Blogs from Northern Areas, Pakistan, Asia - page 9

Hi! I’m Nancy, from Seattle, Washington, the state on the west side of the United States (not Washington, DC, the US capital on the east coast). I just arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan today to start a 12-week adventure and wanted to share something about it with you. I am a Family Physician who quit practice after 21 years at a migrant and community health center in eastern Washington State to go back to school. I am getting a Master’s in Public Administration at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington in Seattle. The summer’s adventure was arranged through a program at the school, the Population Leadership Program (PLP) funded by the Gates and Packard Foundations. Nayat Karim, who works for the Family Planning Association of Pakistan, was a fellow in ... read more

Further up the KKH, Sost is the last town in Pakistan. From here you can buy a ticket to Tashkurgan, the first town in China. The price is rediculous high (about 23$) compared to other Pakistani Bus fees (usually 5-10$). But the Bus goes back empty to leave the people going the other way to the Chinese company (that charges even more). Because it was late in season already, not so many people were gathering at the Pakistani coustoms. So the company decided to send two jeeps instead of the bus. Later, when we saw the road conditions on the Chinese side we were quite happy about that. I have strong doubts a bus would have made it at all. I have the feeling, the officials at the different coustoms in Sost, at the border, and ... read more

On my third day in Karimabad I got up more quickly than usual. It was at around eigth in the morning. I was still lieing in my nice and warm bed and pearing out of the window to the snowy white mountains. The bed started shaking. My first thought was that the bed might be a bit unstable as they tend to be in cheap guest houses. But then I realized that the whole room was shaking. Mh, maybe the whole guest house is a bit unstable and a truck has just passed? When the shaking finally got stronger, about 5-10cm amplitude, 2-3Hz I could not denie it any longer: earthquake! In five seconds I was out of the bed, in my shoes and coat and out of the building. Outside everything was shaking. In front ... read more

ENTRY 45 — April 14th 1987 Shangri-La Our accommodation was simple but clean and comfortable. We all had small private rooms. It was a relief to be out of the brutal heat of Lahore! There were many legends surrounding the Valley of the Blue Moon (ہنزو). Marleena explained that this is said to be the oldest society in the world. People lived to a ripe old age and even Miranda — the eternal skeptic, noted that Hilton had resided here—inspiring him to write Lost Horizon. While Marleena was away on her sight seeing adventure with a gentleman friend, we received word that the widow Fox was well and expecting a visit! Riding horseback down the path to the springs, we tried to calculate her age. I guessed she would be in her mid-seventies. As we approached ... read more

An Excerpt from the Travel Journal of Nigel Fox (c. 1945) ENTRY 38 -- The Temple Opened In was in this valley of glorious mountains, with snow covered peaks reaching up into the blue sky that the secrets of the Ashram were revealed. From my experiences at the Ashram of Charity, I was beginning to get a taste of their beliefs and how they could be put into practice. To learn a little more about their background and teachings, I turned to the Ashram's well-stocked library. During the spare moments of each day I began to research the Mahatma in earnest. Laying several books out on the round, central table in the library, I positioned myself as close as I could to the open window in order to catch the breeze. I must admit I was ... read more