So, I traveled to Pakistan to visit my dear friend Maryam whom I know from my Kasakhstan-adventure 3 years ago. She has done a great job planning and organizing my visit to a not-so-easy country. Apparently I've been her first visitor as not many people make their way to Pakistan... so, it was also for her a good opportunity to learn to know new sides of her own country.
Getting the visa was relatively easy, I just had to send my passport to the Pakistani embassy in Berlin and travel for some weeks without it... After that we both stayed in contact with the German embassy in Pakistan for updates on security situation and recommendation what to avoid. The information we received beforehand were everything between "Better don't take risks" until "Totally safe". For a unbiased picture of the situation, as usual, one has to see for himself.
We took the early morning flight from Karachi to Islamabad, arrived on time and had only about 1 hour until departure to Gilgit. Now, the Gilgit-flight goes only once per day and the previous 3 days flights had been canceled due to unstable weather. Apparently it's up to the pilot to decide whether it would be safe to fly out or not. As we didn't have confirmed tickets (not possible under these circumstances) and lots of people who were scheduled the previous 3 days wanted to fly out as well, it took Maryam's persuasion skills and some vitamin B to get us on the flight but it worked and we were sitting on the best seats of that tiny 44people plane.
Soon we could enjoy breathtaking views of the mountains, beautiful sunshine and a very smooth ride.
After 45 minutes we landed in Gilgit being the only plane that was scheduled to arrive on that airport. The whole staff of the airport seemed to be the welcoming crew, the luggage belt carried about 5 suitcases and after 10 minutes the airport was empty.
We boarded the car that Maryam had organized beforehand and our driver took us on a 3hours scenic drive along the Hunza River through the famous Hunza valley to Karimabad. The road is called Karakorum Highway and connects Pakistan with China. In fact, the Chinese were so keen on that trading route that they built a proper highway (meaning 2 lanes tarred road with markings) which is perfectly maintained. We could have made our way to Karimabad in only 2 hours if we hadn't stopped several times on the way to take pictures of the snow-covered peaks. Around every corner a new breathtaking view of the mountains awaited us, the blue Hunza River at their feet and a perfectly blue sky... picture-perfect. At several police checkposts we had to stop and register the foreigner (me), which also took some time as they had to figure out what is what in my passport... Apparently not many foreigners had been here lately. And as we passed the famous peak of Rakaposhi (7788m high) we had a chai-break... it was afternoon by now.
Shortly before sunset we arrived at our hotel in Karimabad. We were the only guests (probably in the whole village) and it was freezing cold in our room. But we were so excited that we just changed into warm cloths, hopped around the orchard enjoying the last sunlight and taking incredible pictures of the scenery with golden leafs, impressive peaks and crisp fresh air.
What else would you feel like doing in that surrounding? :-)
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