Next stop, Afghanistan!
I’m back in Peshawar again. It’s freak’n HOT right now, but I’ll live. Jacques, Stefon and I all have our Afghani visa’s, so we’re off in the morning. I’m sick as a dog right now from drinking bad water while hitchhicking with Jacques, but I’ll live. Just a few things to catch up on before I fill you in on Afghanistan (next time)…
After The K-2 trek Andy, Rodger and I all headed back up to Gilgit to find Jacques (who couldn’t do the trek with us since he lost a filling in his tooth the day before the trek). We tried to fatten up, but the food just isn’t good enough for that. After a shoot-out and a curfew in Gilgit (a Shia and Sunni thing), we learned that Jacques was already up in Hunza, so Andy and I decided to head north on the KKH (Karakoram Highway) and meet up with him. Rodger had to catch a flight in India, so we said “peace” to him and we departed in opposite directions.
Hunza was excellent! It was so laid back and it seemed very clean (maybe because we just came from Gilgit) with yummie fresh air! It’s also a world heritage site with a killer little fort (Fort Hunza) at the top of the hill in town. Most of the locals are Ismaili Muslims followers of Prince Karim Aga Khan and the ladies don’t have to cover their heads, another bonus! We met Jacques the first day and Andy and I went right to work fattening up and drinking REAL coffee and eating good bread!!! Yes, I love Hunza, REAL coffee!!!
Beautiful mountain scenery right out our door, fruit trees (with tons of fruit on them)everywhere and nice mellow day hikes to other smaller villages made Hunza a great place to unwind after a few days of snow blindness and two weeks of high altitude trekking. Nothing was as beautiful as the first few painless views after being snow blind by the way! I’ll never forget that…
We heard through the travelers grapevine that Rakaposhi base camp in Minapin is not to be missed. Minapin was suppose to have one of the nicest guest houses in Pakistan too, plus my Teva’s really wanted at least one more trek, so we decided to check it out. Andy was heading into china (which is northeast of Hunza), but figuered he’d tag along and get one more trek in as well, even if it was in the opposite direction. So, we hitched from Karimabad to Minapinm, it took two tractors, one flying coach and lots of standing roadside in the shade, but we made. We stayed at Diran Guest House and it was killer. Fields and fields of Apricot, cherry, and Apple trees right your bedroom door. The guest house was worth the trip alone.
So, we did that trekk the next day, it was pretty easy and well worth the trip, beautiful scenery! We stayed over night in a tent up there playing cards with a couple of girls and their guide. Ali was the tent man up there and cook, but he lost one of his cows a couple of days before we got there. When we woke up in the morning, we heard him yelling! When we cleared the sleep out of our eyes we saw him dancing around his cow all excited! Yup, Ali found his cow!
After the trek Jacques and I wished Andy well and just like that, four became three and three became two. Jacques and I ended up hitching all the way from Minapin back to Peshawar. With the heat and the dust it wasn’t very enjoyable, but the nights were amazing and the people that picked us up were kind and caring! One movie crew picked us up. They had a caravan of four or five trucks with Pakistani up and coming stars. They were just shooting some commercials and not only gave us a ride (we laid down on top of lighting equipment) for free, but insisted on paying for all of our food and Chai as well. They also offered us a job as extra’s in movies down in Lahore, it was tempting, but…um, Okay it wasn’t very tempting at all!
So, that’s where I’m at now. We took countless trucks, tractors, horse wagons, donkey wagons and even a car (amazing) to get over here, great experience. I tried to get a visa for Iran (here in Peshawar), but they just stole my money and denied my visa, because I’m American. Looks like the Afghan/Iran boarder will be it for Jacques, Stefon and I…
Wish me luck in Afghanistan, it’s election time!
Tags: Pakistan
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