Matt's parents came in September, and we all flew off to Skardu in the Northern Area for 10 days of jeeping adventure. With Rowena due in February and us now planning to return to UK in December, this was going to be one of our last trips.
The scenery around Skardu is beautiful, surrounded by spectacular mountains on the banks of the Indus with huge sand dunes. The town is a strange mix of purdah bazaar and lots of evidence of foreign tourists in a way that you do not see in Chitral. It is a central hub for the K2 and other adventure trips that draw people to Northern Pakistan.
We drove up the road towards K2 to Shigar, a lovely old village. The fort, around 400 years old was originally built on a huge bolder. It has been restored and is now a wonderful hotel set in delightful gardens and orchards. The fort and village was built by a tribe fleeing from Ganesh in the Hunza valley and the similarities in the architecture is striking. Our bedroom was the window at the top.
As you can see the boys were busy being useful again
There are lovely gardens just right for some daddy wrestling.
The local mosques show a strong influence from Ganesh with strands from Tibetan and Kashmiri culture as well. The mosque had been restored by the Aga Khan Foundation (who do a lot of impressive work in these areas) as well as other houses in the villages.
On the road towards the Indian boarder is Khapulu, also with a wonderful old fort, still being restored but with some wonderful Kashmiri carved and painted ceilings and window fret work. The fort commands a great position above the town under the shadow of the mountains where it was situated earlier.
We took a jeep over the Deosai Plains, a huge plateau all well above 4000m, in fact it is the second highest plateau in the world – second only to Tibet. It is was a wonderful open landscape – reminiscent of Scotland in a strange way.
It was the end of the summer and the locals were on their way back off the plains before the snow started falling.
After a long dusty day bouncing around in the jeep we eventually reached one of the most remote PDTC motels we have been to yet – Rama which lies on the Eastern side of Nanga Parbat. The hotel had great views of the peak but limited hot water and no heating – it was getting cold by now so fashion not an issue when you are wearing all your clothes..
Then on North up to Hunza. We stayed at Eagle's Nest a hotel with wonderful views. Here is John with the sun just setting on Golden Peak 7024m
The view of Rakaposhi (7800m) from our hotel room
Further up the Karakorum Highway towards China we came across an amazing bridge over the Hunza river. As you can see Matt is taking great care of his pregnant wife – again!
The major disaster was that my mother fell down the stairs in the hotel (no it wasn't while trekking!) and has broken her pelvis. Getting her down the jeep track from the hotel for an x-ray was a challenge, and the conditions of the local clinic were rather basic.
We did manage to set up a litter for her in the hotel in Gilgit
PIA have stopped flying their aging Fokker planes after a crash in Multan a couple of months back. Instead the air force has stepped in and lent their Hercules C130 planes. Quite an experience. The hooks to the right of the door are where you can attach 4 rockets to assist takeoff. Glad that we did not need them
Do we need parachutes?
The conditions inside were basic, but this is PIA. Food bags and drinks cups were passed down from the front.
Did get a view of K2 just peeking out of the clouds
More Photos in the Gallary Section, click on the left panel....
