Holiday in Pakistan (9): more of the Hunza Valley
April 18th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Our last day (Wednesday) in the Hunza Valley was a very long one. We left the hotel at 8.45 am and I was finally back in my room at 10.30 pm after almost 14 hours.
The mountain-side road went through five tunnels – one very long indeed – built by the Chinese before we reached our first destinations: a view of the Passu Cones (a collection of high snow-capped peaks), a view of the Passu Glacier (receding fast as a result of global warming), and the Rainbow suspension bridge. I had fun crossing the bridge and back, carefully stepping across the gaps of about a foot and a half.
Next stop was another suspension bridge, the Hosseini Bridge. This is at least twice as long as the Rainbow Bridge, but again I walked the full length and back. Alongside the bridge are zip wires and our guides and a few of the group returned across the river by one of these wires. I didn’t bother because it was such a simple zip wire experience compared to the one I had in Costa Rica with 11 lengths.
Lunch was at a bed & breakfast place called “Mokhsha” in a village called Gulmit. The local community has built a stone pathway of some 1600 steps from the village to the ruins of the Ondra Fort. We were driven to a point where it was about 600 steps to the top which is 2,770 metres (about 9,100 feet) high. It was a very tough climb, but we did it and the views were breathtaking.
It was a short drive to our next experience. In January 2010, a landslide blocked the Hunza River and created Attabad Lake (also called Shishket Lake), resulting in 20 deaths and 8 injuries and effectively blocking about 16 miles (26 kms) of the Karakoram Highway. The new lake extends 19 miles (30 kms) and rose to a depth of 400 feet (120 metres) when it was formed as the Hunza River backed up. We had a short ride on the lake.
The final tourist stop of the day is called the Eagle’s Nest Viewpoint. There are no eagles, but there is a 360 degree view of high peaks in all directions, including six peaks over 7,000 metres (23,000 feet). And there was coffee at the “Hard Rock Hunza”.
We did not return to our hotel but proceeded straight to dinner at a restaurant called “Odyssey” in a village called Dorkan. Pakistan is a ‘dry’ country, so we had drunk no alcohol for two weeks, but somehow at this restaurant we were offered “Hunza water” which is a light red wine.
After a good meal, we went out to the hotel’s garden for an informal cultural show. We were entertained by music, singing and dancing, all in the old Hunza traditions. Our guides urged us to take part in the final dance, but the British are a reserved people and only two of us did so. I represented my country with moves observed earlier and replicated to the best of my aged ability.
On Thursday, we left the Hunza Valley and, for about two hours, drove west and lower in altitude to the town of Gilgit. The only sight of the journey was the Kargah Buddha which is an archaeological location located about 6 miles outside of Gilgit. It is a carved image of a large standing Buddha some 50 feet (15 metres) high, in the cliff-face in Kargah Nala. The carving, which is in a style also found in Balistan, is estimated to date back to the 7th century.
After a quick lunch at our new hotel (the Gilgit Serena), we drove the short distance to the military grounds of the GB Rangers (this GB stands for Gilgit-Balistan) to view a polo match. We didn’t have a clue what going on, but we met a retired local hero of the game called Bulbul Jan and we were feted – food, drinks, caps, and endless photographs and filming by local media. I was invited to throw the first ball of the match and one member of the group, Lisa Rowe, gave a television interview.
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Holiday in Pakistan (8): the Hunza Valley
April 16th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Monday was very much another travelling day. Once the landslides of yesterday were reported to be clear, we were able to leave Kachura at 9.30 am. It was raining and rained all day, so the clouds were low and the sky was grey.
On the early part of the journey, it was evident that the rain had dislodged rocks onto the road, but on the drop side of the road the high rock formations were amazing: different colours, shapes and formations. We eventually arrived at a location which does not look that special but is famous as the junction of three huge mountain ranges: the Hindu Kush which goes all the way to Afghanistan, the Karakoram which goes all the way to China, and the Himalayas which goes all the way to Nepal.
Lunch was special. We went to the home of our local guide Ali which is in a town called Oshikhandas. We all sat the floor around a large rectangular carpet loaded with delicious food. We were then shown the rooms and gardens. In the afternoon, we stopped a place called the Rakaposhi Viewpoint, where we were supposed to marvel at the Rakaposhi mountain, but the weather was so terrible that we couldn’t see a thing.
It was 7 pm and dark when we finally reached the Serena Altit Fort Residence where we are going into spend three nights. The journey of 290 kms (about 180 miles) had taken nine and a half hours.
