Pakistanistan Day 8, around Karimabad

The day starts with a rescue mission. Hugo's lucky pants have fallen off the balcony. 

Ray's room is adjacent to the roof on which they've fallen, but he just can't reach them (although we're not totally convinced this is true). The hotel staff do the honours while we're having breakfast at a local cafe run by two local ladies. 

We ride up to the Hopar Valley through Hoppar Village. The valley is cut into what is a very friable rock, which is essentially just rocks and boulders held together by mud; you can crumble it in your fingers. Riding alongside the towering mud cliffs you feel vulnerable with so many large boulders seemingly ready to fall. No wonder this area is so prone to landslides in the rainy season. Already rock fall debris litters the road in places.

We stop for a break and I take the opportunity to wet my neck buff in the stream - this helps cool you as you ride along. But somehow while leaning over the stream I drop both water bottles from my top pockets and let go of my buff. I immediately race after all three now flowing downstream. I manage to catch the priority, my Nomadic Knights buff, but the bottles are gone... Except a small boy has also raced after them. I lose sight of him, but he comes back with both bottles! I give him a handful of small notes from my pocket, which he refuses at first until I insist. We cheer him and take a photo with him.

As we climb higher into the valley we end up on the upper layer of that mud wall. There it is verdant green, lush with vegetation. Crops are growing in the fields and life seems good. But when viewed from even higher, you realise that these fields and houses will be eventually washed away by the river in full swing. Maybe not this year, or next, but it will happen. 

We reach the end of the road and climb a short way on foot. There below us is the Hopar Glacier. It's mostly a dirty grey colour, but jagged icy blocks stand out revealing a whiter colour beneath. Tabish says the glacier has gotten smaller since he first saw it. Climate change for sure; We've been experiencing exceptionally hot weather for the time of year, but that looks set to be the norm from now on.  We have tea before returning to Karimabad.

We have lunch in Cafe de Hunza where we just have to try their famous walnut cake, which is very nice. We also have the first decent cup of coffee of the trip, which is heavenly after drinking "Nescafé" powder for the last week. 🤮 Although to be fair to Nescafé, it probably isn't Nescafé we've been drinking.

After lunch we ride up to Altit Fort. Some of us do it naked! That is to say without boots, gloves, jacket or helmet, just as the locals do. I would only do this for low speeds, but it is such a relief to ride this way in the heat. 

At the fort we have a guide, who speaks in a very strong accent making him difficult to understand. But he's so passionate and engaging that I enjoy listening to him. He tells us how the fort was built 1100 years ago by Buddhists to keep the area secure and to overlook the Silk Road. The King and Queen held court over the village and the King entombed his brother alive when he plotted against him. The tomb is in the centre of the main living area!

At this time they would also execute people by throwing them from the top of the castle to the river 300m below. There's also a pillar of rock which army recruits have to jump on to, across a deadly drop, as the final stage of their training. It must have been a tough life in those days.

Our guide asks if he can use my camera to take our group photo, which I allow and he also creates a video which amazes us with its creativity by simply moving the camera while pointing at us.

Then onto Eagles Nest a highpoint from which you can see the valley and several 7000m+ peaks that surround it. Some of the rocks there have been eroded into strange shapes, one an eagle, but one definitely looks like a frog. The views of the valley and the peaks are spectacular.

Pizza for dinner, which makes a nice change, but we've ordered too much. The leftovers will be road food for tomorrow. Our search for ice cream fails.

I'm sharing a room with Charlie and our room is like an oven when we get back. Even with the balcony door open, the main room door open to get a through flow of air, and the fan in hurricane mode, the room doesn't cool down. I soak my t-shirt and lie under the fan; that works to cool me down, but the night is long and hot.

Pakistanistan Day 7, to Karimabad in the Hunza Valley

Today, we are visiting a snow leopard. These creatures are incredibly rare and one was rescued several years ago and is now kept in captivity, supposedly because it can no longer fend for itself in the wild. 

It's in the Naktar Valley not that far from Gilgit and the road to get there is good. But it's uphill with plenty of hairpins and a struggle for our 150cc engines so we can sometimes only make progress in first gear; and just when you think the engine can scream no louder for mercy, you change to second only to find there's no torque there to keep momentum. So your only choice is to let it rev its nuts off in first, until the incline reduces a little.

