Blogs from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Asia - page 2

Il piccolo minivan supera agilmente il Lowari Pass a piu' di 3000 metri d'altezza e si entra cosi' nel distretto di Chitral, all'angolo a Nord-Ovest del Pakistan, un territorio decisamente remoto circondato dalle possenti cime dell'Hindukush. L'aria e' frizzante e cristallina, una vera e propria boccata d'ossigeno dopo quella ammorbata delle grandi citta' di pianura; il cielo ritorna ad essere azzurro e con un po di fortuna le grosse nubi bianche si terranno lontane dalle alte cime che spiccano gia' innevate all'orizzonte. Chitral e' il centro principale della regione ma si rivela comunque una tranquillo paesotto di montagna con un vecchio forte, antica sede della famiglia reale, ed una caratteristica moschea che ravviva il piatto paesaggio urbano. La valle e' dominata all'orizzonte dalla maestosa vetta del Tirich Mir, che con i... read more

Left Islamabad at 6:30am and reached Naran at 7:00pm. But you can reach there in approximately 9 hrs. The distance between Islamabad and Naran is almost 250 km. The road up to Balakot is excellent. But as soon as you cross the bridge at Balakot to get to the other side of the river and onto Kaghan valley, the road is not that pleasant to drive at. The road has been damaged due to the earthquake that struck the area a couple of years back. Most of the damage to the road is from Balakot up to Kewai. After Kewai you will come across land slides which has covered the road and now the vehicles can cross it while driving over the land slides. In most places only a single vehicle can cross over it ... read more

LA CADUTA DEGLI EROI La "vendetta di Montezuma" colpisce anche in Pakistan Dai diamanti non nasce niente, dal letame nascono fiori. Fabrizio De Andrè E così un bel pomeriggio parto da Quetta e mi accingo a lasciare il Baluchistan. Fino all'ultimo son indeciso sulla mia destinazione: arrivare a Lahore direttamente non se ne parla, troppo distante, così opto per uno stop-over: fino al giorno della partenza son propenso ad andarmene a Multan, ma alla fine deciso di fare una piccola pazzia, e cambio meta. E' infatti da quando son partito che, negli Highlights del Pakistan, nella mia LP, continuo a guardare una foto che ritrae un Mausoleo, e a dirmi: "Questo voglio proprio vederlo". Mi basta poi leggere cosa la guida dice al riguardo, per convincermi: "Famosa meta di pellegrinaggi, dove ben pochi stranieri arrivano... read more

Wednesday September 20th Today I was leaving Gilgit and the Northern Area for Chitral in the North-West Frontier province, right next to Afghanistan. Chitral is a big valley blocked from the rest of Pakistan 6 months a year. It is in the extreme north-west of Pakistan, just south of the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan (the little handle that sticks out of Afghanistan, a little colonial fantasy) and east of Nuristan (the Land of Light, named so after the muslims killed every single one of the infidel local inhabitants in a jihad slightly more than a hundred years ago). The ride to Chitral was no piece of cake: 11 hours to Mastuj in a normal bus and then 5 hours to Chitral itself in a jeep (the bridges after Mastuf are too small to accomodate the bus). ... read more

So after leaving Peshawar and the comfort of Michael's we caught the minibus from hell up to Chitral in the North of NWFP. It was 13 hours in a van built for 16 with 25 others, a crazy driver with bad taste in Punjabi Pop and some screaming children. We were not happy chappies. Thankfully the town of Chitral was totally refreshing, truly Pakastani in all senses and nestled in a beautiful green valley beneath rocky mountains. We only spent the day in town, wandering the shops and eating with the locals, before we headed off to the Kalasha Valleys. The Kalasha are the only non-Muslim group still living in Pakistan, and they are a wonderful, unique and colourful people. The jeep ride in was amazing... terraced green fields and a deep valley carved in two ... read more