raging river below. 

We cross two suspension bridges whose decks are not attached to solid ground and sway on the breeze. These are really suspended in the air on the steel cables and the decks not only sway, but rise and fall with the load passing asking it's length. 

We follow the track for about an hour and then turn back. Two hours further on, is the village of Shimshal. This is the only road into that village and a few other settlements in between. It's amazing to think that this is the only road in and out of these places. One wonders how life must be in such a remote location. 

The support jeep arrives at our turning spot and as it's a single track struggles to find a place to do a three, five, seven, nine point turn. The rear end hangs over the edge a few times, but eventually the jeep is the right way round. We squeeze past heading back down. 

Then more of the same on the return, but going downhill is more of a challenge and we stop for more photos as we know where the views are. We stop briefly as a tractor trailer and crew are maintaining the track and they have to manoeuvre sideways to let us pass. We also encounter more traffic on the way back heavily loaded jeep and minivan and a few motorbike riders and pillions.

Tabish, Christopher and I have sped ahead and we stop at the checkpoint to let the others catch up. Duff decides to collide with a wall in his way in and Ray owns up to losing yet another mirror in an off on a corner; not near a precipice so he survived. That the most incidents we've had so far, and reflects the more difficult terrain we were riding.

From there we head for another yak burger and this time the place is packed. The burgers are better than last time I reckon. Then back to the hotel for a siesta. Regrouping at 1630.

It's hot and we mount up. Getting into bad habits Gerard, Charlie and I ride without helmets again. I regret the decision as we speed up and the wind finds it's way past my specs forcing me to squint. But soon we turn off the KKH and ride up a dirt track, past a lake with kids swimming and pleasure boats and then leave the bikes in a parking area at the end of the track. 

We climb for about ten to fifteen minutes and reach a vantage point over the Passu glacier. There's another guide there who knows Tabish and tells us how we can teach the glacier itself. 

So we set off and walk for a further 20 minutes uphill, involving some scrabbling and slipping on steep and loose single track. Then cresting a ridge, the glacier is only about twenty metres from us. But it's a tricky decent and then we're on the dirty glacier itself. It's dirty from all the dust and debris that has fallen from the sides of the valley it has carved into the rock. 

We are now actually walking on top of a real live glacier, even if sadly it is slowly dying. We hear that all around: the sound of trickling water creating streams of ice cold water that eventually feeds the Hunza river.

It's an amazing experience walking on a glacier, but I worry that we might be causing it harm. Charlie thinks not. The temperature is cool for obvious reasons, but a wind has also picked up, making it decidedly chilly.

The temperature picks up again once we're off the glacier and especially once we pick up the pace walking back. But it is cooler now at the end of the day and riding back in just a shirt makes me feel relieved arriving back at the hotel.