Holiday in Pakistan (7): the climb of my life
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.