Two childhood buddies on an unexpected Adventure

 

The topic of my story is...

Disclaimer:

This is not a journal. Neither it’s a guide for the travelers. This is a story for the one who longs for adventure. It’s a tale of two friends on a journey.

We are at around 14000 ft above sea level. It’s nearly midnight and we are driving through a dense cover of clouds. Actually, my friend is driving. I am just sitting in the passenger seat, wrapped up in a blanket looking at the road. Or what seems to be the road. The clouds condenses on the wind screen of our car and changes into rain. The fog is so thick that it’s hard to see anything beyond a few feet. The road is no ordinary road. It’s the highest paved international mountain road of the world. There is absolutely no barrier to one side and a sheer rock wall to the other. It’s scary, like being in a scenic nightmare. But, I’m too tired and sick to feel scared anymore. At the highest point of the pass we stop at the check post to cool down the brakes. My friend goes to take a leak and I doze off into sleep. I am dreaming of having a cup of tea in the comfort of my bed. The two things I miss the most at the moment. Someone is calling my name and I realize it’s a dream that I don’t want to wake up from. My friend is back and he is giving me a cup of hot tea. I take it from him, stunned, yet grateful at the instantaneous acceptance of my prayers. My love and respect grows ten folds for this special person, who I am proud to call my friend. As we sit sipping our tea in silence, I reflect on the past few days of our adventure. Let me take you to the start of our journey. But before that, take a deep breath. You are going to need air at this height.

Dream or Reality

I was very excited when I got a vacation of ten days from work. I called my childhood friend, Saad to ask him if he was interested in going somewhere for a few days. He is a doctor by profession and owing to the situation of pandemic, I had little hope. Luckily, he got a couple of days off and adding the weekend we had a total of four days. It was not plenty but enough for us to visit someplace nice. We pondered on where to go and in the end he said, let's take a road trip along the great Karakoram Highway (KKH) and see where we end up. I liked the idea and asked him if we should take another friend. Neither of us liked the person the other suggested. So in the end it was just the two of us with Allah as our third Companion when we embarked on our journey.

On the last Saturday of September, we left Mardan at around 10 o’clock in high spirits. We were meeting after a really long time and were so engrossed in our conversation that we missed our turn towards the Hazara motorway. Fortunately, we were only a few miles astray and got back on track in no time. Alhamdulilah, it remained the biggest mishap of our trip. As soon as we crossed the motorway and came to the mountains, the reality of going on this trip really hit us. The sheer excitement and happiness was hard to contain and we couldn’t stop smiling. Throughout the trip our smiles gradually decreased but only because our facial muscles started to hurt.

Fun medical fact: Humans use 43 muscles when they smile and one of them is called Zygomaticus major.

Amma had forcefully packed us home cooked Shami kababs and bread while his mother gave him tins of Coke in a car cooler. We had skipped lunch and we realized the importance of these things when we made our first stop. As we grow up, we gradually stop acting on the advice of our parents. We think that we are the millennial generation or the generation “Z” and the old rules don’t apply now. So we don’t learn from the errors of our parents and repeat the same ones. Yet they continue trying their best to help us be the best version of ourselves. (May Allah have mercy upon our parents, Amen).

This was not a sponsored trip

Our first day drive ended at Batakundi, a small village after Naran. There we checked in to a hotel (Magnum heights) and went to have dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was a newly constructed hotel and the staff was very friendly. They gave us the room of our choice at a good price and we enjoyed our stay there. We were pretty tired after a long drive but only went to sleep after a cup of tea late at night. The view from the balcony in the morning was striking. I woke up before the sun rose and enjoyed the serenity after Fajar. One of the reasons I travel is meditation. That is why I prefer going into the mountains. The peace of mind one feels at such places, especially before sunrise is inexplicable.

Magnum Heights

the next morning

We left Batakundi after a late breakfast and were very excited for our next destination, Hunza. But the essence of this whole journey was on the road. After crossing a couple of small villages we came across a sign board saying “Welcome to Lulusar-Dudipat National Park”. This is one of the two parks along the Karakoram Highway. Driving on KKH is like driving on a dream road. The highest mountain pass of the world is amid beautiful sceneries. That is why a national park was created in 2003 to preserve some of the wild life here. There is little greenery around but the Karakoram Mountains carries enough beauty in their magnificence. Every mountain peak seems to be a famous one to the uneducated travelers like us. We saw the Lulusar and Dudipatsar Lakes along the way with their bluish green waters. But the clouds blocked all the famous peaks from our view. Furthermore, we took pictures besides the most unknown places along the road. A major portion of daylight was wasted in traffic blocks due to land sliding. So we passed by the famous Babusar Pass in a hurry and waved at the people taking photos there. Then we were stuck for almost six hours at a land sliding traffic block near Chilas. Our second day was very hectic and we reached Hunza at 2.30 in the morning. We had breakfast at a small Dhaba which was the only place open at that time. Back at the hotel I told the receptionist to give us a wake-up call at 9 am and went to bed. The next morning we were in for a surprise.

