Holiday in Pakistan (9): more of the Hunza Valley
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.