Blogs from Islamabad, Pakistan, Asia

Days 5 and 6 Aug 3 My stomach hurts, you know in that crampy way. Lousy night, clearly I was a very considerate roommate- Mary had no idea I'd been up half the night. She slept well in between coughing and had no issues whatsoever with her chicken last night. Headed gingerly into the Shelton House dining room where we met 2 of our group- Lynton from Victoria (who I had conversed with by Messenger in Aust but hadn't actually met before- I think we "met" when he made a post about the trek on the Australian Long Distance Hikers FB group!) and Danny from the NT. Attempted small talk between crampy waves, trying not to let it show ahead of our big expedition. Forced down some tea and toast. Made the executive decision that Mary ... read more

Just before we left NZ the people we’d organised our border pick up and trip to Islamabad with had contacted us to say they had 2 Dutch guys taking a car with driver on a 2 day journey up to Gilgit (the main city on the Karakoram Highway in the mountains) and did we want to share the cost. We’d been talking to them about hiring a 4WD and driver for a side trip from Gilgit so they knew on our rough thinking on dates were close to aligning. It’s a long journey up, even broken into 2 and the heat was going to make it tougher, so we accepted. The original plan was to depart the day after we got to Islamabad but the Dutch guys needed to delay a day and while keen to ... read more

Geo: 33.7076, 73.0479Well we made it to Islamabad. We were told in the morning at our hotel in Besham that we would need to be escorted for the next 50 kms. Fair enough if that is what is required then bring it on. The police waited patiently outside our hotel for us to finish breakfast and after that it was on for the next seven hours. Our escort vehicle changed every few districts, on some occasions we had an escort vehicles both infront and behind our vehicle. Great for getting through the heavy traffic. Sirens and flashing lights but they overtake trucks madly on blind mountain corners and expect us to stick close to them. They clearly got very uncomfortable if another vehicle got in the middle of our convoy. Darren had never driven so fast ... read more

I follow Paul Theroux's advice in the Tao of Travel: always bring a book along that is completely unrelated to where you are going. For me, reading such a book becomes a vacation from the vacation. Accordingly, I am accompanied on this trip by Ian Mortimer's The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England. But this choice turns out not to be so unrelated. The parallels between traveling through 16th Century England and traveling through 21st Century Pakistan are striking. Both places are frustrating—important institutions like the courts and government don't work, people are trapped by class and religion, donkeys pull carts down busy highways, and living in the Marriott is just like living in a medieval castle. Yes, inside finely costumed women are being photographed in front of the hot... read more

After nearly a week in Islamabad, it's only fair to write an update of how things are going... I had an absolutely gorgeous bedroom in Saher's place- in fact, it was her room! Only in Pakistan are the people so hospitable that the bride will give up her boudoir so that you can sleep easy. I felt really bad one night when I noticed her father (the man responsible for organising most of the wedding) sleeping on the marble floor in the corridor. I had repeatedly asked 'Are you sure it's okay for me to have this room all to myself? I can share it! I honestly don't mind at all!' Ahem, be careful what you wish for. On one of the nights I was unexpectedly bombarded by three loud young ladies from downtown Islamabad. They ... read more