So where was I? Hunza….

We left Karimabad early one morning to drive back to Besham. It was not really a day to look forward to, just retracing our trip to where the rain had started on our first day. Luckily for us the sun was shining and there didn’t seem to be many people on the road. We made good time between Karimabad and Gilgit and then not too much further along, about half an hour out of Chilas, our good run came to an end. The road was backed up for about a kilometre due to a landslide. The military was there digging out a path and by the time we arrived some people had been waiting close to 4-5 hours…

Hatam and Asghar left the car and went to check it out, socialise and generally do what locals do while Michelle and I sat in the car – in all our finery, in the sun, getting settled in for a long wait. The cars and trucks kept coming, now the number of vehicles was just getting larger and larger, and there were more and more men wandering about, wandering past us to get up close to what was happening. All of a sudden, after about 35 minutes, the pack of men started running towards us, shalwar kameez’s flapping. It was clear. The road was clear. They were running for their cars. The buzz in the air was amazing, like the depression lifted, and then off we went in a convoy.

The road continued, we stopped for tea, the road continued we stopped for lunch – then just as we were getting comfortable, something happened. There were trucks stopped up ahead on the other side of the road, Hatam & Asghar tensed up, and the car started stopping and starting. Hatam returned to his position of peering up and out the front window…. the trucker started flashing his lights, and Asghar floored it…

First we heard them, then we felt them, FALLING ROCKS…

They came crashing down on us, on the roof, smashing into the window, Asghar was accelerating as fast as he could and there were stones coming down in front of us and behind us, it was terrifying. Michelle received a big one smack in the middle of her window – thankfully it was closed – and then as quickly as it started it stopped. Our hearts beating fast, we stopped the car, the guys got out to check the damage, and Michelle and I just sat and stared at each other in shock. We were so lucky, no broken windows, no broken bodies, just a few dents and chips, and a whole lot of fear. If Pakistan wasn’t a dry country we would have definitely stopped at the first pub for a pint after that. Maybe two.

Instead we stopped for tea. Pakistani tea. More milk than water, and almost more sugar than milk, it’s the kind of tea that gives you a sugar shock after a gulp-full. Exactly what was needed after what Hatam would thereafter refer to as ‘just part of the adventure!’ The rest of the day passed as uneventfully as the morning. We passed some amazing scenery, the Indus river in all it’s glory far far below us and people wandering along it’s banks, no village in sight, only goats and rocks. All of this section of the KKH we had missed because of the terrible weather on the way up and for our return the sun was streaming down.

One particular village had a cricket tournament going on. Pakistan vs Australia (we knew they were really Pakistanis but they were wearing the full aussie ensemble). The whole town was out watching the match sitting around the pitch which incorporated the main road. Each time a car would pass, the game would have to stop while the car passed, and then it would resume with no bother. We passed the pitch, stopped the car and came back to watch. Sadly for us, the game came to an end because everyone was too busy watching us watching them. Hatam rounded us up and got us back in the car before the more zealous fans tried to have us removed for distraction.

We became the focus of attention, instead of the game…

The road continued. A few tight corners, a few tactical manoeuvres and 4 punctures later and we arrived in Bescham at the PDTC Motel which we shared with UN workers, the military and as assortment of earthquake aid workers. Notwithstanding the tents set up in the garden, nor the air-raid sirens signalling the next explosion (they were blasting a new road through the cliff face just opposite) it was not the nicest of our wonderful hotels that’s for sure, but it was only one night, and we’d had a very long and exciting day, all we needed was something to eat, drink, and a place to lie down.

We got all that, plus our first newspaper…. to be continued