Polo, Peshawar and police protection
We were fully expecting to be collared by the security forces on arrival in Peshawar and assigned a guard for protection, but to our surprise no-one materialised. Hotels are obliged to report foreigners to the police, but we saw no evidence of this at ours. We were certainly not complaining though – reports from other travellers suggested your escort goes absolutely everywhere with you and cannot be shaken off for love nor money.
Over the Shandur Pass
The Shandur Pass is probably most famous for it’s annual polo tournament- a three day festival held in July with teams from Gilgit and Chitral competing for honours in fiercely contested matches. The grounds were established in this most unlikely of places by a British major in the 1930s, apparently based on his predilection for playing polo by moonlight.
Rakaposhi Base Camp
One of the things I was really keen to do when researching Pakistan was the Rakaposhi Base Camp hike. Rakaposhi, in the mighty Karakoram range, is the 27th highest mountain in the world at 7,788 metres, and reaching the base camp from where climbers make their bid for the summit is considered to be one of Pakistan’s ‘easier’ multi-day hikes.
The Upper Hunza Valley
Back in another Suzuki van, we had a short hop up to the village of Ghulkin in the Upper Hunza Valley. We’d heard good things about a roadside place called Rehman’s Backpacker Hostel so turned up there to be greeted by the hugely enthusiastic Mr Rehman senior – a game old bird with few teeth but a manner so infectious as to make him instantly likeable….
On the Karakoram Highway
Though our journey from Skardu to Gilgit was not technically part of the Karakoram Highway, to my mind it seemed like the quintessential image of the road I’d been dreaming about had been brought to life….
Rawalpindi jingle truck workshop
Our brief stop in Islamabad / Rawalpindi gave us an opportunity to seek out a workshop where so-called ‘Jingle Trucks’ are created and maintained. The term is a bit of an Americanism, but neatly describes the multi-adorned and extremely colourful lorries, trucks, wagons, any commercial vehicle really, that ply the roads in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Listless in Lahore
Undoubtedly the best of Lahore, in our opinion, is to be found in the shabby backstreets of the old town. Pakistan is renowned for its friendliness and nowhere is that more evident than here….
Amritsar and the Wagah border
We had a great experience at the Golden Temple, the reason most people come to Amritsar. Shoes off, feet washed, bright orange head-scarves on. We were hoping for a look that said ‘pirate’ but I fear we got ‘gnome’……
Chandigarh
We’d decided ages ago to pop into Chandigarh, a city mainly designed and built in the 50’s & 60’s by the renowned Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier to reflect Prime Minister Nehru’s ideal for a new, post-independent Indian reality.
The Little Rann of Kutch
The Little Rann (desert) of Kutch is a huge expanse of salt-flats and scrubland that form a 5,000 km sq wildlife sanctuary, best known for its diverse birdlife and the endemic Asiatic Wild Ass.