Glacier ya Qudrati refrigerator

An unknown lake

Subhanallah, a home in paradise

Lulusar lake

Clouds over a small village

One of the few Green spots

Land sliding

Careful at the turn

Finally the road was cleared

Allah o Akbar, the wrath of mountains

A warm welcome at the reception :p

Imagine walking out of your bedroom to a spacious balcony. The balcony has such an open space that it resembles a veranda. As you walk to the end of the balcony where the railing starts, you see a stairway just below it. Walking down the stairs you enter into a garden of apples. You can pluck an apple to start your day or join us in the dining room and enjoy the complimentary breakfast. The diner is on the top floor and you can enjoy the view of Hunza from its huge windows while enjoying your breakfast. This was our stay in the Serena hotel Hunza.

Hunza as seen from the balcony of our room

Posing in the Apple Garden

 Candid please!

On the third day we drove to Khunjerab pass. It is a four hour drive from Hunza at leisure and we wanted to come back for another night stay at Hunza. This day of the trip was the most enjoyable. After a heavy breakfast, we checked out of Serena (one night luxury is all we could afford) and were soon on our way to Khunjerab Pass.

KKH tops the list of most beautiful roads I have ever travelled upon. Its more than just a beautiful mountain road. It runs straight like an arrow at places and bends like a bow at others. Sometimes it resembles the perfect roads you see in the ads of cars, while at narrow turns it can scare the weak hearts. Every few miles a new peak becomes visible. The KKH simply never gets boring.

Glimpses of KKH

The only stop we made on our way was at Attabad Lake. The color of its water has different shades of blue. Each shade of blue feels like trying to merge into the other. This lake has attracted many tourists around the globe since its formation in 2010. Many of you must have seen the pictures of this lake; a guy/girl is sitting on the end of boat in clear blue water. We took many cliché pictures but decided not to go down where the boats were.

Attabad lake

The famous boats at Attabad lake

Throughout the trip we intentionally avoided crowded areas due to three reasons. First was the obvious reason of the corona virus. Second, because we were out for a peace of mind and third, we don’t mingle well in crowds. That is why we have only six or seven pictures of us together throughout the five days. After crossing Attabad Lake we entered the Khunjerab national Park which is the third largest park in Pakistan. There are Yaks, Markhor and other wildlife in this national park. Khunjerab pass was as boring as I anticipated it to be. It’s a big gateway to mark the border line between China and Pakistan. After taking photos and answering the call to nature we hopped back into our car and were back on our way to Hunza. We reached Hunza at dinner time and went to a rooftop pizza place which had an unusual attraction from the street below. The view from the top was striking and we enjoyed the yak meat pizza which was delicious.

One thing I realized in Hunza was the state of the local people. They seemed to have no worries whatsoever in their lives. The shopkeepers, the staff at the hotels and whoever we interacted with, had their own pace of doing work. Even though their businesses have suffered a lot due to the pandemic, yet they almost seemed unwilling to sell their services. They were in no hurry when we called for bill as if they didn’t want to charge us. Their behavior was not rude but just not very business-like as in other areas. Nobody tried to tell us where we could find rooms for stay as people do at such places. Another thing I liked about them was their willingness to do any kind of work, regardless of their qualification. Everyone was dressed in the latest fashion according to their age group while being classy and not flashy. We were very impressed by their eagerness to maintain mostly local food items in their menu.

We went to have tea after dinner at a local restaurant in Hunza bazar. It was called Hidden Paradise and it lived up to its name. It was a big place but was literally hidden from view. The owner unlike the rest of the locals was a chatty person and we soon came to know the reason. He was a translator of different languages mainly Chinese and was running his father’s restaurant in times of crisis. We are Pathans and we like hospitality but that man redefined true hospitality for us. He placed the best of local dry fruits in a big tray as a complimentary snack with our tea. A family sat behind our table for their dinner. He gave them complimentary fresh Apricot juice and told them they can have as much as they want. After a while he came to ask them if they liked the food and to see everything was fine. He saw a kid not eating much and he ordered complimentary fries for the kid. We were initially joking about how the dry fruits he gave us were worth more than the tea we ordered and how this guy can even give us free food if we complained about the tea. But when he ordered French fries for the kid it was too much. Even in pandemic which was destroying businesses, this guy was giving away half the things as complimentary. Saad said that if we chat with him a little while longer he may sell us his restaurant as a complimentary gift. This made us laugh till our stomachs were hurting and tears were rolling down our eyes.

We went to another hotel (Mulberry) for the night. The rooms here were even better than Serena and only at half the price. I was really tired and immediately went to sleep.