But before we reached that steep uphill section we passed through a few villages on the valley floor. One notable sight were two flags, Israeli and US, painted in the road.  Cars, buses, lorries and motorcycles, cows, goats and dogs, and people, run and step over these painted flags daily. Not in celebration I would imagine. 

On the way up to the Naltar Valley my bike begins to stutter. It stutters by default past 8k rpm as I wring its neck trying to eek the last drop of pony juice from the engine, but this feels different. Eventually the engine dies; damn. I twist the fuel cock to reserve and the engine springs back to its wheezy self.🤦🏽‍♂️ Onwards and upwards.

Just before we turn off to the Naltar Valley we run parallel with two guys on a 125cc bike, but even with two people aboard they easily keep up with us; me thinks there's been some trickery employed on that engine. Eventually they drop back after we've climbed a bit. Weight makes all the difference, as Steve knows all too well as I overtake him for the second time today.

We stop just shy of 3000m high, across the valley we can see a glacier high up.

There's a ski resort here, complete with a tow and a chairlift. The man in the shop/cafe there is apparently a professional skier and just missed out on a place in the Beijing Olympics. 

The snow leopard enclosure is a short climb from here. It's about 50m x 30m with thick vegetation, trees, a slope and a lounging mound. The leopard, called Lolli, is easily seen as the keeper effectively called her over and does that thing that cats love behind the ears. 

She wanders off intermittently, pacing backwards and forwards along the fencing, which is not a good sign of the animal's mental health.

The keeper explains that she would not be able to look after herself in the wild, but Steve is sceptical. Apparently she escaped a few years ago and they sent out a huge team to find her. It would seem like poor Lolli is now a tourist attraction and therefore valuable in a cage. If they really value its welfare there are surely better ways to do that.

We return to our bikes and mine is being worked on. The throttle cable has been replaced as the old one was frayed.

I freewheel most of the way back down, madly waving to school kids on the way up, sitting on roof racks of their school buses!!!

Christopher and I stop to buy local produce by the side of the road, me apricots and he honey (he has a plan to avoid another topbox incident). Through the villages we pass streams of kids leaving school in the uniforms. It's just after noon, but this is the end of the day for them as they start early to avoid the heat as best they can. And as kids do throughout the world, they stop off at the local tuck shop on the way home to replenish their sugar supplies.

When we stop for fuel, I point out that my horn is not working, but it's just the connectors have not been reconnected. Easy fix. Catastrophe averted!

From there we head to the Hunza valley, stopping off for lunch on the way. But before we do we stop at a sign pointing to the old Silk Road. We see it high up on the side of the river valley a tiny looking path with sections swept away by landslides. My telephoto lens can see a broken suspension bridge going over a gap in the rocks.

Charlie asks Tabish if we can ride part if it and he takes us to a village across the river. We then ride up through the village and then suddenly we're on the Silk Road! It's little more than a narrow dirt track, but its day it evolved from a dirt track to a jeep track and was the only route through the mountains from east to west until the KKH was constructed in the 60's. We ride it for a few hundred meters until a point where we can turn the bikes safely. There are near sheer drops below into the river and it must have been quite 'exciting' to traverse this in a jeep. 

We get off and walk another hundred metres or and the path noticeably deteriorates, at one point down to no more than about 30cm wide, but it continues off into the distance, but will be impassable eventually. Of course we pose for photos.

On the way back we meet a local who explains that he lived there as a boy and used to sell apricots for one rupee to jeep passengers that still used the track. He asked where we where from and as Gerard was with us the man immediately asked about Kane Williamson (former captain). I asked about the Pakistan team which he found difficult to answer (they just lost to the US... The US!).

Although the Silk Road track is in disrepair, if renovated it would be a big draw for walking tours. Think about the small businesses that would spring up to support walkers like is done on the Camino walks in Europe. 

Back on the road and we're now battling with a wedding party that wants to stay in convoy. Charlie gets barged off the road in one overtake and is close to kicking the car.

The lunch stop has an awesome view of Rakaposhi towering over us and its glacier is clearly visible. There's a smaller relative of Lolli relaxing under our table.

We continue to Karimabad and arrive mi afternoon. On the way in we spot an unusual bike, but don't stop to photograph it. On arrival at the hotel Gerard rides back with me as pillion to capture this unique vehicle. 

The hotel, perched on the side of al the hillside, has spectacular views over the valley below and we can see several peaks and a glacier from our balcony. Regrettably I don't go out running; tomorrow perhaps, I'm already planning the route in my head. 

