Greetings To All The Sober, Sane, Safe & Sensible People!

The link below is to photos from my ride up the Karakoram Highway to Khunjerab Pass and the Chinese border, then back south through the Hunza Valley to Gilgit, then on to Raikot Bridge, which sits at the base of 26,660′ Nanga Parbat, another of Pakistan’s biggies:

https://balloonbill.smugmug.com/Other/Karakoram-Highway/

In the previous message, I commented on my solo travels, yet I failed to mention the most obvious and primary reason that I do so many things alone: nobody else wants to do this kind of stuff!

Sure, everyone likes to see pretty pictures of interesting people, places and things, but in the luxury of their home. They don’t necessarily want to endure the dangers and discomforts that go along with actually visiting a place like really rural Pakistan in order to experience it. Just the idea of what it might be like is good enough for the vast majority of people. There’s nothing wrong with that!

For example, take my latest relocation in Pakistan. On Monday morning at 10 AM, along with 34 Pakistanis, I boarded a dilapidated old bus in Khaplu. Twenty-five hours later, I arrived in Islamabad with a sore butt (again). No one wants to do that. I’ll spare you any descriptions of the places we stopped for lunch, dinner and breakfast breaks, as they might ruin your appetite. Yet, the bus ride was not just the best way to make this trip, it was the only way. To me, it was worth it.

Experiences such as this just might have something to do with why I haven’t encountered any Americans wandering around this part of the world. I’m certainly not a masochist, but I do feel fortunate to have a combination of very high interest, capacity and tolerance for raw adventure and all that it entails.

Here I am in Islamabad, finished with the mountains for now, in the process of figuring out what comes next. Apparently I came south just in time, as a friend there sent me photos showing that it snowed quite a bit yesterday where I came from, which would have made travel even more difficult and less dependable. If I had winter clothing and equipment with me, it would be great to stay in the mountains longer, but I don’t. So, it’s time to move onward.

The map at the bottom shows my spiky clockwise route from Islamabad to and throughout the north, then back to Islamabad.
Stay sane. HAHAHAHAHA!
Bill
PS …because we don’t want to

More in the first comment

here is where Balloonman has been relative to the Whole Country of Pakistan ( black shaded area)

click to enlarge