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)