The Viewing Room

Claro Intelecto - Peace Of Mind

Roller vibes washing over you like a warm breeze.

Astronautica - Cruise

Sea cruise perhaps?  Either way, it’s smoooooth.

Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan’s boarders encompass an area controlled only by nature. We cannot imagine how to tame it. It is something you must accept or face it in every step along the way. 

Here, we become lesser, somehow, and can only see ourselves in respect to nature’s existence. 

On our second day of hiking the landscape began to change. The water grew in prominence and the ground became more rocky.   It was another longish, 20km day.  After lunch, one of the main attractions came into view, Baltoro glacier,  and we moved to mount it.  It doesn’t look like much (last 2 photos) but later posts will show its immensity. Covered in rocks, it’s not always beautiful in photos like arctic glaciers. In person, it is hard to comprehend. 63 kilometers of ice. What else could create such a landscape? 

I don’t know where that horse came from in the first photo. It was wild and not with us. 

The first day of hiking wasn’t too tough. 20 km on flat ground with some nice scenery in the distance and a few wild rose bushes here and there. This was essentially a warm up day. Everyone commented on the beauty of the mountains, and they were beautiful even at such a distance. The hike to the heart of the Karakoram had begun. Camp that night was cool..maybe 10-15C..fairly comfortable. Plus we were still sleeping on hard land. Baltoro glacier awaited. 

Just heard this for the first time today.  It’s a club joint, IMHO..but like, a chill lounge kind of place with a D.J. where breakers might show up and throw down, you know, breaker style :-) 

Now, I know that kind of thing doesn’t happen all too often, but if it happened even once you’d remember it.. and this is the music I imagine there. 

Maybe 3 or 4 bridges like this one on the way.  After one, you kind of get used to it, or at least I did. They are pretty narrow bridges.

The drive from Skardu to Askole, the final village before the trek begins, is equal parts amazing and terrifying. At times, the views open up to show large shapes going into and out of the earth.  Which is amazing. Then, you drive right next to those big shapes. Which is terrifying.  

I’ll put up a video of one of the several bridge crossings in the next post...those got easier...

Sometime after lunch the road got so tight that everyone had to get out except the driver.  I’ll say a larger vehicle had never passed that tiny piece of cut out mountain.  There were 6 inches outside the tires at good times and maybe 1 1/2 inches at other times with a good drop below, like maybe 50 meters.  

We passed a few small villages along the way..you can see a typical village in the bottom picture on the right.  I may have mentioned that Pakastani people are survivors.  “Hard as nails,” one of my hiking-mates said.  And he was right.  

We made it to Askole and that was it..car rides were over for the next 10 or 11 days.  We relaxed, had dinner and off to the tents.  

I talked a lot with the guy on the far left, the cook from my hotel.  He was from a village nearby and had spent some time in Islamabad learning to cook at a hotel there...now he’s the Chef here. There were several Russian dishes on the menu and a few veggie curries, along with plenty of meat. 

It’s expected, but still a bit of a surprise how different the food here is from India.  

Everything was super fresh...of course. The flight from Islamabad was about an hour..but the drive is 2 days and often longer due to landslides over the road. So, as you can imagine, towns and villages like this are fairly self sufficient. 

A few shots from around Skardu.  This was the base before we headed out for the hike..known as the ‘Dream Hike’ by Pakistanis.  I was able to rest and get a few final items, try some local dishes and chit chat a bit with a few people.  Everyone was really friendly and accommodating, offering advice on this or that, depending on my momentary needs :-) 

A real contrast to Islamabad. Everything was just a bit more natural here and I began to see and feel the raw power and energy of the mountains. Mountains rule this region to such a grand scale. They influence everything you do here. 

Skardu, Pakistan (2 July 2018). Time for some last minute shopping, haircut, and tea. Heading out with the group tomorrow to begin two weeks of hiking towards K2 Basecamp and Gongdogoro La. It’s been an interesting trip so far. Islamabad was much cleaner and calmer than I expected. Everyone has been very nice although a young Afghan guy did make fun of my super-nerd gigantic hiking hat! Who can blame him, though.

Big stuff coming up, my friends.  BII-G stuff, indeed. Baltoro glacier, K2, Gondogoro La.   I’m getting excited.