Foreigners' trip to Pakistan - 2011

[53fd]

http://silkroadchina-and-northernpakistan.blogspot.com/2007/06/khunjerab-pass-and-sost.html

 

[53fd]

Silk Road Backpacking (China and Northern Pakistan): Pakistan - Passu

 

[53fd]

Silk Road Backpacking (China and Northern Pakistan): Karimabad, Hunza Valley

 

[53fd]

Silk Road Backpacking (China and Northern Pakistan): Gilgit and Fairy Meadow Trek

 

[53fd]

Amazing documentary about Pakistan:

---------- Post added at 09:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 PM ----------

 

[Baby Leone]

nice thread a beautiful and true experiance thats the reason i love Pakistan so much....The Purity of peoples thats why we call it the land of pures...

 

[53fd]

Rapping With The Man In Pakistan

As I venture fourth in a motorcycle rickshaw my headscarf flapping free in the chaos of the flooded Lahore streets, I am oddly bouncing away. Not due the absent shocks of the rickshaw or the fact that we are going about 90MPH zigzagging inches from every vehicle we approach but bouncing to the beat of the Beastie Boys screaming rap songs into my headphones. For some reason, I really enjoy listening to the Beastie Boys rapping on full volume while wearing a headscarf going ninety MPH in the back of a motorcycle rickshaw through the flooded streets of Lahore, Pakistan...who knew?

To read the whole article in the blog, please go to this link:

Solo Female Cycling Around the World

 

[53fd]

Drinking Warm Smiles While Pedaling In Pakistan:

As I drift off to sleep I peer through the door of my little tent at the burning fires high on the Himalaya hills of the Hunza valley of Pakistan, the echoes of drums resonate on the hill side as the final day of the national celebration comes to a close. It is the annual celebration of Prince Karim Agah Khan. Every year around the world on July 11th fire and lights burn in celebration of the day when the prince received his spiritual powers from his grandfather.

To read the whole article in the blog, please go to this link:

Solo Female Cycling Around the World

 

[53fd]

Paris Hilton Arrives In Pakistan With A Magic Bicycle:

As I climb out of the desert and venture past the final community in China I begin to climb into the Kunjerab Pass. An expensive dark Chinese’s SUV arrives. I am immigration, it is Chinese law, no cycling the border crossing in China, you must take bus to Sost, Pakistan. No you are kidding, really? I am so lost, thank you for stopping and helping me I say with a devilish grin. My pedaling soul REALLY wants to pedal over the 5400 meter pass and silly me may have known that China wouldn’t let me and may of tried pedaling down the road into the mountains anyway.

To read the whole article in the blog, please go to this link:

Solo Female Cycling Around the World

 

[53fd]

Call A Friend, Ask The Audience, 50/50...Who Wants To Be A Cyclist?

50/50 As I pedal up the mountainous Karakorum Highway (KKH) I am admiring the lush green hills, oh no, not again… I jam the brakes dive to the side of the road and throw up. Jump back up on the bicycle and pedal on… Another puke rally for me as I make my way over the mountains with 50 percent of my lunch left in my belly. The funny thing is I don’t want to stop pedaling because at each turn of the bend in the road the people here are truly fun to meet and be around.

To read the whole article in the blog, please go to this link:

Solo Female Cycling Around the World

 

[53fd]

Oh ****!

“Oh ****” RUN!!!! I hear my two friends say as we stand midst a joyous crowd of thousands of dancing, singing, honking and smiling people. I am short in a crowd, actually I am short even not in a crowd. However, regardless of my vertically challenged position, I cannot see that the riot police have just pulled a AK-47 on the crowd. As the crowd turns toward me with childlike playful smiles, the seas of running Pakistani men engulf me like a bore tide on a full moon.

Where I come from, it is what you call a stampede. I get separated from my friends and after running 100 feet like the lunatics among me, I find myself beached to a standstill, amongst the crowd, giggling, thinking WTF am I doing? After all, doesn’t every travel advisor on the planet right now warn against non essential travel to Pakistan and issues a strict warning to avoid all public gatherings, especially of the nationalistic kind. But this is so much fun and the crowds of folks are so happy to see foreigners that we are welcomed as guests by drum circles and dancing. It is hard to say it is unsafe and much easier to say it is the best party I have been too in quite some time.