Dinner is the best yet according to Charlie, but that may be the Hunza water talking. But it was delicious. The food on this trip has been surely the best we've had, and certainly better than we experienced in India. 

After dinner a few of the lads find a local bar to refresh the parts other drinks cannot reach, while Hugo and I shop for cashmere pashminas (made across the border in Jummu and Kashmir)

Pakistanistan Day 6, arrived in Gilgit

The generator had switched off overnight, but it kicked off again in the morning, waking the neighbours and disturbing the calm of a gentle Karakorum morning. Fortunately it doesn't lessen the view. 

The simple but tasty breakfast was dispatched despite the lack of cutlery. The hotel is still being built and the staff appear to be learning on the job. Charlie remarked that many of the hotels we've stayed in could do with a woman's touch.

We go back down the chaotic road we climbed yesterday evening and this morning it's quiet so the challenge is lessened, but wet stones always deserve respect.

Our first stop is Upper Kachura Lake and we park the bikes at its upper level and I climb down with Christopher and Duff to see the water up close.

The sides are very steep and that looks to continue into the lake which would make it very deep. The lake edges are partly developed with boat rides, cafes and a zip line. It's not busy, with just a few families around and the water looks very inviting, but I don't have the correct attire. If it was later on the day I would have been tempted to jump in regardless. 

The climb back up is sweat inducing. 

Where we've parked the bikes sellers are offering local crafts and produce like apricots and honey. Christopher is considering some honey, but after his experience in Romania where he managed to empty a complete jar into his topbox, he's understandably holding off. 

Just as we leave I spot a gentleman with the most amazing moustache. I ask for a picture and he's more than happy to strike a pose, after which he tucks the ends over his ears!

We ride back to the Indus valley from the side valley where Sok is located and join it high up with magnificent views below. There's another Instagram sign and we stop and pose.

Moving on we're back hugging the side of the Indus valley, now following it downstream. In places you can really appreciate the power of the water flow as it churns up the grey silt. There are massive boulders that in the past have been tossed around in an even stronger flow like pebbles on a beach. This valley has been cut into solid rock by the action of water temperature and gravity. It took a literal age, but the process does not stop and constant landslides especially during the rainy season make road maintenance never ending.

The road is mostly good asphalt with patches of sand at the edges, but every now and then the road disintegrates into a rough surface of rocks and dust, and, or rockfall. You have to be careful because these sections creep up on you and if you hit them at speed things get very messy. 

The road sweeps and we find ourselves dicing with cars and lorries. The latter we can manage but the cars are far more challenging for our weedy engines which really struggle to overtake. Most often we make progress where the road is broken because the cars take those patches slowly, whereas we can bounce our way through on the bikes. Once ahead we can usually stay in front as there is no DRS assistance for car drivers here! As in previous days (but not mentioned so far) we pass through several checkpoints where at some, Tabish has to show our travel documents to the police before we proceed. It's all good humoured and we leave with a wave.

Lunch is at a cafe over a tributary feeding the Indus. Opposite we can see huge rocks that have fallen from the valley above and that have been built around. One has landed precariously, now supported by smaller rocks; others above wait to flatten the buildings below at any moment. Once again the food is excellent.

Now it's a fast ride to join up with our primary target. We meet Highway N35 and pose for photos. We're now on the legendary Karakorum Highway. This has been a dream of mine for more than 30 years since I first visited Pakistan and heard stories about the beautiful north of the country. I should have done this sooner and hope to come back in the not to distant future ideally with a bigger engine. 

We follow the KKH at speed and again the road is mostly good, but in places it is destroyed by landslides. We get a good view of Nanga Parbat at one point. Then we split from the Indus and join one of its tributaries, the Gilgit River and follow that towards Gilgit itself.

Then onwards and arrival in Gilgit, a bustling garrison city and gateway to many of the peaks beyond. 

On arrival at our hotel we enjoy a milkshake and check-in. The rooms overlook the Gilgit River which we can hear roaring constantly through the windows.

Christopher and I run a loop of the river, crossing on a suspension bridge before returning further down on something more solid. 

Dinner is another excellent meal, followed by yet another ice-cream milkshake.

One downer for us, is news from a shaken Steve that one of our biker friends Baz, who runs the Adventure Rider Centre with his wife Kaz, has brain cancer. Steve delivers the news fighting back his tears as he tells us the prognosis is not good, less than a year is expected. It's gutting as Baz is so full of life, full on, at maximum volume. Brap!