We were now in the Hunza Valley which lies along the Hunza River and borders Ishkoman to the northwest, Shigar to the southeast, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, and the Xinjiang of China to the northeast. The Hunza Valley floor is at an elevation of around 8,000 feet (2,438 metres).
Tuesday was a full and fascinating day.
We started with a visit to the 900 year old Altit Fort located 200 metres (650:feet) above sheer precipitous slopes that cascade down towards the Hunza River. The fort itself is not that interesting, but the views are terrific and we had a guide who made fun videos of us on some of the viewpoints. Next we went to a furniture workshop to meet the women from a collective organisation known as CIQAM, meaning ‘wellbeing’, ‘prosperity’ or ‘green’ in the local Brushaski dialect.
It was then a short drive to the village of Ganish, one the oldest settlements on the ancient Silk Road. The original character and design of the village remains intact, with several richly carved mosques that are each over 500 years old. Lunch was at a restaurant in the Darbar Hotel where our table was in a large bay window looking out over a series of snow-capped mountains – truly, a spectacular vista.
The afternoon began with a tour of the 700 year old Baltit Fort where the Mir of Hunza resided until the 1950s. This was much more interesting than the Altit Fort (incidentally, Altit means ’low ‘ and Baltic means ’high’. As we were leaving, our guide to the fort approached me tearfully to explain that I looked so like his father who had died some years previously. Coffee and cake in the “Mountain Cup” cafe completed the day.
Instead of having dinner in the hotel again, we drove to the town of Ali Abad where we ate at a restaurant called “2 Magpies”. Here I had a conversation with a Pakistani orthopaedic surgeon and his much younger American friend and received an invitation to stay at their summer house.
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Holiday in Pakistan (7): the climb of my life
April 15th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
On Sunday morning, the weather had changed to low cloud and drizzle. The programme offered an optional hike to Shigar Rock, located next to the Shigar Fort. Accompanied by tour guide Raza and local guide Ali, nine of the 12 of us went on the hike. Only one of us then opted to climb an extremely steep rock face up a narrow ‘chimney’ to the top. It was the toughest climb of my life and I doubt that I could have done it all without some help from Raza and Ali. It was dangerous but thrilling.
We should then have visited the 14th century Amburiq Mosque, but there had been so much rain that it was surrounded by huge puddles and the guide decided to give it a miss. Setting off about 11 am, from Shigar we drove back west, passing our way through the Katpana cold desert. At Skardu where we had landed a few days before, we visited the Kharpocho Fort, originally built by the King Ali Sher Khan Anchan at the end of the 16th century. This involved more climbing in more drizzle.
Continuing westwards, we eventually reached our next overnight stay: the Byarsa Hotel located near the alpine Kachura Lakes, located in the Karakoram range of western Himalayas, the greater Kashmir region, and in the Indus River basin.
After lunch at the hotel, we should have visited the nearest lake, but it was still raining so only a few of us – including me, of course – ventured over there, a walk with coffee at a cafe which took up an hour . In the evening, the whole group drove the short distance to the Kachura Lake for dinner at the Pagoda restaurant.
This trip has already involved plenty of excitement and Monday morning introduced a new adventure. The rain of the last couple of days had created two landslides on the road that we were taking to the Hunza Valley, so we had to delay our departure from Kachura for a couple of hours while the landslides were removed.
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Holiday in Pakistan (6): travelling further north
April 13th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
It was a whole day (Friday) in the Khapu Valley.
Most of us – three opted out – started the day with a one-hour hike from Garbuchong village, not far from our hotel, all the way up a rocky pathway to the Thoqsikhar Viewpoint overlooking the Khaplu Valley. It was a tough climb – not just steep but comprising mostly large, unevenly shaped rocks and all at a significant altitude (around 2,700 metres or 8,700 feet). We had to pause regularly to catch our breath. But the views were spectacular: snow-capped mountains, blue sky, pink blossom.
After a quick call back at the hotel to pick up the others, we drove over to a village called Machlu for a leisurely stroll. Most of the adults were at the mosque, but there were lots and lots of children, wanting to greet us with a few words of English or just a smile, often happy to be photographed.
Lunch was at a local trout farm sitting outside in the bright sunshine. Naturally most of us actually had trout. Back at the hotel, we were given a tour of all the main rooms in the original palace building that is now the main block for residents. We could almost sense the presence of the former royal family that lived here and ran its territory,
Saturday was essentially a travelling day. We left our hotel at 8.50 am and, before hitting the main road, we visited two local mosques, one very new and the other exceptionally old.
