Serena Hunza Baltit Inn

... the Baltit Fort served as the royal palace for over 750 years up until the last century. The architectural beauty of Baltit Fort is derived from the marriage of the Mir of Hunza who early in the 15th century married a Princess from Baltistan, also known as Little Tibet. The whole architecture of the fort looks strangely Tibetan and in fact looks in many ways similar to the great Potala Palace in Lhasa. The fort was fully restored in 1996 thanks to the initiation of ...

... all of the workers appeared to be related to him. It was with amazing good humour that everyone including our guide grabbed flat rocks and made impossible paths to facilitate our jeep passage up and over the road works. We reminded ourselves once again of the Australian stereotype of a Pakistani person! This level of good humoured cooperation would never happen where we live.

Rahmat was a highly respected driver and quite a character. A fine featured ...

... is extraordinary. We guessed the altitude and very cold conditions must play a large part. The plots are small, each being divided by ubiquitous stone walls. A few goats and calves were the only animals we saw on our visit.

The local houses are usually square, flat roofed and made out of stones and mud bricks. Inside there is an entrance "hall" (to obviously deflect the cold winds coming in) which leads to a large square room that doubles as a kitchen with a ...

... corrupt government, a headstrong military and an all powerful, shadowy and uncontrolled Inter-Service Intelligence Agency makes for almost insurmountable problems for this potentially wonderful nation.

Ask anyone about travel to Pakistan and you soon realise that it is definitely not on the tourist agenda as a must see destination. And no wonder. International commentators, particularly the media paint this country as a seething hot bed of terrorists with random ...

... This heavily veiled woman wielded impressive power during this trip, berating anyone for smoking and demanding toilet stops that we were all very grateful for. We were impressed.

At one stop I decided to join her. After all who knew when the next toilet stop may be? I followed her down the only road - yes, very the famous Karakoram Highway - only to find that their was no place here for privacy. And in the middle of one of the world's most famous thoroughfares ...

... in Upper Hunza. I chose to ride in the back of the jeep with RF - a little cold but great to see the amazing views. We were to stay with MS's sister in law in her lovely typically styled home. The temperature difference was incredible and just to get from the road to the house we had to traverse snowy and icy pathways. Our new friends and the family were Ismaili, as were much of the people in the area so we also learnt more about that sect ...

... more than a few feet. A privilege that is surely not enjoyed by the less fortunate on this precarious tarmac tightrope.



Stumpy though is a sensible vehicle, so we wobbled up the KKH in relative safety, stopping off regularly for Alex and Conor to smoke, Anna to pee and Alby to take photos - I alternated. In no time we had arrived in the village of Karimibad and booked ourselves into the Old Hunza Inn. The beauty was immediate and intoxicating. Our rooms ...

... at the meadow. When the time came to leave Karimabad, I really didn't want to go. I still wanted to visit Skardu, Passu, Chatral, maybe even Peshawar (call me crazy if you will). But, I'm definitely planning to go back some day. Of all the places in the world I've visited, the Northern Areas have the wonderful combination of being beautiful, untouristed, and inhabited by very amiable people. So, I consoled my self by promising to return, and headed off to ...

... shop, I got there but the guy was not there, so we managed to get hold of him on one of the 3 numbers scribed in his old wooden door, his strolled up about half hour later whilst I had Chi (tea) with some friendly locals. No problem and I was off again, waving goodbye and beeping to the locals, what they or I didn't realize was that Id soon be back. I only got about 100 meters down the road and it was flat again. I went back this time ...