THE OVERWHELMING GENEROSITY OF THE PAKISTANI PEOPLE

 

Time to say our goodbyes to our Gilgit family and head off. After another delicious breakfast we head back to the Karakorum Highway and after heading 30km south we turn onto the Skardu Road that follows the Indus River. The road has been hewn from the rock-face, but it has been sealed, making it magic driving. About halfway to Skardu we come to a halt. There is a long line of trucks and a smattering of cars. The police inform us the road will be closed for a few hours because there is a protest in the village. They are protesting the killing of Muslims in Gaza. You really must wonder what good a small local protest in the back of beyond in Pakistan can do except frustrate travelers! So, by the time we reach the edge of Skardu it’s dark, and as Murphys Law would have it there is another much bigger protest in town that is blocking both roads into the city. I get out and help John do a 10-point turn in the huge crowd of men. Then we and another camper head back out of town. The second Hotel I try says we can camp in their carpark. Yay, it’s a nice big secure one.

 The next morning is cold and grey, so we dither about what to do, but when we hear that the road is open we decide to head to town and on up to Lake Satpara. We stop for coffee at the lookout meet local tourists who very generously give us local dried apricots and chocolate biscuits. Pakistanis are so generous. We decide to continue up the narrow road to Deosai Nat Park, just to see if we can go there. We have been told by everyone that it will be impossible in our truck. That’s red rag to a bull, so we set off. Hardly any oncoming traffic makes it much easier! At the entry to the park the rangers say we will be Ok, so we pay our fees and head in. It’s a narrow, mostly one way only track that has countless zigzags up the side of the mountain. Some of the turns are tight, but GR2 has a great lock and a fantastic driver. At the top it’s snowing, but we continue through the stark high plateau. Maybe we will spy a bear or a snow leopard! Of course we don’t, but we do find a lovely spot beside a babbling brook where we decide to camp for the night on the second highest plateau in the world. And what a night! It’s freezing at -9C in the morning. At least the weather is perfect with snowcapped peaks in every direction. We drive all the way through the park before turning around and heading back to Skardu, but by this time the jeeps are arriving. OK on the plateau but much more annoying on the way down all those zigzags. The drivers here are of the “not think ahead of time” kind (that’s putting it politely!) so when they see us coming towards them, they don’t stop at the wide spot where they are but rush onto the narrow part where we cannot get past them. In the end whenever we see one coming, we find a spot and wait. It is much less stressful!

 It has taken most of the day to drive a mere 86km. It’s midafternoon as we head towards town, and we see there is a lovely hotel overlooking the city where there is camping. We stop there for the night but have to get help to move overhanging power lines. In the morning, we head off to explore town. First the Fort perched high on a rocky outcrop, then the Polo ground (and we discover that there is a match tonight at 4pm) and finally the lovely new Mosque - outside only as its prayer time. We leave town via a back road – and take down a row of power lines in the process, not much we can do so we slink away, We now head along the lovely Hispar Valley. The views of the mountains, river and cold desert are stunning. We continue to the village of Hispar, but when the streets narrow alarmingly, I have a hizzy fit. I don’t fancy getting stuck or taking down more power lines, so John bows to the pressure and does a U-turn. The we head down back tracks into the desert to see the sanddunes. We could camp here the night, but we want to watch the Polo match. So, head back into town, only to come across yet another protest blocking the 2 roads going into town. It will be at least 2 hours, so we do yet another 6-point turn and return to the desert for the night. Later we discover that the Polo match was cancelled.  And we never do find out what the last 2 protests were about!

We leave bright and early so that we can drive through town in a bit less chaos, and before long we head along the river and out of the valley with a short detour out to the Shangrila Resort (rather pretty but overrated in our opinion) Later in the day we reach Gilgit and head to our Gilgit home. We set up in the yard and pop in to see the family. Later that night Osman (one of the brothers) takes us to a neighbor’s wedding for a few hours. I get to go with the men (the woman area is separate) and we are given front row seats. Slowly the action starts. A small band consisting of a harpsicord, a drum and singer set up on stage. Boys rush to join them and get shooed away by adults. But that doesn’t deter them, they keep coming back. The music starts and they are all clapping and cheering. Then the dancing starts. One or two at a time bending, swaying and twisting to the music. When the music builds to a crescendo, so does the dancing. Onlookers tuck money into the dancer’s hands – a payment for the band. Later the groom gets up and dances with a long trail of friends. By 11.30 we are tired and slip away while the music continues. What a fun way to end our time in Gilgit.