The first was in the process of being built by local labour with funding by the local community. The intricate wood carving was all done by one old man who was self taught. Unusually it is a Sufi mosque. The second is called Khanqan-i-Chaqchan and it is has stood for almost 700 years, making it one of the oldest mosques in Pakistan. It is built out of wood.
A final, and very brief, stop was at an establishment called the Baltistan Art & Crafts Revival Academy. This doubled as a toilet stop which was very convenient because ahead of us lay a constantly winding and bumpy road journey of 170 kms (105 miles) from the Khaplu Valley north-west to the Shigar Valley with no public toilets (we found private a couple of times) and no restaurants or cafes along the way (we only had lunch once we reached our hotel). We were now a bit lower – around 2,300 metres (about 7,500 feet) – but it was overcast so it was cooler.
We arrived at our new hotel at 1.45 pm. The Serena Shigar Fort is based on a fort-palace dating back some 400 years. It was very atmospheric, especially when I kept banging my head on the absurdly low door openings and we regularly lost all power for a few minutes at a time. All part of the fun of travel in a new land. Lunch was not served until about 3.30 pm and we were back in the restaurant for dinner at 7 pm. Mealtimes are another flexible feature of this kind of travel.
As throughout the first half of our tour, everyone was so friendly and often wanted to talk to us. At the conclusion of dinner, Jenny and I had a conversation with a couple serving in the army (the husband was a colonel) and, as with so many of our earlier conversations, they complained about how misunderstood Pakistan is globally and sought to emphasise that it is much more modern that foreigners appreciate.
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Holiday in Pakistan (5): travelling north
April 11th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
The last two days of our trip have been very much travelling days.
On Wednesday, we left our hotel in Lahore and took the M-2 motorway all the way to Islamabad – a journey of 430 kms (about 270 miles). We were supposed to break the journey with two tourist sites.
The first was the Himalayan Salt Mine at Khewra but it was closed due to Eid.Some of the group members were very disappointed by this, but I’ve seen salt mines in Poland and Colombia so I was quite relaxed about the situation.
The second was the Katas Raj Hindu temple complex. The local Hindu community fled the location in 1947 but it remains an important location for Hindus. It is a large complex but we barely spent half an hour there.
Our lunch stop was at Kallar Kahal in the Soon Valley where – in spite of a bit of light rain – we sat outside (under an awning) for our meal and enjoyed the view of the lake.
Before entering Islamabad, we drove through the city of Rawalpindi, just to obtain a quick appreciation of it. Rawalpindi is the older and larger sister city of Islamabad which is very close by. It is the fourth most populous city in the country with a population of over 2 million. It houses the headquarters of the Pakistani military.
We arrived at our hotel in Islamabad at 5.15 pm. Islamabad is the capital city of the country, although it only has the ninth largest population (1.2 million). The capital used to be Karachi, but it was moved in 1967. Our accommodation – the five-star Serena Hotel – was amazing, but we had dinner out at a huge, sprawling restaurant where there was a multitude of joyous families celebrating Eid.
On Thursday, we had a very early start: alarm at 5.30 am, breakfast at 6.30 am, and departure at 7 am. This was because we had an early flight from Islamabad north to Skardu. It was a short flight (half an hour) but the views were breathtaking; huge, snow-capped mountains. We were now at an elevation of 2,250 metres (7,400 feet) so we had to wear warmer clothing. We were met by a young local guide called (Mushraq) Ali.
We made a quick visit to the Satpara Lake before having lunch in the dusty little town of Skardu overlooked by the mountains. Them we took a basic, single-lane, mountain-side road all the way eastwards through the Khapu Valley to our next hotel. It took us four hours, but we had a few stops to take photographs of the amazing scenery and to relieve ourselves behind suitable rocks.
Our accommodation was fabulous: the Serena Khaplu Palace Hotel – first built in 1840 and a former royal residence. We were now at an elevation of 2,660 metres (8,700 feet). The night was cold.
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Holiday in Pakistan (4): more of Lahore
April 10th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
On Tuesday and still in Lahore, again we left our hotel at 9 am.
We should have started with a visit to the Lahore Museum which is the oldest in the country and the greatest repository of the history and culture of Pakistan. It was first established in 1864 and moved to its present premises in 1894. One of the early and most famous curators of the museum was John Lockwood Kipling, the father of Rudyard Kipling. But the museum was closed because of the end of Ramadan.
However, we did look at the building next door which was the original location of the museum. There was an exhibition of posters and art protesting at Indian occupation of the disputed territory of Kashmir.
We then moved on to the Lahore Fort or Shahi Qila. This is a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It was Inhabited for millennia, destroyed by the Mongols in 1241, and rebuilt several times over the centuries, the present design tracing its origins to 1575, when the Mughal Emperor Akbar occupied the site, guarding the northwest frontier of the empire. The highlight of the location is the beautiful Hall of Mirrors or Sheesh Mahal.
