Pakistan
Northern Areas
Taking in the views from a viewpoint near
Rash Lake, embedded in the Karakoram mountains a good two days hike
from the main Karakoram highway.
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Shores of alpine Rash lake.
The view eastward
from 5098m high Rash Phari (peak) along the Hispar glacial
valley. The high peak toward the left in the distance, poking out
above the clouds, is likely to be K2, second highest peak after
Everest. The panoramic view from atop Rash Phari has to be one of
the most spectacular, easily accessible viewpoints in all of the
Himalayan mountain ranges.
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An estuary of glacial streams flowing out
of mountains in the Chapurson valley, a remote corner of northwest
Pakistan across the Hindu Kush from the Wakhan corridor of
Afghanistan. The first road through the valley was only
constructed in the 1980s during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the
first electricity in the 1990s, and the first computer in 2003.
You can't buy Coca-Cola anywhere in this valley even if you wanted to.
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The Chapurson river
flows into Sost, the northernmost town in Pakistan, and the immigration
checkpoint before the Karakoram Highway continues through the Khunjerab
pass and the High Road to China. At the dry port in Sost, cargo
is loaded from giant Chinese cargo trucks onto colourful smaller trucks
capable of driving through crappy mountain roads, and destined for all
corners of Pakistan.
Back to the mountains. The jagged peaks around the village of
Passu are some of the most breathtaking in the world.
For some, the hiking
highlight in Pakistan is the two suspension bridges walk from
Passu. That river below is flowing at high speed and because
you're forced to look down to see the next step, the bridge gives the
illusion of swaying. Definitely a vertigo-tester. On the
far side, there is no food available to buy, but we were lucky enough
to do this during apricot harvest season and so we pigged out on wild
apricots for lunch.
One of the possible walks from the
backpacker paradise of Karimabad is up to the Duikar viewpoint, also
known as the Eagle's nest, which passes these agricultural terraces.
To Pakistan from
the Grand Trunk Road
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