Blogs from Northern Areas, Pakistan, Asia

For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com “My father is an ibex hunter. Tonight we will eat ibex”. “But I am vegetarian. I don’t eat meat”. “It is all we have. We are preparing it for you”. “OK”. Am I really going to break ten years of vegetarianism to eat an endangered animal? But I am not going to say no to this family who has so kindly invited me into their simple mud and brick house for the night. We sit around the central wood fire in their home as mother and daughter press chapattis and spend several hours preparing the meal. The warmth is a pleasant change from the freezing 4$ hotel rooms I have been sleeping in. The women remove cups of chai for me from ... read more

(voor Nederlands, scroll naar beneden) For a lot of people, the muslim republic of Pakistan equals suicide attacks on big hotels, Taliban, military coups, nuclear arms race with nature enemy India, corruption and poverty. The few who dare to take off their western glasses, discover a hidden gem (we counted 12 foreign tourists in 4 weeks time!). Pakistanis are among the friendliest and most hospitable people in the world, on which we can only agree. Northern Pakistan is home to 12 of the 30 highest peaks in the world, including five 8000m peaks (including K2 - 8611m) and over fifty 7000'ers. Most of these peaks are located in the Karakorum mountain range, according to specialists the most beautiful and wildest mountain range in the world. Here stand some of the most glaciated mountains outside the polar ... read more

We were in the departure lounge waiting for the P.I.A. flight to Gilgit. After a spectacular uneventful flight, we landed in a somewhat dusty, noisy, Gilgit and our senses were immediately bombarded from all angles by sights, sounds and smells, a subtle blend of cooking, herbs, spices, smoke and sewers.Gilgit bazar is a hive of activity everywhere, people milling, armed police, and other minibuses filling and leaving. The town is small and peaceful with the most phenomenal fruits on display. It has an abundance of shops selling fleeces, jackets, woolly socks and hats in order to combat the cool evenings. Now we’re heading along the road to Fairy Meadows, which is in the Diamer valley, and provides access to Nanga Parbat's North face. Our bags go on the top of the sightseeing jeep. Stopped at the ... read more

On a cool morning in July, we boarded a coaster bus for Chilas meandering on Grand Trunk Road and Karakoram High way. The GT road is full of decorated trucks, with varied articulate drawings showing their creativity on the move, like an advertising chain. On roads, there are no rules, except that the bigger has right of way. Some of the smaller pick-up trucks held up to 10 passengers in the rear with as many again on a rickety roof rack; I lost count of the passengers in the similarly overloaded trucks and buses. Another thing they all seemed to have in common is that the horns seemed to be wired directly to the ignition on a regular, intermittent setting as there was the continual sound of horns tooting for no apparent reason other than to ... read more

The bus to Pakistan was due to leave at 11am; which 11am was a moot point! There is a constant dilemma about times. 'Official' activities, such as bus and train times run on Beijing time, whereas most of the Kashgar population run on local time - 2 hours earlier -so it was difficult to know quite when the bus would take off, and when we should start to queue. In the event, we waited around for a couple of hours. The bus left half empty, which meant we had the unusual experience of having plenty of space. Most of the native passengers seemed to be taking a fair amount of Kashgar market with them! Cardboard boxes, tarpaulins gathered and sewn up, all containing god knows what, to sell at home for a nice profit. The landscape ... read more