As I look up amongst the shoulders and backs I see a riot policeman high on a horse laughing at me as I stand alone giggling in the mess of happy crazed people. He motions me towards him and from his horse tall view can see my friends and reunites me with my two crowd loving friends, an Ozzie woman who is a English teacher in China and British hitchhiker from Oxford University. Amidst the parting of the rioting sea of lunatics, we were scattered in opposite directions.

We are two wooden barricades, and only ¼ kilometer from the Independence Day Celebration at the Pakistan/India border at Wagagh. However, thousands of people and a general atmosphere of compete joyful insanity quickly ends our scurry to go see whatever is up ahead. For, the journey had clearly replaced the destination, on this Independence Day celebrating Pakistan’s separation from India, for 3 travelers from across the globe.

http://www.skalatitude.com/2011/08/oh-****.html#more

 

[53fd]

I've Got The Karakorum Highway On My Mind:

If you notice a sole female cyclist peddling down the Karakorum Highway (KKH) in May, don’t be surprised. It will probably be Canadian Loretta Henderson who is peddling around the world for charity. She says “I am really excited about peddling the Karakorum Highway through Northern Pakistan. This has been a dream of mine ever since I started this “.

She says “it all started in the bicycle shop in Britain where I purchased the green German touring bicycle. I named it Pandemic the Magic Bicycle because I expected it to be swift and fearless on all kinds of roads just like the bird flu pandemic a few years ago. I haven’t been disappointed”

Ms Henderson has been cycling around the world for almost 2 years covering Oceania, Asia and is pedaling her way through Europe into Africa. Her journey is described in a series of funny blogs on her popular website Solo Female Cycling Around the World. As her website explains, she is working with a nonprofit group to raise awareness of bicycle ambulances in Africa. The unique ambulances are drastically reducing child and mother mortality rates by providing transportation to nearby medical facilities. You can contribute through her website by spreading the news, donating money or purchasing a unique t shirt. To commemorate the journey “Be The Adventure” t-shirts were designed by a Canadian friend and are now proudly warn around the world.



“I first got interested in peddling the KKH when I met a friend, a Pakistani woman from Karachi backpacking her way through South East Asia on a holiday from university in Australia. We talked a lot about the highest paved road in the world, the construction of which is considered to be The Ninth Wonder Of The World. Although, I had heard about the famous cycling route in Pakistan from books she brought it to life”.

The KKH is the highest paved mountain road in the world and is considered a classic cycling route. The KKH twists for 805 miles through the junction of the worlds 3 mighty mountain ranges, The Karakorum, Himalayas and The Pamirs. The journey begins at the Kunjerab Pass (elevation 4703metres) at Sost and follows the Hunza valley into Gilgit, continues along the Indus river on the historic ancient silk road through Chils, Sazim, Pattan, Besham, Thakot, Manshera, Abbotabbad and into Islamabad. “ I have been Invited to come to Pakistan as a guest of my friend’s father and when not pedaling will be staying with friends and their relatives on route”.

Ms Henderson says “ I am thinking about this as the ultimate adventure and am looking forward to experiencing the legendary Pakistani hospitality”. Geo News is sponsoring the expedition with media coverage throughout the journey.

Solo Female Cycling Around the World: I've Got The Karakorum Highway On My Mind

 

[53fd]

This highway is a 1200km marvel of engineering and a symbolic collaboration between China and Pakistan. Blasted and bulldozed through an intractable landscape of raging rivers, deep ravines and precipitous peaks in the 1960s and '70s and follows a branch of the ancient network of trade routes known as the Silk Road.

That sounds all very nice and I thought it was going to be a cozy two day trip in a comfortable air-con bus cruising on a highway, however it resulted in one of my greatest adventures!

Kicked off in Kashgar (China) where we hired a car and driver to take us to the Chinese border town of Tashkurgan. After a 80km ride across an arid plateau we entered the 200km stretch of rugged mountain ranges with snowy peaks and breathtaking views

The stop at the Kara Kul lake (3700m) which is nestled between two Pamir giants, Muztagh Ata and Mt Kongur (7719m) was awesome! After 7 hours drive and several photo stops we checked into the Bei Lei Xin Hotel which unfortunately had no running water, heating (it was zero degrees outside) or electricity. We overcame these set backs by enjoying our last few beers under the blankets in our room before crossing into the dry zone of Pakistan.