Next morning I woke up with a sore throat. I took a shower to feel better but it was the onset of a really bad flu. We had to travel half way today and half tomorrow and we still had to visit the famous forts of Altit and Baltit. You can easily Google the facts of the forts so I wont go into their details. We applied the same formula when we were inside the forts too. The guide was telling us about the history of the forts while we were busy in our photo shoot. I personally don’t care much about photos but thanks to Saad we pictured the whole trip quite brilliantly. Actually he had the best mobile camera and made the whole setting of the picture. I just had to click which at times I did not want to and so half his pictures on our way were taken from the car. He still curses me for those bad photos.

Photo shoot in progress

Tea! anyone?

One of the few photos of us together

Inside Baltit fort

Hunza Bazar

Passu cones covered in clouds

Some of Saad's brilliant shots taken from the car :)

Chapshoro

Anyways we left Hunza after eating Chapshoro (a local stuffed roti/paratha). The place was smaller than a dhaba and belonged to a good natured lady. She reminds you of a khala/phuppo who always carry sweets for the kids. The ride from Hunza onwards was a test of Saad’s driving skills as I was not feeling well and he was also tired. We did not stop once during the remaining daylight and the first stop was for petrol and tea after sunset. Gradually the clouds thickened and it started to rain. The rain continued to pour slowly as we drove into the night. Then came the point where the road was really bad due to the heavy land sliding three days ago. Luckily there was no traffic block but the road was getting dangerous at every turn. After a while we entered the clouds. Now we were driving in the source of the rain and it was hard to drive at normal speeds. We were scared to go forward but no place was safe to stop as rain makes land sliding worse. Saad told me to start reciting whatever dua I knew. I started reciting Quran and after a while we felt at peace. After an hour of driving through clouds we were stopped at a check post of GB scouts. There were a number of cars at the check post and we all were told to make a caravan of cars and not to speed up or fall behind. The check post was the entry point of Lulusar-Dudipatsar National park. We could hardly recognize our way back at night. The rain had stopped when the clock struck 11pm but there were no stars to be seen. We imagined the sky to be filled with them behind the clouds. The windows had to remain open to prevent fogging of windshield. My flu was getting worse so we stopped for a couple of minutes to get a blanket from the trunk. We had a break for only two minutes but lost the other cars in the turns and clouds. It was just the two of us with Allah as our third companion when we resumed our journey.

Cloud formation

Here I would like to point to a strange fact. Even though there were quite a lot of tourists when we went on our trip but most of the time (day or night) our car was always the only one on the road. We enjoyed our day rides and felt insecure during the night. But we were never bored of each other. Even when we were roasting each other all day long, it never went too far to turn into discomfort. Saad is a special friend to have and I wont try to write anything about our friendship as I wont be able to do justice.

Now we are driving through a thick heap of clouds and its almost midnight. I am too tired and sick to feel scared and my body has gone numb. I can see worries on Saad’s face as he feels responsible not only for himself but also for a sick friend. We reach Babusar top at midnight and there we can see all the cars again. A scout asks us if we are doing okay. We are okay but why is everyone stopping? He informs us that they are cooling the brakes and advises us to do the same. I dose off into sleep. Saad wakes me up and offers me a hot cup of tea. I realize the meaning of the proverb “a friend in need is a friend indeed”.

Cooling brakes and warming up with Tea

My savior the Blanket ;)

We resume again after a while. We decide not to stop for the rest of the cars as our destination is just 20 miles short and the clouds have now lifted. A dreadful night is about to end safely. As we leave Babusar, rain starts to pour again. Its heavier than before and crossing a small town we see the milestone depicting Batakundi at just five miles. Two miles short we are encountered with an overflowed waterfall which has blocked the road. We stop, deciding what to do next and before we could comprehend anything we see rocks falling beside the waterfall and a few small ones hit the roof of our car. Saad has already reversed the car before I had time to say anything and we quietly call it a night in the town we left a few miles behind.

Its one o’clock in the morning and we haven’t eaten anything since we left Hunza. We are starving but there is no place open to get food. We are short on cash and there are no mobile signals. Even the local network is not working due to rain. The room we rented was the only hotel around that town and we gave all the cash we had. Then we found a few hundreds in the car and got something to eat at a nearby restaurant. I went to sleep as soon as I hit the bed. The next morning I woke up to find that its still raining. By the will of Allah we cross the waterfall safely, its flow nearly broken but still enough to scare the people passing through it. By noon we reach Naran, where we call our homes to let them know we are safe and use the ATM to buy some breakfast. Throughout the KKH you will find ads of “Moon Restaurant” and at last we decided to have our last meal of the trip at this place. The things we ordered were really delicious and the pricing was economical too.

None of us spoke on the way back. I was almost grateful for the flu as it gave me an excuse to be silent. We felt spell bound for a long time and did not realize that we were near Mardan till the motorway started. We reached our homes just after sunset. The five days trip remains one of the most fulfilling journeys of my life.

The last sunset of our journey

THE END