As the old saying goes, when you are given lemons, you make lemonade.  So when my flight to Gilgit was cancelled, I chose to take a two day drive north up the historic Karakoram highway.  The highway was built on the old Silk Road route and now connects Islamabad with China.  Many travelers have walked this path, the Chinese monk Fa Hein in the 4^th century, later Marco Polo in the 13^th century and now me.  It is a breathtaking road cut through three mountain ranges all the while snaking along the Indus River.  Similar to the construction of the Pacific Railway in our Rockies, many workers died in its construction.  It is said that for every mile of road, there is a dead Pakistani or China man who helped build it.  Grave markers line the road in remembrance of those who gave their lives to construct this wonder.  Even as I drove along it there was evidence of numerous landslides as well as a lorry that just toppled over the side moments before us.  It is an inspiring and overwhelming introduction to the rugged beauty of the north.

Driving west from Islamabad you quickly leave the city and find yourself on a crusty sheet of paving lined on both sides with shops and people.  Do not be fooled be fooled by the term highway, it is a narrow road with traffic in all directions.  Highway does imply the amount of traffic you will find.  The road is an active lifeline for all those that live around it.

The Highway officially starts at Dor River, north of Taxila.  From there it is just over 800 km to China.  Gilgit is 628 km, but to drive there is an expected 18 hours non stop.  For those of you without a calculator that is a stunning average speed of about 30km/h. You wouldn’t want to go much faster than that. In the towns it is slow going to avoid the mess.  And a mess it is.  The towns thrive on the highway and you can almost reach out and buy peeled banana slices with your hand from the window.  If that is too daring for you, men will walk up along the car and offer you anything you want.  Honking never stops in the town, it is a constant reminder to watch out for traffic; as if anyone could forget.   Cars are constantly pushing forward from both sides to squeeze into an open space.  My driver’s eyes were keenly focused on the road ahead as he narrowly missed pedestrians, other vehicles and even cattle.

Once you leave the towns the road opens up.  This is where the action really is.  I would give an even chance to the most fearless formula one driver if he was given a tank against these drivers.  The road soon becomes an endless series of S curves with sheer rock rising up on one side and a dead drop on the other.  Forget a center line, cars drive where they can.   Overtaking is a game to these men.  We passed in the other lane, on the shoulder, and in one instance, in the opposite shoulder as we overtook a car that was overtaking.  Passing on the inside line of a blind corner while going uphill is common.  Honking to alert oncoming traffic to your invisible presence seems to be the rule of the road.  C’est la vive.

But in this mad race you need to be patient as well.  I witnessed the most massive display of unintelligence I could imagine.  We hit a traffic jam; inevitably cars pull up in the oncoming lane to jockey for a better position when it breaks.   This leads to a rugby scrum of cars five abreast all in gridlock.  Eventually I noticed a truck that had fallen over the side and was now 20 meters down from the road facing back up stuck in the trees.   I saw no evidence of anyone helping, but have the passengers had left their cars on the road to get out and look.  When the situation did become passable the oncoming traffic had reacted in a similar matter, the entire road was blocked, in both directions, and somehow cars had to lurch forward to find space to advance.  We were stopped for almost an hour.  Other passengers and drivers would laugh at the chaos and use their hands out the window to try and steal positions.  My driver slept through the gridlock and then I think tried to ram his car into a laughing drivers hand as he tried to overtake us with a daring inside charge.  We even overtook an ambulance in the rush out.

Throughout all of this the scenery is remarkable.  The towns are alive with colour and excitement.  The mountains loom in the distance in all directions.  The river splashes and cuts through the rocks below.  It is an amazing experience.  Once we hit the more mountainous areas we even had to slow down for cricket games since the only flat area for bowling is found on the road.  It was strangely reminiscent of my younger days playing street hockey.  The motel I spent the night at was a quick swerve off the road and I was able to walk down by the river and climb up a rocky outcrop to see the valley at dusk.

The following day the driver and I were old friends and he stopped to show me scenic points along the way.  The car ride north is definitely the way to get there.  However, next time I may spend a week and stop at every little town along the way.  This road has been used for thousands of years. I am delighted to have crossed its path.

PS Mom, I have obviously arrived in Gilgit, the family is stiflingly hospitable, almost as if I am an honoured prisoner.  You will be happy I am safe.  With love, Aaron.

People have been travelling here for over a thousand years.  Rock carving was a way of labeling a path and leaving your mark.

Budhist monks travelled this way in and out of Pakistan from China.  Their carvings can be found in abundance in select areas.  Although some of the carvings I saw certainly looked refreshed over the years. It keeps the tourists travelling these roads as well.

  I also hope the picture shows what I was thinking.  Sedimentary rocks form inlayers over centuries as piles of sediment settle and harden.  Logic dictates that sediment layers are horizontal.  These mountains are still on the move (up) and tectonic plates are coliding.  What I was noticing is that the sedimentary layers are not horizontal, not even close, they go almost straight up.   I hope I have my geology facts right in this, I may have to ask Sean from soccer to doubel check.