Day 2, Innocent Smiles: Trek to Rush Lake, Nagar Valley, Kashmir Pakistan

It’s day 2, Monday 9th of July 2k12; We are on our way towards Hunza from Rawalpindi via NATCO bus service; Last night we crossed Besham and its surrounding  areas; Still, we had 9 hours of travel left;

01:00h – 06:00h. The Whole night passed in failed attempts to sleep; No footrests means no rest; Sometimes the shoulder of your neighbour gives you some moment of relaxation, or sometimes rest at your back lets you pass some period in semi-sleep condition; Overall a very tiring night; The local music from speakers on driver’s choice is also enough to make you cry silently; (:

07:30h. Bus has a stay at Chilas; It is a small town located on the left side of the Indus River.  It is a part of the Silk Road connected by the Karakoram Highway. This was a breakfast time and half fri eggs, layered parathas and a cup of hot tea looked like a meal from the heavens; After having tummy full breakfast, we restarted our travel in 30 minutes;

10:15 – 10:45h. We are passing from Juglot. This is another a small town over KKH, situated 45km from Gilgit. It is one of the most important towns as it is connected with all districts of  Northern Areas. The population is nearly 50,000 and it is considered a centre point for oil, wheat and flour in neighbouring areas;

12:30h. And we are at Gilgit, a major milestone of this travel; Smiles; (: It starts looking like we are very near to our final stop (although there is still 3 to 4 hours more travel till Hunza) This is also a planned stop for NATCO service; We have 30 minute stay here; Let have a little walk on bus terminal to stretch out our frozen legs; (:

14:00h – 14:15h. We have another short stay for lunch; Well don’t know the exact name of the area; There are a few hotels on the roadside, a water gallery which flows side by side of the road and some fruit shops; Many people are having lunch here; We are sitting near spring water and having Coke; Shehzad butt. and Rizwan is eating shoarma type bread pieces; I tried but its taste didn’t appeal to me; Coke is my first choice. (:

15:30h – 15:45h. Finally we were at Aliabad Hunza District; Unloaded our luggage and left the NACTO bus after almost 24 hours; Hunza said welcome to us; (:

Hunza (or hunza valley) is situated at the bank of the Hunza River, at an altitude of 8,200 ft. Hunza consists of Aliabad which is the main town, and Karimabad (Baltit in the old days) which is a popular tourist place;

16:00h. Our next destination is Hoper Valley, next to Hunza; We are talking to different drivers for fare and comfort; Finally a Suzuki Bolan driver comes to pickup with our terms and we are now heading towards Hoper, our last point to stop, and first to stay;

18:00h – 18:15h.  A valley of a green plateau, tall trees and innocent smiles has arrived; This is Hoper; Our final stop in travel of the last two days; The Driver took us to Hooper Inn Hotel; We got fresh there and placed our camp on the small grassy area;

A unique style and gathering of kids in Hoper Valley when they saw the camera in our hands; Innocent smiles;

View of Hoper Valley along with Ultar peak at back;

While reaching Hoper, we have a splendid view of the following mountains

• Nangaparbat: Known as a killer mountain; Situated in Himalayan Range and viewed from KKH;
• Rakaposhi: 7,788 m high, a mountain in the Karakoram mountain range famous by its white shiny peak, covered by snow in almost every part of the year ;
• Ulter 1: visible from Hunza(Aliabad) and part of  Karakoram range;
• Ulter 2: usually visible from Nagar Valley;
  Both Ulter 1/Ulter 2 are 7000+ meter high;
• Shalter Peak
• Lady finger: Adjusent to Ulter 1, situated in  Karakoram range is particularly notable for being a sharp, unique shape and  relatively snowless rock;

20:00h. Dinner with chicken qorma; We have packed food for the trek and this one is the first meal from that bucket;

21:00h – 22:00h. Sitting in an open area and talking shaking; We are served Tomoro, a local qehwa called mountain tea; The sky is clear and thousands of stars are shining above us; This is a spectacular scene no doubt; Such crowded sky is impossible in city life; Last time I had such sky when we were in Kail Valley of Neelum District in Azad Kashmir, a year back;

22:00h. Two tablets of Panadol Extra and then time to enter in camps; Weather is slightly cold and sleeping bags will be a good place to hide and sleep; Our first night in camp for this trek;

Please turn off the lights and torches; I’m tired now;

Aasim Naseem

I’m an engineer by profession, a blogger and a photojournalist by hobby. Seasonal writer at LAFZ Media UK. I write on different topics and things around us. Contact me at +971.56.126.8842 or Aasim.Naseem@outlook.com