Blogs from Pakistan, Asia - page 25

After a long night and even longer following day on the not-so-luxury "VIP" bus we finally arrive in Skardu. We would have preffered to cycle here from Kargil but the road west of Kargil is out of bounds and it is only possible to travel about 10km along the road east from Skardu. However we are back in Ladakh, sort of. Skardu is the capital of Baltistan and the former winter capital of Ladakh, although at later times Baltistan came to control all of Ladakh along with much of what is now Northern Pakistan. We are back on the Indus and the scenery and landscape are all reminiscent of Ladakh to a degree, but there are major differences. Skardu is full power muslim and there are no women on the streets and the men all wear ... read more

Crazy Train di Ozzy Osbourne sarebbe stata la perfetta colonna sonora per questo lungo viaggio se solo non avessi perso il mio lettore mp3 dopo soli sei giorni dalla partenza... Ci presentiamo al via in quattro: un italiano, uno svizzero, una inglese ed un pakistano, come nelle migliori barzelette: noi turisti, in tre, ci siamo portati 12 litri d'acqua, mentre il pakistano, che percorre regolarmente questa tratta e la sa lunga, da solo di litri se ne porta ben 15! Sul nostro viaggio cala l'ombra oscura di una falce minacciosa... L' "espresso" Zahedan - Quetta sfreccia attraverso il deserto del Balucistan solamente due volte al mese a causa della pericolosita' di queste terre, popolate da temibili predoni a cavallo di veloci cammelli e da bombaroli che a settimane alterne piazzano bombe sui binari; d'altro canto c'e' ... read more

Dir I take a seat in the sweltering mini-van's third bench next to the window. There is not the slightest breeze in the depot. Three men from Gudjarat, a traditional community in the Punjab suffer the bench with me. Pakistanis from down country are darker and chubbier than those in the north who could easily pass for caucasians. They are four traveling together, their older friend in the next bench. They are advocates. I assume they mean lawyers. From Timargah, we climb north along the Panchkora River. The valley narrows and the slopes grow denser with pine trees. We arrive in Dir a little before sunset. In five hours I've traveled 160km. The market slopes down from the bus station to Dir Hotel. Exhausted but responsible for 25kg strapped to my back, I brace myself for ... read more

Mingora/ Saidu Sharif The Sound of One Hand Shaking The third century Buddhist sites and museum's trove of Ghandaran stone capitals, busts and architectural pieces occupy a few hours in the late afternoon. A hike into the hills of Saidu Sharif next morning is complicated by a lack of posted signs and easily rectified by a young boy who sees me poking around a rocky outcrop, also the roof of his neighbour's house. "Bukhtara?" he calls to me. He leads me back down the path skirting a gully and we turn up a road to a bluff concealing the remains of a mid-sized monastery. Stone bases and simple masonry walls slowly take on their surroundings, the walls slowly decomposing, the red earth crumbling anbd shifting with each heavy rainfall. I decline an invitation in Mingora to ... read more

I booked tickets on 4th or 5th July for 14th July, so we reached Islamabad from Lahore at 5:30 on 14th via Daewoo, we were at airport at 6am and heard a bad news that weather is not good, our flight delayed but finally we reached gilgit at 12:15 pm and it rained for an hour after we reached there!! We stayed at Taj Hotel and I went to meet Rehmat Nabi for some guidence.I spent 3 hours in his office and found him a very good person, he introduced his cousin Taimur to me and it was decided that Taimur will pick us from hotel at 7am and will drop us to Raikot bridge.... read more