PAUL ANDERSON
an aussie abroad
Welcome!
Over the past two decades I’ve lived all around the globe, seizing every opportunity to travel and explore the outdoors. I’ve experienced some great adventures along the way and I’ve met some amazing people. It’s been an incredible journey, but I’m not planning to slow down anytime soon! Enjoy the site, and stay connected. – Paul
I woke up early in Duikar with the clouds and a little rain still obscuring the views of the valley below and Hunza Peak above, so I opted to stay in bed rather than hike up the hill to snap some photos. With a short drive ahead for the day we spent most of the morning at the Eagle’s Nest, and fortunately the weather blew through and we were treated to some fine views down the valley.
We saddled up late in the morning and drove in convoy down the Hunza valley, following the Hunza river downstream. The KKH took us right underneath gigantic Rakaposhi with its glaciers and seracs cascading down the valleys from the north face. Where we stopped for lunch, about an hour from Karimabad, the summit at 7788m was visible an incredible 6km above us! You couldn’t quite grasp the scale it was that immense: seracs hundreds of metres tall, and ice walls over a kilometre high. A mountain of truly Himalayan (Karakoram!) proportions.
As we descended further down the river we were reminded that the region, except for the ingenious irrigated terraces that utilize what water comes off the glacier above, is a high alpine desert: no green, just greys and browns of the rocks and sand with snow-capped peaks above and a muddy great river in the valley floor.
After a couple more hours of driving around Rakaposhi from the north side to the south-west, we crossed the river over a concrete bridge and entered the regional capital Gilgit. For a place with such history I was disappointed by the town: busy, polluted, unattractive, unfriendly. Given security concerns we drove straight to the hotel, which was entered via a checkpoint and tucked away behind high barbed-wire topped walls, and we had no plans to head out and see the few meager sights which Gilgit has to offer the tourist. Without much else to do I had an early night after the BBQ dinner in the pretty hotel gardens.
Our last day in Hunza was a fairly subdued one. We started off the morning by taking a walk along one of the water channels that funnel the glacial melt water from high up Ultar Glacier down countless channels, ditches and cascades to the lush green fields, meadows and orchards that cover every inch of fertile land in the valleys. It’s these channels which make Hunza what it is today. At first glance the water appears quite murky and unclear, but the brown color comes from fine silt and mica deep beneath the glacier which gives the water a silky, ethereal quality.
Our walk took us to another girls school to visit, this time a government degree college for girls between the ages of around 16 to 20 years old. While it was great to see what progress is being made in this front, visiting two schools hit my limit (and there was another third originally planned for tomorrow!) – there are only so many times I can stand awkwardly at the front of a classroom and address groups of bemused schoolgirls.
From there we went down to Altit, one of the original settlements in the valley. It dates from the time a group of Huns (think: Attila the Hun) came over the Khyber Pass and turned left into the mountains, eventually settling on this valley to set up shop. The highlight is the old Altit Fort, like its big brother up the hill painstakingly restored over the past decade or so. This one dates back over a millennia and is strategically positioned on the edge of a 300m high cliff above the river. The Tibetan influence is clear in the structure and design of the building, as well some of the Buddhist carvings in the pillars and door frames.
We had lunch at a lovely restaurant in the royal gardens adjacent to the fort under the orchard trees, itself an initiative to provide local women with the opportunity to operate their own business. Easily one of the best meals I’ve had here.
After Altit we drove half an hour uphill to the village of Duikar, the highest village in the Hunza. Our accommodation for the night was the Eagles Nest Hotel perched high above the valley with outstanding views to the west towards Rakaposhi. We were told this is THE place to come to for sunrises and sunsets, but unfortunately some unsettled weather blew in so we weren’t treated to any postcard-perfect views. Here’s hoping for better weather in the morning!
While “Hunza” is used to refer to the local region, in reality it is divided into two: Hunza on the north side of the river, and Nagyr on the south. Our plan for today was to head up the namesake Nagyr Valley to the village of Hoper next to the massive but accessible Hoper Glacier.
Given mild concerns about the security situation in Nagyr we drove in a convoy of five vehicles, with a couple of policeman armed with AK-47s riding in the lead vehicle. Nagyr is predominantly Shia (unlike Hunza which is Ismaili, and the rest of Pakistan which is mainly Sunni), and some young troublemakers have recently been trying to stir things up. It didn’t feel that unsafe on the drive up, all the locals were just as friendly as we’ve come across elsewhere in Pakistan. The only sign of any unrest were a few of the ubiquitous “Down with USA” signs graffitied onto the sides of buildings, as well as many signs imploring the locals to “Join ISO (Islamiat Student Organization)”. My particular favorite was some graffiti that said “America Dog, Israil Pappi” – if you’re going to incite some hate, at least spell it right!
Our drive took us from Karimabad, back down to the KKH and over the river, and then onto some rough dirt and partially sealed roads into the Nagyr Valley. The road quickly gained altitude as we got out of the valley floor and up onto the greener terraces where the villages are. It took about an hour of driving through some pretty spectacular scenery to get to Hoper, where we pulled in to the entertainingly named “Hoper Hilton”.
It was a brief two minute walk from there to the edge of the cliffs which looked down onto the glacier 150m below. After rattling off some photos of the glacier pouring down from the shoulder of Diran, I was keen to be a bit more active so I took the opportunity to hike down to the edge of the glacier. A steep trail led down underneath the cliffs and terminated at the lateral moraine. I soaked up the views and the silence (no wind, just the clatter of small rockfalls every now and then) before turning around and hiking back up. After a gut-busting 20 minutes I was back with the group for lunch at the “Hilton”.
I took another quick stroll along the cliff top before we left, and came across some children picking apricots off their trees and drying them on flat baskets in the sun. I gave a boy one of the clip-on koalas I carry around for small gifts and I made an instant friend: in return he gave me a quartz crystal he had in his pocket, scooped up a handful of dried apricots off one of the baskets, and also offered to pick me some fresh fruit off the tree.
We were back in Karimabad by mid-afternoon, and I was keen to use the time until dinner to do some hiking. One of the locals suggested the Queen Victoria Monument on the hillside above the village so off I went. It took me an hour and a half to get up there, walking past the Baltit fort, through the old mud brick village and along narrow alleys, through the terraced fields and orchards following one of the water channels uphill, and eventually onto the steep hill slope to the top.
I had a lovely interaction with an elderly man on my way up. I had to ask a few locals for directions as the path was difficult to follow, and when I asked a farmer he offered to walk with me to show me the way. His English was quite good and he was curious to know where I was from, my family, my job, etc. He didn’t seem overly pleased with my answer to his “what religion are you” question (answer: “I have no religion”). We eventually parted ways after around 15 minutes in which he easily outpaced me up the path, and I offered him some money as thanks for going out of his way. At first he declined my offer, but then changed his mind. The smallest denomination bill I had in my wallet was US$5 and when I gave it to him he didn’t quite know what to make of it. When I explained that it was worth around 500 rupees (more than a day’s wages) his eyes opened wide and he was effusive with his thanks! He said goodbye telling me that he will “pray for me a long life”. Nice…
The Queen Victoria Monument was nothing special (nothing more than a pile of stones) but the views over the Hunza Valley and up the glacier towards Ultar made the hike worth it.