The next day we say our goodbyes, despite them wanting us to stay. We have a long drive ahead through to Chitral that Osman has recommended. Apparently, the route is lovelier than the Karakorum Highway, and there will only be a few sections of roadworks where we may have to wait a few hours.

We follow the gorgeous aqua blue river through a stunning valley full of villages. When we reach a bigger town, we see a few polo horses and we stop to inquire! Yes, a match is on shortly, so we turn around and find a carpark and follow the crowds to the Polo ground. Awesome, the match is ready to start. We find a great spot on the stone wall with the locals, but before we have even settled we are whisked over to join the officials in the chair lined stand and given front row seats. I am not suitably impressed as we are now protected by chicken mesh which is no good for photos. I sit on the ground with the kids to take photos while John becomes a VIP. He gets presented to the crowd and awarded a Gilgit hat.  He even gets to throw in the ball at half time. The game is fun and fast paced. Crazy fun! But time for us to hit the road for another hour because we have another 30kms before our planned camp spot. Well, that doesn’t happen! The driving is incredibly slow and when we come to another road closure and discover that the road will reopen at 6pm we decide to stop there and camp right beside the road. It ends up a quiet night. No one bothers us, not that there is much traffic anyway, and we head off bright and early while the road is open.

Most of the day is taken up navigating roadworks. When there are no roadworks there are narrow gravel tracks. Randomly there are sections of tarseal – but usually no longer than 1km. On the plus side the scenery is stunning. The river widens into lake-sized areas with gorgeous reflections and everywhere there are swing bridges over the river (my new favorite thing to take photos of!) Slowly we are climbing the mountains to the stunning Shandur Pass at 3800m. Near the top there is a military base where there is a big Polo field – the highest in the world. No games now so we trundle on. There is very little traffic and no buses or trucks. Only jeeps! That shows how narrow the road has become. But the mountain scenery is just magic!  It’s nearly dusk by the time we pull over behind a deserted farmhouse mentioned on our app. We settle in and start eating dinner when there is a loud knock. The police are here, and we must move. It’s not safe here! The mountain could slide!!  We follow them, in the dark, back to town and end up right on the side of the road beside the police station. I haven’t mentioned, but at every checkpoint they want to see our passports and visas. Generally, they take a photo of them, making the process nice and fast. Even though we have been driving all day we have only covered 150km. Hopefully tomorrow we will reach Chitral.

Off yet again bright and early, and today would have to be the hardest, scariest section of the road. First a teeny-weeny wooden bridge we crossed twice last night then more cliffs with huge drop-offs and overhanging rock so low I think we will scrape GR2 or fall down the cliff! It’s stomach clenching stuff for me, but John keeps going despite him having an actual annoying stomach cramp. I don’t know what they call delly belly in Pakistan? Later we near the town of Mastuj (described in our book as the back of beyond) and the road narrows yet again with trees on each side and it gets worse in town with cars parked everywhere, overhanging wires and tight bends between overflowing shops. Mayhem. I still don’t know how John squeezed through. Phew, but now we continue through stunning valleys with terraced crops and countless houses. The road is still bad, but the scenery amazing. And finally, we are seeing vans and small trucks! That surely means that the road is getting wider. Once we reach the town of Booni the road improves marginally and before we know it we have reached Chitral. We are hunting down the River Lodge where we can camp and fortunately 2 guys come to our rescue as it’s a narrow one way only road system with no signs. They lead us to the Pamir River Lodge, stopping to move overhanging wires for us. It’s lovely to see a great riverside spot right beside the Hotel where we stay 3 nights. John can take a much-needed break, and now his cramps have gone it’s my turn. We wander the bazaar, and the next day explore the historic fort and lovely Mosque beside the Hotel. In the distance we spy cages, with passengers, going across the river so of course we hunt them down to take a ride across the river. Such fun!

