the road up the Karghan valley towards Naran
crossing a prefab Bailey bridge, many of the bridges were destroyed during the earthquake in 2005
looking back down the valley
lots of pakistani tourists taking pics of the scenery during a holdup while we were waiting for a piece of earthmoving equipment to finish its work repairing the road
getting ready to move out
lovely view of the Karghan valley
another beautiful view of the Karghan
glacier coming down to the road just outside Naran
making the local bread
main street Naran
road upto the Babusar in very poor state, before the KKH was completed this was the only road to the Northern Areas from the rest of Pakistan
another view of it
Karghan valley
Karghan valley from the Babusar pass
the main drag in Chilias
Indus gorge from the horrendous road up into Raikot Gah
Raikot Gah road on the approach to Nanga Parbat
another view from the front seat of the terrifying road along Raikot Gah
looking north along Raikot Gah towards the Indus. The road can be seen snaking on the left
first sight of Nanga Parbat with village in the foreground
Nanga Parbat again
first glimpse of the whole Nanga Parbat massif with Raikot glacier in the left foreground
Nanga parbat
Nanga parbat summit at sunset
the beautiful peaceful trail up the ablation valley of the glacier to Beyal from Fairy Meadows
Raikot glacier
great view of the ablation valley, the moraine and the glacier, the peaks of the Karakorums can be dimly made out in the North
the moraine again
letter found on the glacier the previous year from the 1937 German expedition to Nanga Parbat
the letter with photos of children found
herd of goats being shepherded over a crevasse on glacier on their way to the grass at base camp
myself with mist enshrouded Nanga Parbat behind
Nanga Parbat base camp, occupied by Italian expedition
my guide leading the way across the rubble strewn glacier
the glacier we crossed to basecamp
full moon over Nanga Parbat
another shot of Nanga Parbat at just after sunset
nanga parbat and full moon
and again
the road back down Raikot Gah had suffered severely from landslides so it was a case of using Shanks pony
another landslide
and this one was one of the worst, altogether I counted about 12 landslides on the road in about 6 km's
the mighty Indus flowing swiftly by with the KKH on the left bank, as with all the rivers in the Northern areas its a horrible slaty grey colour because of all the glacier detritus that gets dumped in it
Gandhara Buddha carving dating from before the advent of Islam when this area was one of the great powerhouses of Buddhism
closeup of the Buddha
Gilgit river valley
Gilget town
shot taken from the bus of settlement in Gilget valley on road to Shandur
Pander
approach to the Shandur pass
approaching the Shandur
the Shandur late in the day with the beautiful shadows formed by the setting sun
I loved the Shandur so much that I just had to post a few more photos
the local paramilitary units welcome message
duststorm at the Shandur
Shandur polo ground
our tea stop at the Shandur
our passenger jeep from Mastuj to Buni
Kalasha village in Rumbur valley
same village, different view
Kalasha girls dancing at festival
Kalasha people dancing
Kalasha girls and boys dancing at festival
Kalasha woman
Sajigor the Kalasha sacrifice site
carved wooden totem at Sajigor
close up of the carvings on the totem
sacrificed goats head in the tree at Sajigor
I think this is the altar at Sajigor used for sacrifices
another view of the totems
view of the whole site
Kalasha convert village of Sheikhandeh
wood mosque in Shekhandeh
another view of the same mosque
Shekhandeh from below
Kalasha women performing their daily chores
Chitralis enjoying the weather by taking tea, in the background the great bulk of Tirich Mir looming in the background
entrance to the Mehters old palace in Chitral
the rear of the palace with lots of old artillery
inside its all rather unkempt and uncared for
the terrain between Chitral and Mastuj is stark to say the least
this village is near Mastuj on the western side of the Shandur
another view of the same valley with the road on the left
the Shandur revisited on our way back to Gilgit
beautiful view of the Shandur
myself and our jeep at Shandur with the polo ground behind
our camp on Rakaposhi
the great bulk of Rakaposhi
view of flank of Rakaposhi and glacier
looking towards Diran peak
myself above Rakaposhi base camp looking over towards Diran
Rakaposhi base camp
Hunza valley with Rakaposhi seen in its full glory
Baltit fort in Karimabad Hunza
the view from the fort over the valley of Hunza
roof of the fort
Rakaposhi
Ultar
Barpu Glacier on the Rushphari trek
glacier crossing can be challenging sometimes
Barpu glacier on Rushphari trek
the view from Barpu Glacier Moraine
another view of the Barpu glacier from the moraine
Miar peak and glacier
path up to Chidrin Harai and Rush lake that we trekked up the next day its about 900 metres up and took us just over 2 hours
Ultar at dusk
shadows cast by sunset on Mir peak and Mir glacier
taken from Chidrin Harai after our trek up
awesome white glacier meeting its black partner
Miar glacier fading into the black Barpu glacier
the vista from our long climb from the ablation valley upto Chidrin Harii ridge, Ultar is on the right, Barpu glacier below to the left
its a long way down to Barpu glacier
my guide and cook after our climb up
another view of Hunza from the top
myself and backpack
Rush Lake with Rush peak in the background to the left
looking toward Mir peak
Mir peak and the great glacier descending from it
Yaks enjoying themselves
Yaks at Rush Lake
Rush lake and Ultar
Barpu glacier coming down, thats Malubiting peak looming over it
strange fungus near Rush peak at nearly 5000 metres
our first view of the great Karakorum peaks just below Rush peak
the greats peaks of the Karakorum in the distance beyond the snaking Hispar glacier, K2, the Gasherbrums and Broad peak
Malubiting, from Rush peak
glacier junction
K2 and the Gasherbrums from Rush peak over 100 km's away, the Hispar glacier is just awesome
myself on the top of Rush peak
Musa Beg our cook on Rush peak
the great peaks of the Karakorums from Rush peak
coming down from Rush peak which is nothing but a giant overhanging rock pile
the overhanging pinnacle of Rush peak
Rush lake towards sundown
our herd of yaks again
Rush lake at dusk
trailfinding on the great glacier
the two glaciers locked together
superb vista on the Miar glacier with Musa Beg our cook leading the way
another shot showing the enormity of the glacier
this is my favourite glacier shot
taking shoes and socks off to cross the glacier stream in the foreground, the water from this stream was the sweetest I have ever drunk, as my guide said its like drinking water from the hand of god
crossing the Mir river, one of the most terrifying experieces my life, if you fuck up here you get swept into the glacier and dashed to bits on razor sharp seracs
another shot of the river showing just how swift and rocky it is in the afternoon swollen with snowmelt
a final parting shot of the Barphu glacier
Wakhi Tajik wedding in Passu
dancing at the wedding, with the ladies looking on
more dancing
a rather dodgy move going on there
another bunch take the stage
Mist enshrouded cathedral peak over Passu
another view of the same peak with the mist dissipating
the snout of the Passu glacier
another view of the same glacier
dodgy bridge near Passu and its predesscor
boy crossing the bridge on his way to school
and again a bit closer
entrance to the bus station, where I caught the Landcruiser bound for the Khunjerab and the border
Sost
the view from the Khunjerab as we say goodbye to Pakistan
and hello to China
