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Hello from Karimabad,Hunza,northern Pakistan.Home to seven of the highest peaks in the world.Of those i have seen Rakaposhi (7788m),Nanga Parbat (8126m) and Lady's finger.Arrived here the 6th and so enjoying a welcome break from the truck to go treking in the foothills of the local area.
Left Peshawar Monday 4th,was pleased to be leaving the heat,noise and smell of the city behind.Before we left we did travel along the Kyber pass which is through the bandit area of the country.Again we had police escort all the way.Got as far as a viewing point so we could see Afghanistan probably the closest i will come to seeing the country.It is strictly off limits to travellers.Our driver Steve was going to attempt to getting us closer to the border which i'm glad never materlised.Travelling through this area it becomes clear by the terrain why it is a haven for smugglers and bandits.The road is over shadowed by steep hills with caves dotted amongst them.
As we began the next leg of our journey taking in the Karakoram highway the countryside began to change and the temperature began to drop as we climbed higher into the hills of northern Pakistan.It felt so good again to wear my cosy fleece in the evening.The Karakoram highway is an amazing road to travel on never knowing what you are going to meet or how much of the road remains.It is constantly being reclaimed by landslides and floods,luckily are path was relatively clear but had a few near misses as on occassions we got too near the edge trying to give way to oncoming traffic.On one side you have rocky slopes and on the other you have sheer drops,it's not a good idea to take your eyes off the road!!
Back to Karimabad,yesterday enjoyed a strenous trek up to Ultar meadow and Lady's finger which took us four hours to climb.Along the way we picked up a local guide which i was glad to have especially when the path had been washed away by a landslide,also we were walking along a path to the side of the mountain that gave little room for misplacing of footing and was at dizzingly and daring heights.Reached Ultar meadow which is base camp to Lady's finger from here i saw my first glacier,watched and heard it move and change it's form.I do believe we reached 3,900 meters,a first for me.Coped with the altitude with no ill effects.Unfortunately Rach became ill,vomiting on our ascent down,we became concerned for her.But after a days rest she is fine again.Not sure if it was altitude sickness or just a bug.There is a handful of folk that are slowly becoming ill with sickness and diarrhoea.I have had my share to day,spent much of the day in bed suffering with what i call Paki bum,looking forward to passing a solid poo again.It's slowly doing the rounds hoping to get another day here which would be great as i really haven't been able to do much today.
The people here are extremely friendly and very open they rely on tourism as their main income when in season.Also found out today they practise a version of Islam only know to this area and they are all for woman being more than just housewives.Also the muslim dress is not strict here,woman are unveiled and seem more relaxed.Karimabad is a wonderful town with winding cobbled streets.It has one great little coffee shop called Cafe de Hunza which serves great coffee and a local speciality of Walnut cake,a must if you visit.It has some great little resturants serving local food,a must for breakfast is pancakes with apricot jam,grown in the local area.If ever you want to travel off the beaten track then this is the ideal holiday destination.
Until the next time Ave x x x x x x x x x x
p.s Lorna K,could you e-mail me your address and i stick a postcard in the post for you.
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