The next morning we were up early to get to the Chinese immigration a few hundred meters down the road, three hours later we were packed in a small Pakistani bus together with boxes and language, some Chinese business guys and lots of friendly Pakistanis. The six hour ride took us across the snow covered Khunjerab Pass (4730m) which is the border between China and Pakistan. The road quickly deteriorated from well-engineered and properly sealed on the Chinese side to a badly washed out gravel track on the Pakistani side. We did however arrive safely in Sost where we got our Pakistan entry stamp! Luckily I got my visa back in Switzerland as Pakistan changed the arrival rules just last week and we met a few travelers stranded in Kashgar who were refused entry into Pakistan.

Original idea was to stay in Sost but the dusty makeshift town was very uninviting so we flagged down a minivan to continue the journey further south. Discussed with a couple of the Pakistani's on the Tashkurgan bus to share a ride ,thinking there would only be a few of us but ended up with squeezed in with 21 smiling Pakistani's – Michelle of course the only women One hour later we arrived in Passu and happily stretched out for the night.

We continued to enjoy the clear blue skys and stunning views of the Karakoram Highway on the two day journey from Passu to Karimabad in Hunza Valley and onto dusty Gilgit. The road condition did not improve from the rough track and 100km took approx 3 hours. Shortly after Passu we enjoyed a sunning 1.5hr boat ride along a 21km lake. Sadly the lake was caused by a massive landslide early in 2010 wiping out a village and completely blocking the valley with boulders larger than buses crating a dam and cutting the trading route completely. Chinese experts are supporting the Pakistani with solutions, however seeing the rock cliffs on both sides, some hundreds of meters high, seems an impossible feet to remedy.

The jeep ride over the massive boulders and powderlike dust was a hair raising experience, with your butt cheeks hanging over the edge of 100m cliffs, Michelle described it as the longest rollercoaster ride in the world!

China - on the way to the border

Extract from wikipedia: Attabad Lake, Gojal, is a lake in the Hunza Valley of northern Pakistan created in January 2010 by a landslide dam. The lake was formed due to a massive landslide at Attabad village in Gilgit-Baltistan, 9 miles (14 km) upstream (east) of Karimabad that occurred on January 4, 2010. The landslide killed twenty people and blocked the flow of the Hunza River for five months. The lake flooding has displaced 6,000 people from upstream villages, stranded (from land transportation routes) a further 25,000, and inundated over 12 miles (19 km) of the Karakoram Highway.The lake reached 13 miles (21 km) long and over 100 metres in depth by the first week of June 2010 when it began flowing over the landslide dam, completely submerging lower Shishkat and partly flooding Gulmit, over 170 houses and 120 shops.


Karimabad, Hunza’s ancient capital with its magnificent fort serving as the royal palace for over 750 years up until last century, here we learned about Aga Khan. The Imam, the Islamic religious leader, interestingly was born in Geneva. Therefore everyone in Northern Pakistan knows Switzerland!

In Gilgit, south of the Hunza river we were lucky to watch a practice session of the famous Polo (Andy would have loved it!), 'the sport of Kings, the King of sports’

Afterwards we meandered through the town and crossed the Gligit River over a rickety suspension bridge.

All locals have been very friendly, honest and hospitable. We’ve gotten a free ride on a jeep and invitations to their homes where we enjoyed milk tea, exchanged stories and laughs. The owner of a street stall was chasing me down the road with my SLR in hand, I’d left my camera on one of his chairs. And a grocery seller dragged Michelle in his shop and excused himself five times because he unfortunately miscalculated our shopping bill from two hours ago. Actually it was only CHF 2.90 instead of CHF 6.90 and handed over 400 Pakistani Ruppies to a surprised Michelle.

After a week in the cold and watching the mountains, we decided to skip our trek to Nanga Parbat (8125m) and head directly to Islamabad. Directly sounds a bit funny now, after the 20 hour trip along a windy (every 100m a curve), bumpy road is over. The tires missing the cliff edge by a hair, the road worse than any farm track, pot holes larger than car wheels, the needle never dropping below 40km but staying around 80 h/km. Again we had many interesting encounters with locals which will not forget soon. Thanks again to our big, skilled and always smiling driver who gave me a tight hug after arriving at our final destination in Rawalpindi at 7am – this indeed was a great adventure!

Karakoram Highway – a great Adventure! - Gilgit, Pakistan Travel Blog

 

[Desert Fox]

The Karakoram Highway - from China to Pakistan - YouTube

 

[RayKalm]

Why did this thread die out?