We have booked a 4x4 to take us on a trip up the Kalash Valley to visit the Kalash people. They are supposedly descended from Alexander the Great and so of Greek heritage. Why Alexander was here no one knows but it’s a fascinating place to visit. The drive takes 2 hours and couldn’t be done in GR2. The roads way too tight through villages with power lines everywhere and the rocky outcrops too low for us to fit under. We first head to a hotel for chai and the Manager there fills us in with some history of the area and manages to drop in that Kate & William visited a few years ago! Then the fab museum (funded by the Greeks) and onto a village. Love the women’s head gear and gorgeously embroidered dresses. Sneak a few pics and ask for a few more. Go into a local home for a look and buy some red wine. Yes, they make wine up here. Before leaving we buy some hats to add to our ever-expanding collection. A late lunch of local beans & naan before the long drive back to Chitral.

An early start to exit the one-way system before it turns into congested mayhem – John deliberately goes the wrong way in the one-way system despite my protests, then has to put on his lost tourist story when a policeman waves him down! But finally, we are out of the city and on the road heading south. We wind up the mountain side to 2 long tunnels. At the second they ask if we have lights! And it is indeed very dark for 8 long kilometers, especially when we nearly bump into trucks with no lights on!  At the end of the tunnel the police tell us to wait. It seems we must now have a police escort!  So, for the rest of the day, we follow the escorts. Once we are through their area another escort is waiting. In all we have 12 escorts and the whole process is very seamless. One peels off as we follow the next. We particularly love the one that runs his siren through the villages and clears all the traffic for us to pass. The only annoying thing is the tour bus that is in our group. They stop a few times for ages, and we sit and wait. At 4pm when they stop at a restaurant John digs in his heels, saying we need to get to our camp before dark, so they supply us with our own escort, but it’s already dark by the time we reach our village. We stop for ages while they ring our host and finally escort us there. Our final escort has 6 soldiers, and a gun mounted on the roof! We are rather relieved to reach our camp beside Shujaat Ali’s house on his peach farm near the Swat Valley. Later we discover that 2 of the police sleep here both nights we are here! The very generous family refuse to let us pay for camping and even insist on sharing their dinners with us.

After a quiet day of cleaning and paperwork, plus lots of ball games and cricket with the kids, we are ready to head off. We will head to the motorway for some fast smooth driving. Islamabad here we come! No escort is required now. We reach the huge city and head to a truck painting place. We would like to spruce up GR2 a bit. No go at the first – it’s a huge dirty truck area with no space. We head to the second through the usual chaos. If this doesn’t work, we will give it a miss, but bonus, there in front of us is a row of shops crammed with truck decoration stuff. We stop and get decorated – just some sticker work as John doesn’t fancy any dangly stuff! Feeling very pleased with ourselves we exit the chaotic city and get back onto the motorway (we had thought to visit the Mosque, but it’s another 20kms drive through chaos)

Much later we pull over at a rest area, perfect for the night, maybe noisy but it will work. We have one last place to visit before we leave Pakistan – the sprawling city of Lahore. We can’t locate any suitable camping so ask for help and end up in the lovely backyard of a travel enthusiast in the nearby town of Sheikhupura. Tomorrow we will find a way to explore Lahore.

Our generous host has suggested a few options so we decide to take a car and driver to the city (an hour’s drive away) and get him to show us around. Goodness its exhausting being a tourist. We wander through a maze of streets in the Old Walled City, stopping to look through the very renovated Hamman and then the gorgeously painted Wazir Khan Mosque that is in the process of being renovated. Back out we head to the Fort and Badshahi Mosque. This lovely red & cream Mosque is stunning, very much like the ones in Uzbekistan. Then time to wander around the massive Fort, A maze of old buildings in various stages of repair. After a late lunch we head back to GR2 via the flasher suburbs.

Its finally time to exit Pakistan, so we head off bright and early. Its mid-morning by the time we reach the Waghu border. Despite them wondering why we are back here again all goes smoothly, and we again reach the double gates between the 2 countries. After a bit of deliberation, they let us in and the paperwork is very easy this time. No dramas with my passport and our new carnet has officially got enough time left on it to finish our India travels. It’s only early afternoon, but we head to the carpark. We want to watch the border ceremony from the India side. The crowds are already arriving despite the fact the gates don’t open until 3pm and the show starts at 5pm. We are there in VIP seats waiting early, and the ceremony is great, But I must say, and we both agree, it was better from the Pakistan side.

Goodbye Pakistan – we have loved visiting you. Your scenery is amazing and your people incredibly kind and generous.