Next stop and next door was the Royal Mosque or Badshani Mosque, the largest from the Mughal-era, located on the outskirts of the Walled City. Constructed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb between 1671 and 1673, it is constructed of red brick with wide courtyards and eight minarets. The design is relatively plain and renovation is needed.
After a couple of hours back at the hotel for a leisurely lunch, we were out again from 3.30 to 9 pm. Throughout all out time in Lahore, the temperature was in the mid 30s C.
It was a fascination afternoon. First stop was the Wazir Khan Hammam or Royal Baths, a 17th century Persian bathhouse presently under repair. Next was the Wazir Khan Mosque, the most beautiful in the city. It was completed in 1641 and made with glazed tiles in the Kashi-Kari style.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent traversing the Delhi Gate Market, a long, narrow and noisy street lined totally with open-fronted stores selling absolutely. In spite of the small width of the street, motorbikes – carrying families and friends, sometimes as many as four passengers including small children
– thronged the passage way, proceeding in both directions. It was madness but utterly joyous and everyone wanted to to great us and even be photographed by or with us.
The five of us plus our guide crammed into a tut-tut for our final destination: dinner at one of Lahore’s finest restaurants, the “Andaz”, overlooking the illuminated Badshahi Mosque.
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Holiday in Pakistan (3): Lahore
April 9th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Lahore is the second largest city in Pakistan – the first is Karachi – with a population of over 13 million (one and a half times that of London). As the capital of Punjab province, Lahore is considered the most liberal, progressive, and cosmopolitan city in the country.
Under the control of numerous empires throughout its history, including the Hindu Shahis, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, and Delhi Sultanate in the medieval era, Lahore reached the height of its power and splendour under the Mughal Empire between the late 16th and early 18th century, serving as its capital. It boasts wonderful and diverse architecture from the Mughal Dynasty, Sikh Empire, and British Raj. It was in Lahore that Indian independence was first announced in 1929 and the resolution calling for the establishment of Pakistan in 1940.
On Monday, we left our hotel at 9 am and took the new Chinese-funded metro, running overground through the different neighbourhoods of Lahore, to obtain a sense of the city as it exists today. We visited a site being considered for UNESCO World Heritage status, the Shalimar Gardens, built in the 17th century as a Persian style paradise garden, with extensive engineering to create a canal from river Ravi to support over 100 water features. Sadly none of the water features were in operation during our visit because they were being cleaned in preparation for celebrations of the end of Ramadan.
From the Shalimar Gardens, we travelled to the tomb of emperor Jahangir, a remarkable blend of Mughal and Persian architectural styles, featuring intricate tile work, frescos and calligraphy. We were advised that site had been the subject of much renovation recently, but a lot more work needs to be done before it can rival the Islamic architecture of Uzbekistan or Iran. More tourists and more funding will in time make this an even more impressive location.
In the afternoon, we drove to the town of Wagah on Pakistan’s border with India. This is famous for the colourful Wagah border ceremony that takes place every late afternoon – in our case at 5 pm for 30 minutes – with great pomp and circumstance.
It is preceded by at least an hour of patriotic music broadcast at almost painful levels of volume. Then the performing soldiers must be the tallest men in the whole nation and their high-stepping and arm-waving can only remind one of the Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks. We witnessed the energetic and theatrical performance put on by the guards of both sides as the border closed for the day. It was a weird and even comical display of fervent patriotism and I confess that I declined to wave the Pakistani flag or cheer the soldiers’.
Back in Lahore, we went the Western Union office for local currency (the staff were busy breaking their Ramadan fast so we’re not available) and a boutique store for a traditional shalwar kameez provided as part of the tour price (I declined the offer) before having a good dinner at the Avari Hotel. We were back at our hotel at 10.10 pm, very tired but very happy.
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Holiday in Pakistan (2): getting there
April 7th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
I’ve done so much foreign travel that I know that, on most trips (especially outside Europe), something goes wrong and one just has to accept this and go with the flow. However, this has been my first holiday abroad when the first major thing to go wrong was before I’d even left the country.
We are flying Qatar Airways. We should have left London’s Heathrow Airport at 4 pm on Friday, but eventually departed at 9 am on Sunday – a delay of over 40 hours! Our original aircraft had a technical fault and was withdrawn, other flights to the Middle East were full because of the end of Ramadan, and so we had to spend two nights in a Crowne Plaza hotel surviving on voucher-covered but very indifferent meals.
