| ABOUT
THIS TRAVEL
Northern Pakistan
12 days, Oct 06
PAKISTAN INTRO
Kind of travel: Alone in a wholly independent
travel
When: 14th-25th,
Oct 06
How
I moved: buses are convenient but exist only on the
main roads, "leaving-when-full" crowded minibus gets
in most of the places, otherwise hitch-hiking turned out to
work well (around Passu). Once I took the train from Peshawar
to Rawalpindi
Freezing or baking?: Islamabad
and Peshawar were quite warm (25C), while on the mountains it was getting cold (10-13 C):
consider that 'heating system' is an unknown word
Where
I slept: there's no lack of cheap accommodating, so
you can always find a room ranging from 2.5$ to 6$. Forget heating
system, reliable power, most of the time hot water and toilet
paper of course!
What
I liked: the huge hospitality and the friendness of
the people. An unexpected feeling of safety. The jaw-dropping
landscape along the Karakorum Highway and the crazy celebration
for the end of Ramadan (Eid el-Fitr)
What I disliked:
my flight Islamabad- Skardu getting canceled for bad weather,
people spitting everywhere on the bus, the Ramadan and above
all seeing the condition of the local women
How much daily: Pakistan
turned out to be as cheap as India, spending around 20 $/day. However if you want to trek
with guide and hire a jeep the expenses will soar high!!!
Dangers/
hassles: a lot as soon s
you try to interact with local women, very few if you don't.
Left alone the open sewers in the street and of course the well-known
bad areas (Kohistan- Baluchistan) What
to bring: I found the Footprint
guide of Northern Pakistan (1st edition by D. Winter)
turned out really well done
THE
TRAVEL
Landed in Islamabad I was looking forward to get on the small
plane to fly over the Himalayan range, destination Skardu. I
got very disappointed when the flight was cancelled due to the
bad weather. I had already been warned on the LP forum this
often happens, but you always hope you are the lucky one.
It took just few hours my bottom was sat on a bus heading along
the Karakoram Highway (the only road that crosses the Himalayan
range connecting Pakistan and China) to Gilgit.
I didn't really understand how
long the travel took; I heard something like 18h and to me it
already seemed too much. After 23h I was still sat on the same
bus!
I reached Gilgit in the middle of a sunny morning with the temperature
around 17C. I settled down in the well-known Madina guesthouse
where I met few other travellers. Gilgit itself isn't that special,
but it's a good place to be used as base to explore the region
and to taste the northern Pakistani atmosphere.
By minibus in 6h I got to the northermost point of my trip:
Passu. This village is beautifully set at the feet of a 4000m
high and several km long rocky wall, that makes the scenery
breathtaking.
Here I slept in a small and cheap guesthouse (2 euro/night)
where it was just me and the owner. I spent two days trekking
in the area and eating vegetables. In particular I visited the
Hussaini bridges and the village of Gulmarg, where it turned
out interesting to have a look to a local school.
Hitch hiking still along the Karakoram Highway I headed south
till the former capital of Karimabad. Again I introduced myself
to the director and I visited a local school. Then I spent two
days hanging around the area, reaching the viewpoint of Duikar
(2900m) and the old settlement of Ganesh.
Again stopping over in Gilgit, I got to Islamabad by a 18h bus
trip and then I turned to Peshawar. Definitely it's one of the
most amazing town I've seen in my travels: Peshawar with its
long bearded men, fully covered women, colourful buses and the
"weapon culture", really seems a movie set.
Moreover I didn't miss the chance to visit the famous Kyber
pass, one of the few roads, through the Hindu Kush range, that
snake to Afghanistan. In this Pakistani region called "tribal
area", an escort is mandatory, so you need to get the permit,
the car and the policeman; the guesthouse provided everything
for me. The Kyber pass itself is nothing special, but on the
way, its historical role in the "Big Game", the afghan
refugee camps, the villages and the forts, turned the whole
trip worthwhile.
Time was getting over, so I jumped on the train and I reached
Islamabad to flight back to Europe.
Alby
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