Passu and Sost

It's our last evening in Pakistan, most likely. We've had a great time here and would definitely come back if we wanted to do any serious trekking or when new parts of the country become safe. The scenery is spectacular and the people have been amazingly friendly. I can't think of anywhere else in the world where people with no connection to the tourist industry have been so interested in meeting and helping tourists, except perhaps Cambodia. The Pakistani people have been very polite and calm so this has never seemed like hassle, as it can in touristy parts of India. I'm sure some of this is due to the relative lack of tourists here. We've often been the only people in our hotels and have only once had another foreigner on the same bus trip as us.

We've spent the last few days making our way higher into the Karakorum Mountains towards China. The valley has grown steadily steeper, the mountains closer and sharper and the tributaries of the Indus narrower and more feeble. We've not really been up to much beyond sitting on buses, staying in small villages and walking. We had a longish walk along the side of a glacier and across to a lake yesterday and a shorter walk this morning along the river.

The travel has been a bit slow. The Highways Agency is paying the China Road and Bridge Company to upgrade the Karakorum 'Highway' to something more worthy of the name. It seems like an endless task. All along the road you can see gangs of ten Chinese labourers in red boiler-suits building a twenty metre wall in the middle of a five mile stretch if similarly exposed dusty cliff-side track.

The bus trips haven't been too uncomfortable, despite the lack of legroom and capacity being four-aside in the width of a standard estate car. Women can claim front row seats, as can men and children travelling with them. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to sit next to any local women, so we usually get the two end seats on the front row. This has a bit more space than sharing with three other guys and has some useful extra leg space on the step inside the door. It also gives me the responsibility of opening and closing the door, which breaks the tedium. 

We're now in Sost, the last 'town' before the Karakorum National Park and then China. Its really just a row of dingy concrete hotels, shops and restaurants before Pakistani customs and immigration. There is only one proper road and other buildings are strewn across a trackless field of pebbles behind the main strip. A memorably ugly place, and a big contrast from the peaceful and green village of Passu that we woke up in. Sost is the only edgy town that we've stopped in. We're only 45km from Afghanistan (vs. 85km from China). One of the roads from town leads to the Wakhan Corridor - a finger-like extension of Afghanistan that reaches to China and once served to separate the British and Russian empires. We should be nearby again, on the other side of the Wakhan Valley in Tajikistan, in 3-4 weeks after a big loop through China and Kyrgyzstan.

For those of you who were particular worried for our safety in Pakistan (Matt, all our Indian friend), we'll confirm that we have actually made it to China either tomorrow from Tashkurgan or the next night from Kashgar.

The picture shows Gemma crossing the Hunza River near Passu this morning.

T.

P.S. For any Mum's reading: The part of Afghanistan that we're near and will be seeing again from Tajikistan is fairly safe. It is ethnically Tajik and was a stronghold of the Northern Alliance that fought against the Taliban.