Eventually we flew from London to Doha (six and a half hours) and then Doha to Lahore (three hours), arriving at the airport at 1.15 am and checking into it hotel room for 3 am local time on Monday morning. Five of us were in this escapade; the others in the Jules Verne group arrived earlier and started the original programme without us. We will have a separate, curtailed programme for the Lahore part of the holiday before we link up with the rest of the group.
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Holiday in Pakistan (1): introduction
April 5th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
I am about to go on a holiday to Pakistan with the company Voyages Jules Verne. This will the 89th country that I have visited. The country is huge and we will only be visiting the north which is the most interesting part and contains the capital Islamabad (the south is more commercial and contains the largest city Karachi).
I have my visa and I’ve had my typhoid injection, so I’m good to go. I will be away for two and a half weeks. There will be four long haul flights: two there and two back. We will stay in eight locations and make two internal flights. So there will be a lot of travelling.
Most of my friends wonder why I would want to visit a country like Pakistan. Certainly, economically and politically, the nation is a disaster. But historically, culturally and geographically, it is fascinating and that’s why we’re going there.
Let me provide a short introduction to the country.
The name Pakistan comes from two Urdu words: pah meaning ‘pure’ and stan meaning ‘land’. But the name is also an acronym: the P is for Punjab, A is for Afghania, K is for Kashmir, S in for Sindh, and T stands for ‘tan’ as in Baluchistan.
The modern state of Pakistan was created in 1947 when the predominately Muslim population broke away from the majority Hindu nation of India. Then Pakistan consisted of two regions over a thousand miles apart but, in 1971, what used to be East Pakistan broke away to become Bangladesh, leaving West Pakistan to become simply Pakistan.
Pakistan is now the fifth most populous country in the world with a rapidly growing population of some 245 million. The only nations with a larger population are India, China, the United States and Indonesia. Crucially, Pakistan is a young country: about 65% of the population is under the age of 30.
Pakistan currently has the second largest Muslim population of any country – second only to Indonesia – but it is projected to have the most Muslims by 2030. Some 80% of the country’s Muslims are Sunni, while the other 20% are Shia.
The national language is Urdu but English is widely spoken. Each ethnic group has its own language, so the Punjabis – who constitute around half of population – speak Punjabi, while the Sindhis – the second largest ethnic group – speak Sindhi and there are 77 languages in all.
The economy is in a desperate state. Currently, inflation is running at around 30% and interest rates are 22%. Since independence, the country has had no fewer than 23 bail out packages from the IMF. Economically Pakistan is a very unequal society. Although it has a middle class of some 40 million which is growing quickly, a fifth of of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.
The country faces so many major challenges, including poverty, illiteracy, corruption, terrorism and the impact of climate change (recent floods devastated a third of the country). This is a nation that funds a standing army of 560,000 but spends less than 2% of its GDP on education (illiteracy is 40%) and under 1% on health.
Pakistan’s governments have alternated between civilian and military, democratic and authoritarian, relatively secular and Islamist. The current government, formed after the general election in February 2024, is a coalition of the centre-right, Punjabi-based Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the centre-left, Sindh-based Pakistan People’s Party, although candidates aligned with formed prime minister Imran Khan (now imprisoned) won the most seats in the National Assembly.
The recent election marked the first time that the country has voted in a civilian parliament three times in a row. However, no Pakistani prime minister has completed a full five-year term since the country’s foundation in 1947, largely because the army has always exerted considerable political control even outside periods of explicit military rule.
The armed forces of Pakistan are the sixth largest in the world in terms of numbers in full-time service. Like its neighbour India, the country has nuclear weapons and, since Pakistan left India, the two countries have gone to war four times with frequent more minor skirmishes.
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An update on my latest book
April 2nd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
For five years now, I’ve lived in a block of flats on London’s South Bank called Rennie Court. It is managed and staffed jointly with another block on the opposite side of the road called River Court.
The longer that I’ve lived here, the more I’ve appreciated just how fascinating are the staff and residents. But – partly because of the structure of the buildings and partly because of the different lifestyles of the residents – most people don’t know each other.
I decided to make a contribution to this special community by interviewing all the staff and and a selection of the residents and then curate a series of personal profiles based on these interviews. Between May 2023 and March 2024, I managed to conduct 40 interviews and write a series of profiles totalling just over 57,000 words.
I spent the Easter weekend doing a final read-through of the full text and I’ve just forwarded that text to a professional proofreader. I’ll be publishing the book via Amazon and giving a free copy to each participant at a launch event in June. I’ll provide more details then about “Rennie & River: Tales From Two Courts”.
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